Ab urbe condita

Titus Livius (Livy)

Livy. History of Rome, Volumes 1-2. Roberts, Canon, Rev, translator. London, New York: J. M. Dent and Sons; E. P. Dutton and Co., 1912.

and therefore more accessible parts of the City .Amidst this vast population now that the State had become so enormously increased, the sense of right and wrong was obscured, and secret crimes were committed. To overawe the growing lawlessness a prison was built in the heart of the City overlooking the

Forum. The additions made by this king were not confined to the City. The Mesian Forest was taken from the Veientines and the Roman dominion extended to the sea, at the mouth of the Tiber the city of Ostia was built, salt pits were constructed on both sides of the river, and the temple of Jupiter Feretrius was enlarged in consequence of the brilliant successes in the war.

During[*](Migration of the Tarquins to Rome.) the reign of Ancus a wealthy and ambitious man named Lucumo removed to Rome, mainly with the hope and desire of winning high distinction, for which no opportunity had existed in Tarquinii, since there also he was an alien He was the son of Demaratus a Corinthian, who had been driven from home by a revolution, and who happened to settle in Tarquinii.

There he married and had two sons, their names were Lucumo and Arruns. Arruns died before his father, leaving his wife with child; Lucumo survived his father and inherited all his property. For Demaratus died shortly after Arruns, and being unaware of the condition of his daughter in law, had made no provision in his will for a grandchild.

The boy, thus excluded from any share of his grandfathers property was called in consequence of his poverty, Egerius. Lucumo, on the other hand, heir to all the property, became elated by his wealth and his ambition was stimulated by his marriage with Tanaquil.

This woman was descended from one of the foremost families in the State and could not bear the thought of her position by marriage being inferior to the one she claimed by birth. The Etruscans looked down upon Lucumo as the son of a foreign refugee; she could not brook this indignity and, forgetting all ties of patriotism if only she could see her husband honoured, resolved to emigrate from Tarquinii.

Rome seemed the most suitable place for her purpose. She felt that among a young nation where all nobility is a thing of recent growth and won by personal merit, there would be room for a man of courage and energy.

She remembered that the Sabine Tatius had reigned there, that Numa had been summoned from Cures to fill the throne, that Ancus himself was sprung from a Sabine mother, and could not trace his nobility beyond Numa. Her husband's ambition and the fact that Tarquinii was his native country only on the mother's side, made him give a ready ear to her proposals.