Editing Servius Tullius (section)

===Assassination===

In Livy's history, Servius Tullius had two daughters, Tullia the Elder and Tullia the Younger. He arranged their marriage to the two sons of his predecessor, [[Tarquinius Superbus|Lucius Tarquinius]] and [[Arruns Tarquinius (brother of Tarquin the Proud)|Arruns Tarquinius]]. The younger Tullia and Lucius procured the murders of their respective siblings, married, and conspired to remove Servius Tullius. Tullia Minor encouraged Lucius Tarquinius to secretly persuade or bribe senators, and Tarquinius went to the [[Curia Hostilia|senate-house]] with a group of armed men. Then he summoned the [[Roman Senate|senators]] and gave a speech criticising Servius: for being a slave born of a slave; for failing to be elected by the Senate and the people during an [[interregnum]], as had been the tradition for the election of kings of Rome; for being gifted the throne by a woman; for favouring the lower classes of Rome over the wealthy; for taking the land of the upper classes for distribution to the poor; and for instituting the census, which exposed the wealthy upper classes to popular envy.<ref>Livy, Ab urbe condita, [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#42|1.42]], [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#46|1.46]], [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#47|1.47]].</ref>

When Servius Tullius arrived at the senate-house to defend his position, Tarquinius threw him down the steps and Servius was murdered in the street by Tarquin's men. Soon after, Tullia drove her chariot over her father's body. For Livy, Tarquinius' impious refusal to permit his father-in-law's burial earned him the sobriquet ''Superbus'' (“arrogant” or “proud”),<ref>Livy, ''Ab urbe condita'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#49|1.49]]</ref> and Servius' death is a "tragic crime" (''tragicum scelus''), a dark episode in Rome's history and just cause for the abolition of the monarchy. Servius thus becomes the last of Rome's benevolent kings; the place of this outrage – which Livy seems to suggest as a crossroads – is known thereafter as ''Vicus Sceleratus'' (street of shame, infamy or crime).<ref>The Compital shrines of the ''Lares'' of the ''vici'' (s.''vicus'') or political wards were sited at crossroads; cf their popular association with Servius Tullius.</ref> His murder is [[parricide]], the worst of all crimes. This morally justifies Tarquin's eventual expulsion and the abolition of Rome's aberrant, "un-Roman" monarchy. Livy's Republic is partly founded on the achievements and death of Rome's last benevolent king.<ref>Feldherr, Andrew. ''Spectacle and Society in Livy's History''. Berkeley:  University of California Press, c1998 (online) [http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view?docId=ft1g500491;chunk.id=d0e11183;doc.view=print]</ref>