Roman History, Books I III - Titus Livius
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Tarquin, having thus gained possession of Gabii, made peace with the
nation of the Aequi, and renewed the treaty with the Etruscans. He
next turned his attention to the affairs of the city. The chief of
these was that of leaving behind him the Temple of Jupiter on the
Tarpeian Mount, as a monument of his name and reign; to remind
posterity that of two Tarquinii, both kings, the father had vowed, the
son completed it.[50] Further, that the open space, to the exclusion
of all other forms of worship, might be entirely appropriated to
Jupiter and his temple, which was to be erected upon it, he resolved
to cancel the inauguration of the small temples and chapels, several
of which had been first vowed by King Tatius, in the crisis of the
battle against Romulus, and afterward consecrated and dedicated by
him. At the very outset of the foundation of this work it is said that
the gods exerted their divinity to declare the future greatness of so
mighty an empire; for, though the birds declared for the unhallowing
of all the other chapels, they did not declare themselves in favour
of it in the case of that of Terminus.[51] This omen and augury were
taken to import that the fact of Terminus not changing his residence,
and that he was the only one of the gods who was not called out of
the consecrated bounds devoted to his worship, was a presage of the
lasting stability of the state in general. This being accepted as
an omen of its lasting character, there followed another prodigy
portending the greatness of the empire. It was reported that the head
of a man, with the face entire, was found by the workmen when digging
the foundation of the temple. The sight of this phenomenon by no
doubtful indications portended that this temple should be the seat of
empire, and the capital of the world; and so declared the soothsayers,
both those who were in the city, and those whom they had summoned
from Etruria, to consult on this subject. The king's mind was thereby
encouraged to greater expense; in consequence of which the spoils
of Pometia, which had been destined to complete the work, scarcely
sufficed for laying the foundation. On this account I am more
inclined to believe Fabius (not to mention his being the more ancient
authority), that there were only forty talents, than Piso, who says
that forty thousand pounds of silver by weight were set apart for that
purpose, a sum of money neither to be expected from the spoils of any
one city in those times, and one that would more than suffice for the
foundations of any building, even the magnificent buildings of the
present day.
Tarquin, intent upon the completion of the temple, having sent for
workmen from all parts of Etruria, employed on it not only the public
money, but also workmen from the people; and when this labour, in
itself no inconsiderable one, was added to their military service,
still the people murmured less at building the temples of the gods
with their own hands, than at being transferred, as they afterward
were, to other works, which, while less dignified, required
considerably greater toil; such were the erection of benches in the
circus, and conducting underground the principal sewer, the receptacle
of all the filth of the city; two works the like of which even modern
splendour has scarcely been able to produce.[52] After the people had
been employed in these works, because he both considered that such
a number of inhabitants was a burden to the city where there was no
employment for them, and further, was anxious that the frontiers of
the empire should be more extensively occupied by sending colonists,
he sent colonists to Signia[53] and Circeii,[54] to serve as defensive
outposts hereafter to the city on land and sea. While he was thus
employed a frightful prodigy appeared to him. A serpent gliding out of
a wooden pillar, after causing dismay and flight in the palace, not so
much struck the king's heart with sudden terror, as it filled him with
anxious solicitude. Accordingly, since Etruscan soothsayers were only
employed for public prodigies, terrified at this so to say private
apparition, he determined to send to the oracle of Delphi, the most
celebrated in the world; and not venturing to intrust the responses of
the oracle to any other person, he despatched his two sons to Greece
through lands unknown at that time, and yet more unknown seas. Titus
and Arruns were the two who set out. They were accompanied by Lucius
Junius Brutus, the son of Tarquinia, the king's sister, a youth of an
entirely different cast of mind from that of which he had assumed the
disguise. He, having heard that the chief men of the city, among them
his own brother, had been put to death by his uncle, resolved to leave
nothing in regard to his ability that might be dreaded by the king,
nor anything in his fortune that might be coveted, and thus to be
secure in the contempt in which he was held, seeing that there was but
little protection in justice. Therefore, having designedly fashioned
himself to the semblance of foolishness, and allowing himself and his
whole estate to become the prey of the king, he did not refuse to take
even the surname of Brutus,[55] that, under the cloak of this surname,
the genius that was to be the future liberator of the Roman people,
lying concealed, might bide its opportunity. He, in reality being
brought to Delphi by the Tarquinii rather as an object of ridicule
than as a companion, is said to have borne with him as an offering to
Apollo a golden rod, inclosed in a staff of cornel-wood hollowed out
for the purpose, a mystical emblem of his own mind. When they arrived
there, and had executed their father's commission, the young men's
minds were seized with the desire of inquiring to which of them the
sovereignty of Rome should fall. They say that the reply was uttered
from the inmost recesses of the cave, "Young men, whichever of you
shall first kiss his mother shall enjoy the sovereign power at Rome."
