Editing Lucius Tarquinius Priscus

{{short description|King of Rome from 616 to 579 BC}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Lucius Tarquinius Priscus
| title        = 
| image        = Tarquinius-Priscus.jpg
| caption      = Portrait from ''[[Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum]]'' (1553) by [[Guillaume Rouillé]]
| succession   = [[King of Rome]]
| reign        = {{circa}} 616–578 BC
| predecessor  = [[Ancus Marcius]]
| successor    = [[Servius Tullius]]
| spouse       = [[Tanaquil]]
| issue        = {{unbulleted list|Tarquinia|[[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus|Lucius Tarquinius]]|[[Arruns Tarquinius (brother of Tarquin the Proud)|Arruns Tarquinius]]}}
| father       = [[Demaratus of Corinth]]
}}

'''Lucius Tarquinius Priscus''' ({{IPA|la-x-classic|tarˈkʷɪniʊs ˈpriːskʊs|lang|link=yes}}), or '''Tarquin the Elder''', was the legendary [[Kings of Rome|fifth king]] of [[Roman Kingdom|Rome]] and first of its [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] dynasty. He reigned for thirty-eight years.<ref name=":0">[[Livy]], ''[[ab urbe condita libri]]'', [[wikisource:From the Founding of the City/Book 1|I]]</ref> Tarquinius expanded Roman power through military conquest and grand architectural constructions. His wife was the prophetess [[Tanaquil]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Boccaccio, Giovanni, 1313–1375.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/50809003|title=Famous women|date=2001|publisher=Harvard University Press|others=Brown, Virginia, 1940–2009.|isbn=0-674-01130-9|location=Cambridge, Mass.|oclc=50809003}}</ref>

Not much is known about the early life of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. According to [[Livy]], Tarquin came from [[Etruria]]. Livy claims that his original [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] name was {{lang|la|Lucumo}}, but since ''[[lucumo]]'' is the latinized form of the Etruscan word {{lang|ett|lauchume}} "king", there is reason to believe that his name and title have been confused in the official tradition. After inheriting his father's entire fortune, Lucius attempted to gain a political office. However, he was prohibited from obtaining political office in [[Tarquinii]] because of the ethnicity of his father, [[Demaratus of Corinth|Demaratus]], who came from the [[Greece|Greek]] city of [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]]. As a result, his wife Tanaquil advised him to relocate to [[Rome]]. Legend has it that on his arrival in Rome in a [[chariot]], an eagle took his cap, flew away and then returned it back upon his head. Tanaquil, who was skilled in prophecy, interpreted this as an [[omen]] of his future greatness. In Rome, he attained respect through his courtesy. King [[Ancus Marcius]] noticed Tarquinius and, by his will, appointed Tarquinius guardian of his own sons.<ref name="ReferenceA">[[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#34|1:34]]</ref>

==King of Rome==
=== Rise to power ===
Although Ancus Marcius was the grandson of [[Numa Pompilius]], the second King of Rome, the principle of hereditary monarchy was not yet established at Rome; none of the first three kings had been succeeded by their sons, and each subsequent king had been acclaimed by the people.  Upon the death of Marcius, Tarquin addressed the ''[[Legislative Assemblies of the Roman Kingdom#Curiate Assembly|Comitia Curiata]]'' and convinced them that he should be elected king over his predecessor's natural sons, who were still only youths,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Henry Dyer|first=Thomas|title=The History of the Kings of Rome|publisher=Lippincott|year=1868|pages=230–270}}</ref> making him the first Roman king to ever actively succeed at lobbying for the throne.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Livy.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/191752403|title=The rise of Rome : books one to five|others=Luce, T. James (Torrey James), 1932–|date=2008|isbn=978-0-19-954004-4|edition=New|location=Oxford|page=140|oclc=191752403}}</ref> In one tradition, the sons were away on a hunting expedition at the time of their father's death, and were thus unable to affect the assembly's choice.<ref name=Livy135>[[Livy]], ''[[Ab urbe condita libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#35|1:35]]</ref>

=== Political reform ===
According to Livy, Tarquin increased the number of the [[Senate of the Roman Kingdom|Senate]] to 300 by adding one hundred men from the leading minor families.<ref name=Livy135/>  Among these was the family of the [[Octavia gens|Octavii]], from whom the first emperor, [[Augustus]], was descended.<ref>[[Suetonius]], ''The Life of Augustus'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Augustus*.html#2 2].</ref> He did so with the hope that those added to the Senate would be grateful for their position and thus loyal to him, strengthening his rule as king.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Penella|first=R. J.|date=2004-12-01|title=The Ambitio of Livy's Tarquinius Priscus|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cq/54.2.630|journal=The Classical Quarterly|volume=54|issue=2|pages=630–635|doi=10.1093/cq/54.2.630|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |issn=0009-8388}}</ref>[[File:Tarquin and the Eagle.gif|thumb|Tarquin and the Eagle|left]]

=== Military conquest ===
Lucius Tarquinius Priscus is accredited with expanding Rome's borders. He did so through conquest of the surrounding tribes. Those tribes were the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans.

