Hiring two men, they bade them go kill the king, and they should be well rewarded for their deed.
So the men disguised themselves as shepherds, and begged to be admitted to the presence of Tarquinius, that he might settle their dispute, for, so they pretended, they had quarrelled with one another while they tended their flocks.
When they stood before the king one of the shepherds began to tell a piteous tale. While Tarquinius was listening, the other suddenly raised his axe, and with one great blow killed the king. The false shepherds then fled from the palace.
But the sons of Ancus had forgotten that Tanaquil was left to thwart their plans.
No sooner was the king slain, than she ordered the doors of the palace to be closed. Then, when the people heard it rumoured that the king was dead and rushed to the palace, Tanaquil opened an upper window and spoke to the crowds below.
'The king is but wounded,' she told them, 'he is not dead. He has commanded that you should obey Servius until he is again able to rule.' But all the while Tarquinius lay in the palace, dead.
But the people, loyal, as they thought, to the wishes of their king, allowed Servius to rule. And the sons of Ancus knew that they had killed the king in vain.
A few days later it was known that the king was really dead; yet, although neither the Senate nor the people had chosen Servius to be king, he continued to sit upon the throne and to rule over Rome. Moreover, he was wise enough to try to win the hearts of the people by promising to give them land and to rule justly.
So well did he perform his royal duties, that when he called together an assembly of the people he was at once elected king.