The Tarquinii ordered the matter to be kept secret with the utmost
care, that Sextus, who had been left behind at Rome, might be ignorant
of the response of the oracle, and have no share in the kingdom; they
then cast lots among themselves, to decide which of them should first
kiss his mother, after they had returned to Rome. Brutus, thinking
that the Pythian response had another meaning, as if he had stumbled
and fallen, touched the ground with his lips, she being, forsooth, the
common mother of all mankind. After this they returned to Rome, where
preparations were being made with the greatest vigour for a war
against the Rutulians.
The Rutulians, a very wealthy nation, considering the country and age
in which they lived, were at that time in possession of Ardea.[56]
Their wealth was itself the actual occasion of the war: for the Roman
king, whose resources had been drained by the magnificence of his
public works, was desirous of enriching himself, and also of soothing
the minds of his subjects by a large present of booty, as they,
independently of the other instances of his tyranny, were incensed
against his government, because they felt indignant that they had been
kept so long employed by the king as mechanics, and in labour only fit
for slaves. An attempt was made, to see if Ardea could be taken at the
first assault; when that proved unsuccessful, the enemy began to be
distressed by a blockade, and by siege-works. In the standing camp, as
usually happens when a war is tedious rather than severe, furloughs
were easily obtained, more so by the officers, however, than the
common soldiers. The young princes also sometimes spent their leisure
hours in feasting and mutual entertainments. One day as they
were drinking in the tent of Sextus Tarquinius, where Collatinus
Tarquinius, the son of Egerius, was also at supper, they fell to
talking about their wives. Every one commended his own extravagantly:
a dispute thereupon arising, Collatinus said there was no occasion for
words, that it might be known in a few hours how far his wife Lucretia
excelled all the rest. "If, then," added he, "we have any youthful
vigour, why should we not mount our horses and in person examine the
behaviour of our wives? Let that be the surest proof to every one,
which shall meet his eyes on the unexpected arrival of the husband."
They were heated with wine. "Come on, then," cried all. They
immediately galloped to Rome, where they arrived when darkness was
beginning to fall. From thence they proceeded to Collatia,[57]
where they found Lucretia, not after the manner of the king's
daughters-in-law, whom they had seen spending their time in luxurious
banqueting with their companions, but, although the night was far
advanced, employed at her wool, sitting in the middle of the house in
the midst of her maids who were working around her. The honour of the
contest regarding the women rested with Lucretia. Her husband on his
arrival, and the Tarquinii, were kindly received; the husband, proud
of his victory, gave the young princes a polite invitation. There an
evil desire of violating Lucretia by force seized Sextus Tarquinius;
both her beauty, and her proved chastity urged him on. Then, after
this youthful frolic of the night, they returned to the camp.
