in the care of Tarquinius. But he, alas! betrayed his trust that he might satisfy his own ambition.
After the death of the king, Tarquinius, pretending that he wished to make the sons of Ancus forget their grief, persuaded them to go away from the city to hunt.
In their absence the false friend appealed to the people to make him king, and this they did.
Tarquinius had gained his power by a treacherous deed, but by his courage on the battlefield he won the admiration of his subjects.
He fought against the Latins, and made many of their cities subject to Rome. And when the Sabines took up arms and marched almost to the gates of the city, Tarquinius, vowing that if Jupiter would come to his aid he would build a temple in his honour, rushed against the foe and drove it away.
Flushed with victory, he then went to war with the Etruscans, and forced them to acknowledge him as their king.
As a sign of their subjection the conquered tribe sent to Tarquinius royal gifts—a golden crown, a sceptre, an ivory chair, an embroidered tunic, a purple toga, and twelve axes tied up in bundles of rods.
These gifts the king sent before him to Rome as a proof of his victory over the Etruscans.
Then, when peace was at length proclaimed, Tarquinius remembered the vow he had made to Jupiter, and began to build a temple on the Capitoline hill.
As the workmen were digging, in order to lay a good foundation, they found a human head. This was a sign, so said those who knew, that the spot on which the head had been buried should become the chief place of worship in Rome.
The temple, when it was finished, was named the Capitol, and in days to come it was indeed looked upon as the most sacred building in the city.
Although Tarquinius was but a usurper, yet he did all that he could to improve the kingdom over which he ruled.
