The Story of the Roman People Day 9

22 STORY OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE

and offered him the six at the same price that she had asked for the nine. The woman is surely mad , Tarquinius de clared . She made no reply , but went away again , and a little later offered him the last three books , but still at the same price. The affair was so remarkable that Tarquinius began to think the books must have been sent by the gods . He paid the price and took them . They proved to be pro phecies about the future of the city . They were preserved with the utmost care and were consulted whenever the city seemed to be in danger. The strange woman was the Sib'yl of Cu'mæ . She vanished and was never seen again . The books were known as the Sib'yl- line Books, and were counted among the greatest treasures of Rome .

Tarquinius was successful in war , but he could not subdue the Ga'bi- i. This his false son Sex'tus undertook to do for him . He fled to them covered with blood and begged them to protect him from his father. They treated him kindly , and gave him command of a band of soldiers . In the first engagement, Sextus and his band put the Romans to flight for this was what he and Tarquinius had agreed upon . Now the Gabii were so sure that Sextus was true to them that they made him leader of their whole army . Then Sextus treach erously surrendered the town to the Romans .

| Tarquinius had done so many evil deeds that it is small wonder he became afraid the gods would punish him . A serpent gliding out of a wooden pillar frightened him , and he sent two of his sons to the oracle of the Greeks at Del'phi to ask what the sight foreboded . With them went their cousin , who was called Bru'tus, or the fool, because he pre

tended to be foolish lest Tarquinius should put him to death . The two sons had a question of their own to ask : Who would reign after their father ? The or acle replied, He who first kisses his mo ther. When they returned to Rome, Brutus pretended to stumble and fell. No one noticed that he slyly kissed the ground, and no one knew until afterwards that he said to himself , The earth is the mother of us all."

Sextus , who had deceived the Gabii, was the worst of the three sons . One day he insulted so grievously the good Lu -cre' ti-a , wife of one of his cousins, that she called upon her father and her husband to avenge her, and then in grief and shame she plunged a knife into her heart . At this Brutus stood out boldly before the people and recounted the evil deeds of Tarquinius and his sons . He pleaded with the Romans to drive the tyrant from the throne , and they agreed. Moreover , they declared that never again should a king reign over them, and they even decreed that if any one should venture to say he wished a return of the kingly rule , he should be put to death as an enemy to the state . This took place in 509 B.C. That date marks the end of the kingdom , for Rome now became a re public .

ARMY -LEADER IN HIS MANTLE

The six kings who followed Romulus were :

1. Numa Pompilius, who taught his people to worship the gods and cultivate the ground.

2. Tullus Hostilius , who became ruler of Alba Longa by the vic tory of Horatius over the Curiatii .

3. Ancus Martius , who attended closely to his religious duties and strengthened the fortifications of Rome .

4. Lucius Tarquinius Priscus , who overcame the Etruscans, and built the Capitol, the Cloaca Maxima, and the Circus Maximus.

5. Servius Tullius , who required all landowners to join the army, and divided the people into five classes according to their prop erty in land . He divided the city into four wards , he built a wall around it , and established the census. The comitia centuriata originated in his reign .

6. Tarquinius Superbus , who murdered Servius Tullius . He purchased the Sibylline Books . His son Sextus overcame the Gabii by treachery . Brutus aroused the Romans to expel the king . The kingdom now became a republic.

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK

An Alban woman tells the story of her removal to Rome . Describe the Capitol ( from a picture ) .

Tanaquil tells Servius of the harmless flame. The coming of the Sibyl as described by Tarquinius.