After an interval of a few days, Sextus Tarquinius, without the
knowledge of Collatinus, came to Collatia with one attendant only:
there he was made welcome by them, as they had no suspicion of his
design, and, having been conducted after supper into the guest
chamber, burning with passion, when all around seemed sufficiently
secure, and all fast asleep, he came to the bedside of Lucretia, as
she lay asleep, with a drawn sword, and with his left hand pressing
down the woman's breast, said: "Be silent, Lucretia; I am Sextus
Tarquinius. I have a sword in my hand. You shall die if you utter a
word." When the woman, awaking terrified from sleep, saw there was no
help, and that impending death was nigh at hand, then Tarquin declared
his passion, entreated, mixed threats with entreaties, tried all means
to influence the woman's mind. When he saw she was resolved, and
uninfluenced even by the fear of death, to the fear of death he added
the fear of dishonour, declaring that he would lay a murdered slave
naked by her side when dead, so that it should be said that she had
been slain in base adultery. When by the terror of this disgrace his
lust (as it were victorious) had overcome her inflexible chastity,
and Tarquin had departed, exulting in having triumphed over a woman's
honour by force, Lucretia, in melancholy distress at so dreadful a
misfortune, despatched one and the same messenger both to her father
at Rome, and to her husband at Ardea, bidding them come each with a
trusty friend; that they must do so, and use despatch, for a monstrous
deed had been wrought. Spurius Lucretius came accompanied by Publius
Valerius, the son of Volesus, Collatinus with Lucius Junius Brutus, in
company with whom, as he was returning to Rome, he happened to be met
by his wife's messenger. They found Lucretia sitting in her chamber
in sorrowful dejection. On the arrival of her friends the tears burst
from her eyes; and on her husband inquiring, whether all was well, "By
no means," she replied, "for how can it be well with a woman who
has lost her honour? The traces of another man are on your bed,
Collatinus. But the body only has been violated, the mind is
guiltless; death shall be my witness. But give me your right hands,
and your word of honour, that the adulterer shall not come off
unpunished. It is Sextus Tarquinius, who, an enemy last night in
the guise of a guest has borne hence by force of arms, a triumph
destructive to me, and one that will prove so to himself also, if you
be men." All gave their word in succession; they attempted to console
her, grieved in heart as she was, by turning the guilt of the act from
her, constrained as she had been by force, upon the perpetrator of
the crime, declaring that it is the mind sins, not the body; and that
where there is no intention, there is no guilt. "It is for you to
see," said she, "what is due to him. As for me, though I acquit myself
of guilt, I do not discharge myself from punishment; nor shall any
woman survive her dishonour by pleading the example of Lucretia." She
plunged a knife, which she kept concealed beneath her garment, into
her heart, and falling forward on the wound, dropped down expiring.
Her husband and father shrieked aloud.
While they were overwhelmed with grief, Brutus drew the knife out of
the wound, and, holding it up before him reeking with blood, said: "By
this blood, most pure before the outrage of a prince, I swear, and I
call you, O gods, to witness my oath, that I will henceforth pursue
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, his wicked wife, and all their children,
with fire, sword, and all other violent means in my power; nor will
I ever suffer them or any other to reign at Rome." Then he gave the
knife to Collatinus, and after him to Lucretius and Valerius, who were
amazed at such an extraordinary occurrence, and could not understand
the newly developed character of Brutus. However, they all took the
oath as they were directed, and, their sorrow being completely changed
to wrath, followed the lead of Brutus, who from that time ceased not
to call upon them to abolish the regal power. They carried forth the
body of Lucretia from her house, and conveyed it to the forum, where
they caused a number of persons to assemble, as generally happens,
by reason of the unheard-of and atrocious nature of an extraordinary
occurrence. They complained, each for himself, of the royal villainy
and violence. Both the grief of the father affected them, and also
Brutus, who reproved their tears and unavailing complaints, and
advised them to take up arms, as became men and Romans, against those
who dared to treat them like enemies. All the most spirited youths
voluntarily presented themselves in arms; the rest of the young men
followed also. From thence, after an adequate garrison had been left
at the gates at Collatia, and sentinels appointed, to prevent any one
giving intelligence of the disturbance to the royal party, the rest
set out for Rome in arms under the conduct of Brutus. When they
arrived there, the armed multitude caused panic and confusion wherever
they went. Again, when they saw the principal men of the state placing
themselves at their head, they thought that, whatever it might be,
it was not without good reason. Nor did the heinousness of the event
excite less violent emotions at Rome than it had done at Collatia:
accordingly, they ran from all parts of the city into the forum, and
as soon as they came thither, the public crier summoned them to attend
the tribune of the celeres [58], with which office Brutus happened to
be at the time invested. There a harangue was delivered by him, by no
means of the style and character which had been counterfeited by him
up to that day, concerning the violence and lust of Sextus Tarquinius,
the horrid violation of Lucretia and her lamentable death, the
bereavement of Tricipitinus,[59], in whose eyes the cause of his
daughter's death was more shameful and deplorable than that death
itself. To this was added the haughty insolence of the king himself,
and the sufferings and toils of the people, buried in the earth in the
task of cleansing ditches and sewers: he declared that Romans, the
conquerors of all the surrounding states, instead of warriors had
become labourers and stone-cutters. The unnatural murder of King
Servius Tullius was recalled, and the fact of his daughter having
driven over the body of her father in her impious chariot, and the
gods who avenge parents were invoked by him. By stating these and, I
believe, other facts still more shocking, which, though by no means
easy to be detailed by writers, the then heinous state of things
suggested, he so worked upon the already incensed multitude, that they
deprived the king of his authority, and ordered the banishment of
Lucius Tarquinius with his wife and children. He himself, having
selected and armed some of the younger men, who gave in their names as
volunteers, set out for the camp at Ardea to rouse the army against
the king: the command in the city he left to Lucretius, who had been
already appointed prefect of the city by the king. During this tumult
Tullia fled from her house, both men and women cursing her wherever
she went, and invoking upon her the wrath of the furies, the avengers
of parents.
