| Lucius Tarquinius Priscus | |
|---|---|
 Portrait fromPromptuarium Iconum Insigniorum (1553) byGuillaume Rouillé | |
| King of Rome | |
| Reign | c. 616–578 BC |
| Predecessor | Ancus Marcius |
| Successor | Servius Tullius |
| Spouse | Tanaquil |
| Issue |
|
| Father | Demaratus of Corinth |
Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (Classical Latin:[tarˈkʷɪniʊsˈpriːskʊs]), orTarquin the Elder, was the legendaryfifth king ofRome and first of itsEtruscan dynasty. He reigned for thirty-eight years.[1] Tarquinius expanded Roman power through military conquest and grand architectural constructions. His wife was the prophetessTanaquil.[2]
Not much is known about the early life of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. According toLivy, Tarquin came fromEtruria. Livy claims that his originalEtruscan name wasLucumo, but sincelucumo is the latinized form of the Etruscan wordlauchume "king", there is reason to believe that his name and title have been confused in the official tradition. After inheriting his father's entire fortune, Lucius attempted to gain a political office. However, he was prohibited from obtaining political office inTarquinii because of the ethnicity of his father,Demaratus, who came from theGreek city ofCorinth. As a result, his wife Tanaquil advised him to relocate toRome. Legend has it that on his arrival in Rome in achariot, an eagle took his cap, flew away and then returned it back upon his head. Tanaquil, who was skilled in prophecy, interpreted this as anomen of his future greatness. In Rome, he attained respect through his courtesy. KingAncus Marcius noticed Tarquinius and, by his will, appointed Tarquinius guardian of his own sons.[3]
Although Ancus Marcius was the grandson ofNuma Pompilius, the second King of Rome, the principle of hereditary monarchy was not yet established at Rome; none of the first three kings had been succeeded by their sons, and each subsequent king had been acclaimed by the people. Upon the death of Marcius, Tarquin addressed theComitia Curiata and convinced them that he should be elected king over his predecessor's natural sons, who were still only youths,[4] making him the first Roman king to ever actively succeed at lobbying for the throne.[5] In one tradition, the sons were away on a hunting expedition at the time of their father's death, and were thus unable to affect the assembly's choice.[6]
According to Livy, Tarquin increased the number of theSenate to 200 by adding one hundred men from the leading minor families, and were accordingly called thepatres minorum gentium.[6] Among these was the family of theOctavii, from whom the first emperor,Augustus, was descended.[7] He did so with the hope that those added to the Senate would be grateful for their position and thus loyal to him, strengthening his rule as king.[8]
Lucius Tarquinius Priscus is accredited with expanding Rome's borders. He did so through conquest of the surrounding tribes. Those tribes were the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans.
Tarquin's first war was waged against theLatins. Tarquinius took the Latin town ofApiolae by storm and took great booty from there back to Rome.[6] According to theFasti Triumphales, this war must have occurred prior to 588 BC. The Latins claimed that peace treaties developed byRomulus and the other Roman kings no longer applied and as such, launched the first set of attacks. Seeing the opportunity to incorporate the Latins into Rome's ranks, Tarquin quickly responded by conquering multiple Latin cities. As a result, the Latins requested help from theSabines andEtruscans. Choosing not to split up his military power, Tarquin chose to keep the attack on the Latins, leading to a Roman victory.[9]
After conquering the Latins Tarquin began his assault on the Sabines. Having their basecamp at the corner of two rivers, the Sabines were able to move their troops quickly and efficiently. Using his military cunning Tarquin chose to launch a surprise attack on the base at night. He did this by setting a fleet of small boats aflame and then sending them down the river to set the Sabine camp on fire. While the Sabines were focused on dousing the flames, Tarquin and his troops moved in to dismantle the camp.[10]
Later, his military ability was then tested by anattack from theSabines. Tarquin doubled the numbers ofequites to help the war effort.[3] The Sabines were defeated after difficult street fighting in the city of Rome.[11] In the peace negotiations that followed, Tarquin received the town ofCollatia, and appointed his nephew,Arruns Tarquinius, better known asEgerius, as commander of the garrison there. Tarquin returned to Rome and celebrated atriumph on September 13, 585 BC.[12]
Subsequently, the Latin cities ofCorniculum, oldFiculea,Cameria,Crustumerium,Ameriola,Medullia, andNomentum were subdued and became Roman.[13]
