Editing Tullus Hostilius (section)

==Death==
According to [[Livy]], Tullus paid little heed to religious observances during his reign, thinking them unworthy of a king's attention.  However, at the close of his reign, Rome was affected by a series of prophecies including a shower of stones on the [[Monte Cavo|Alban Mount]] (in response to which a public religious festival of nine days was held – a ''[[Roman funerary practices#Novendialis|novendialis]]''), a loud voice was heard on the summit of the mount complaining that the Albans had failed to show devotion to their former gods, and a pestilence struck in Rome. King Tullus became ill and was filled with superstition. He reviewed the commentaries of Numa Pompilius and attempted to carry out sacrifices recommended by him.  However, Tullus did not undertake the ceremony to [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter Elicius]] correctly, and both he and his house were struck by lightning and reduced to ashes as a result of the anger of Jupiter.

There are two stories concerning the death of Tullus Hostilius and his family. The first is that his house was hit by lightning and burned to the ground with no survivors. The second is that Ancus Marcius and some of his followers went to Tullus Hostilius's home with swords hidden under their robes. Once inside the home, the party killed Tullus, his family, and their servants and razed the property to ensure there would be no heir to the throne. <ref>{{Cite book|title=Dionysius of Halicarnassus (lll.35.3-4.)}}</ref><ref name=":022"/>