News of these transactions having reached the camp, when the king,
alarmed at this sudden revolution, was proceeding to Rome to quell the
disturbances, Brutus--for he had had notice of his approach--turned
aside, to avoid meeting him; and much about the same time Brutus and
Tarquinius arrived by different routes, the one at Ardea, the other at
Rome. The gates were shut against Tarquin, and sentence of banishment
declared against him; the camp welcomed with great joy the deliverer
of the city, and the king's sons were expelled. Two of them followed
their father, and went into exile to Caere, a city of Etruria. Sextus
Tarquinius, who had gone to Gabii, as if to his own kingdom, was slain
by the avengers of the old feuds, which he had stirred up against
himself by his rapines and murders. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus reigned
twenty-five years: the regal form of government lasted, from the
building of the city to its deliverance, two hundred and forty-four
years. Two consuls, Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius
Collatinus, were elected by the prefect of at the comitia of
centuries, according to the commentaries of Servius Tullius.
[Footnote 1: Books I-III are based upon the translation by John Henry
Freese, but in many places have been revised or retranslated by
Duffield Osborne.]
[Footnote 2: The king was originally the high priest, his office more
sacerdotal than military: as such he would have the selection and
appointment of the Vestal Virgins, the priestesses of Vesta, the
hearth-goddess. Their chief duty was to keep the sacred fire burning
("the fire that burns for aye"), and to guard the relics in the Temple
of Vesta. If convicted of unchastity they were buried alive.]
[Footnote 3: Surely there is no lack of "historical criticism" here
and on a subject where a Roman writer might be pardoned for some
credulity.--D.O.]
[Footnote 4: Livy ignores the more accepted and prettier tradition
that this event took place where the sacred fig-tree originally stood,
and that later it was miraculously transplanted to the comitium by
Attius Navius, the famous augur, "That it might stand in the midst of
the meetings of the Romans"--D.O.]
[Footnote 5: According to Varro, Rome was founded B.C. 753; according
to Cato, B.C. 751. Livy here derives Roma from Romulus, but this is
rejected by modern etymologists; according to Mommsen the word means
"stream-town," from its position on the Tiber.]
[Footnote 6: The remarkable beauty of the white or mouse-coloured
cattle of central Italy gives a touch of realism to this story.--D.O.]
[Footnote 7: The introduction of the art of writing among the Romans
was ascribed to Evander. The Roman alphabet was derived from the
Greek, through the Grecian (Chalcidian) colony at Cumae.]
[Footnote 8: The title patres originally signified the heads of
families, and was in early times used of the patrician senate, as
selected from these. When later, plebeians were admitted into the
senate, the members of the senate were all called patres, while
patricians, as opposed to plebeians, enjoyed certain distinctions and
privileges.]
[Footnote 9: This story of the rape of the Sabines belongs to the
class of what are called "etiological" myths--i. e., stories invented
to account for a rite or custom, or to explain local names or
characteristics. The custom prevailed among Greeks and Romans of the
bridegroom pretending to carry off the bride from her home by force.
Such a custom still exists among the nomad tribes of Asia Minor. The
rape of the Sabine women was invented to account for this custom.]
[Footnote 10: The spolia opima (grand spoils)--a term used to denote
the arms taken by one general from another--were only gained twice
afterward during the history of the republic; in B.C. 437, when A.