Tarquin also wished to seek peace with theEtruscans, but they refused. Since Tarquin had kept the captured Etruscan auxiliaries prisoners for meddling in the war with the Sabines, the five Etruscan cities who had taken part declared war on Rome.[9] Seven other Etruscan cities joined forces with them. The Etruscans soon captured the Roman colony at Fidenae, which thereupon became the focal point of the war. After several bloody battles, Tarquin was once again victorious, and he subjugated the Etruscan cities who had taken part in the war. At the successful conclusion of each of his wars, Rome was enriched by Tarquin's plunder.[14]
Tarquin is said to have built theCircus Maximus, the first and largest stadium at Rome, for chariot racing.[15] The Circus Maximus started out as an underwhelming piece of land, but was built into a grand and beautiful stadium. Raised seating was erected privately by the senators and equites, and other areas were marked out for private citizens. There the king established a series of annual games; according to Livy, the first horses and boxers to participate were brought from Etruria.[6] It received the name Circus Maximus as a way to set it apart from the other stadiums built at this time in a similar fashion.[16]
After a great flood, Tarquin drained the damp lowlands of Rome by constructing theCloaca Maxima, Rome's great sewer.[15] The arch was constructed in 578 BC and took inspiration from Etruscan structures of the earlier period.[17] He also constructed a stone wall around the city, and began the construction of a temple in honour ofJupiter Optimus Maximus on theCapitoline Hill. The latter is said to have been funded in part by the plunder seized from the Sabines.[13]
Tarquinius was the first Roman ruler to ever celebrate a Roman triumph. According to Florus, Tarquin celebrated his triumphs in the Etruscan fashion, riding a golden chariot drawn by four horses,[15] while wearing a gold-embroideredtoga and the tunica palmata, a tunic upon which palm-leaves were embroidered. He also introduced other Etruscan insignia of civilian authority and military distinction: thesceptre of the king; thetrabea, a purple garment that varied in form, but was perhaps most often used as a mantle; thefasces carried by thelictors; thecurule chair; thetoga praetexta, later worn by various magistrates and officials; the rings worn bysenators; thepaludamentum, a cloak associated with military command; and thephalera, a disc of metal worn on a soldier's breastplate during parades, or displayed on the standards of various military units.[18] Strabo reports that Tarquin introduced Etruscan sacrificial and divinatory rites, as well as thetuba, a straight horn used chiefly for military purposes.[19] As a result, most classical Roman symbols for war harken back to his time as king.
Tarquin is said to have reigned for thirty-eight years. According to legend, the sons of his predecessor, Ancus Marcius, believed that the throne should have been theirs. They arranged the king'sassassination, disguised as a riot, during which Tarquin received a fatal blow to the head by an ax. However, the queen, Tanaquil, gave out that the king was merely wounded, and took advantage of the confusion to establishServius Tullius as regent; when the death of Tarquin was confirmed, Tullius became king, in place of Tarquin's sons, or those of Ancus Marcius.
Tullius, said to have been the son of Servius Tullius, a prince of Corniculum who had fallen in battle against Tarquin, was brought to the palace as a child with his mother, Ocreisia. According to legend, Tanaquil discovered his potential for greatness by means of various omens, and therefore preferred him to her own sons.[20] Tullius marriedTarquinia, one of the daughters of Priscus, thus providing a vital link between the families. His own daughters were subsequently married to Tarquin's sons (or, in some traditions, grandsons), Lucius andArruns.[21]
Most ancient writers regarded Tarquin as the father ofLucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome, but some stated that the younger Tarquin was his grandson. As the younger Tarquin died about 496 BC, more than eighty years after Tarquinius Priscus, the chronology seems to support the latter tradition. An Etruscan legend related by the emperorClaudius equates Servius Tullius withMacstarna (apparently the Etruscan equivalent of the Latinmagister), a companion of the Etruscan heroes Aulus andCaelius Vibenna, who helped free the brothers from captivity, slaying their captors, including a Roman named Gnaeus Tarquinius. This episode is depicted in a fresco at the tomb of the Etruscan Saties family atVulci, now known as theFrançois Tomb. This tradition suggests that perhaps the sons of the elder Tarquin attempted to seize power, but were defeated by the regent, Servius Tullius, and his companions; Tullius would then have attempted to end the dynastic struggle by marrying his daughters to the grandsons of Tarquinius Priscus. However, this plan ultimately failed, as Tullius was himself assassinated at the instigation of his son-in-law, who succeeded him.
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