Cornelius Cossus slew Lars Tolumnius of Veii; and in B.C. 222, when
the consul M. Claudius Marcellus slew Viridomarus, chief of the
Insubrian Gauls.]
[Footnote 11: The place afterward retained its name, even when filled
up and dry. Livy (Book VII) gives a different reason for the name:
that it was so called from one Marcus Curtius having sprung, armed,
and on horseback, several hundred years ago (B.C. 362), into a gulf
that suddenly opened in the forum; it being imagined that it would
not close until an offering was made of what was most valuable in the
state--i. e., a warrior armed and on horseback. According to Varro,
it was a locus fulguritus (i. e., struck by lightning), which was
inclosed by a consul named Curtius.]
[Footnote 12: Supposed to be derived from "Lucumo," the name or,
according to more accepted commentators, title of an Etruscan chief
who came to help Romulus.--D.O.]
[Footnote 13: The inhabitants of Fidenae, about five miles from Rome,
situated on the Tiber, near Castel Giubileo.--D.O.]
[Footnote 14: About twelve and a half miles north of Rome, close to
the little river Cremera; it was one of the most important of the
twelve confederate Etruscan towns. Plutarch describes it as the
bulwark of Etruria: not inferior to Rome in military equipment and
numbers.]
[Footnote 15: A naively circumstantial story characteristically told.
Though a republican, it is quite evident that Livy wishes to convey
the idea that Romulus, having by the creation of a body-guard aspired
to tyrannical power, was assassinated by the senate.--D.O.]
[Footnote 16: The reading in this section is uncertain.]
[Footnote 17: Two interpretations are given of this passage--(1)
that out of each decury one senator was chosen by lot to make up the
governing body of ten; (2) that each decury as a whole held office in
succession, so that one decury was in power for fifty days.]
[Footnote 18: At this time a grove: later it became one of the
artificers' quarters, lying beyond the forum and in the jaws of the
suburra, which stretched away over the level ground to the foot of the
Esquiline and Quirinal Hills.--D.O.]
[Footnote 19: Romulus had made his year to consist of ten months, the
first month being March, and the number of days in the year only 304,
which corresponded neither with the course of the sun nor moon. Numa,
who added the two months of January and February, divided the year
into twelve months, according to the course of the moon. This was the
lunar Greek year, and consisted of 354 days. Numa, however, adopted
355 days for his year, from his partiality to odd numbers. The lunar
year of 354 days fell short of the solar year by 11-1/4 days; this in
8 years amounted to (11-1/4 x 8) 90 days. These 90 days he divided
into 2 months of 22, and 2 of 23 days [(2 x 22) + (2 x 23) = 90],
and introduced them alternately every second year for two octennial
periods: every third octennial period, however, Numa intercalated only
66 days instead of 90 days--i. e., he inserted 3 months of only 22
days each. The reason was, because he adopted 355 days as the length
of his lunar year instead of 354, and this in 24 years (3 octennial
periods) produced an error of 24 days; this error was exactly
compensated by intercalating only 66 days (90--24) in the third
octennial period. The intercalations were generally made in the month
of February, after the 23d of the month. The management was left
to the pontiffs--ad metam eandem solis unde orsi essent--dies
congruerent; "that the days might correspond to the same
starting-point of the sun in the heavens whence they had set out."
That is, taking for instance the Tropic of Cancer for the place or
starting-point of the sun any one year, and observing that he was in
that point of the heavens on precisely the 21st of June, the object
was so to dispense the year, that the day on which the sun was
observed to arrive at that same meta or starting-point again, should
also be called the 21st of June.]
[Footnote 20: A more general form of the legend ran to the effect that
but one of these shields fell from heaven, and that the others
were made like it, to lessen the chance of the genuine one being
stolen.--D.O.]
[Footnote 21: The chief of the fetiales.]
[Footnote 22: This vervain was used for religious purposes, and
plucked up by the roots from consecrated ground; it was carried by
ambassadors to protect them from violence.]
[Footnote 23: This gate became later the starting-point of the Appian
Way.--D.O.]
[Footnote 24: An imaginary sacred line that marked the bounds of the
city. It did not always coincide with the line of the walls, but was
extended from time to time. Such extension could only be made by
a magistrate who had extended the boundaries of the empire by his
victories,--D.O.]