==== War with the Latins ====
Tarquin's first war was waged against the [[Latin League#War with Rome under Tarquinius Priscus|Latins]]. Tarquinius took the Latin town of [[Apiolae]] by storm and took great booty from there back to Rome.<ref name=Livy135/>  According to the ''[[Fasti Triumphales]]'', this war must have occurred prior to 588 BC. The Latins claimed that peace treaties developed by [[Romulus]] and the other Roman kings no longer applied and as such, launched the first set of attacks. Seeing the opportunity to incorporate the Latins into Rome's ranks, Tarquin quickly responded by conquering multiple Latin cities. As a result, the Latins requested help from the [[Sabines]] and [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]]. Choosing not to split up his military power, Tarquin chose to keep the attack on the Latins, leading to a Roman victory.<ref name="Halicarnassus">{{Cite book|last=Halicarnassus|first=Dionysius|title=Rhōmaïkḕ Arkhaiología.}}</ref>

==== War with the Sabines ====
After conquering the Latins Tarquin began his assault on the Sabines. Having their basecamp at the corner of two rivers, the Sabines were able to move their troops quickly and efficiently. Using his military cunning Tarquin chose to launch a surprise attack on the base at night. He did this by setting a fleet of small boats aflame and then sending them down the river to set the Sabine camp on fire. While the Sabines were focused on dousing the flames, Tarquin and his troops moved in to dismantle the camp.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Halicarnassus|first=Dionysius|title=Rhōmaïkḕ Arkhaiología}}</ref>

Later, his military ability was then tested by an [[Roman-Sabine wars#War with Tarquinius Priscus|attack]] from the [[Sabines]]. Tarquin doubled the numbers of [[Roman equestrian order|equites]] to help the war effort.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The Sabines were defeated after difficult street fighting in the city of Rome.<ref name="Eutropius1.6">[[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]], ''Breviarium historiae romanae'', I, 6.</ref>  In the peace negotiations that followed, Tarquin received the town of [[Collatia]], and appointed his nephew, [[Arruns Tarquinius (Egerius)|Arruns Tarquinius]], better known as ''Egerius'', as commander of the garrison there. Tarquin returned to Rome and celebrated a [[Roman triumph|triumph]] on September 13, 585 BC.<ref>''Fasti Triumphales''</ref>

Subsequently, the Latin cities of [[Corniculum (ancient Latin town)|Corniculum]], old [[Ficulea (ancient Latin town)|Ficulea]], [[Cameria]], [[Crustumerium]], [[Ameriola]], [[Medullia]], and [[Nomentum]] were subdued and became Roman.<ref name="Livy138">[[Livy]], ''[[Ab urbe condita libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'', [[s:From the Founding of the City/Book 1#38|1:38]]</ref>

==== War with the Etruscans ====
Tarquin also wished to seek peace with the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscans]], but they refused. Since Tarquin had kept the captured Etruscan auxiliaries prisoners for meddling in the war with the Sabines, the five Etruscan cities who had taken part declared war on Rome.<ref name="Halicarnassus"/>  Seven other Etruscan cities joined forces with them. The Etruscans soon captured the Roman colony at Fidenae, which thereupon became the focal point of the war.  After several bloody battles, Tarquin was once again victorious, and he subjugated the Etruscan cities who had taken part in the war.  At the successful conclusion of each of his wars, Rome was enriched by Tarquin's plunder.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1905|title=''Outlines of Greek History, with a Survey of Ancient Oriental Nations'', By William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. (New York: The American Book Company. 1903. pp. 378) |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/ahr/10.2.371|journal=The American Historical Review|doi=10.1086/ahr/10.2.371|issn=1937-5239}}</ref>

=== Construction ===
[[File:Tarquin the Elder consulting Attus Nevius the Augur, Ricci, Sebastiano.png|thumb|254x254px|Tarquin the Elder consulting Attus Nevius the Augur]]
Tarquin is said to have built the [[Circus Maximus]], the first and largest stadium at Rome, for chariot racing.<ref name="EB1911"/> The Circus Maximus started out as an underwhelming piece of land, but was built into a grand and beautiful stadium. Raised seating was erected privately by the senators and equites, and other areas were marked out for private citizens. There the king established a series of annual games; according to Livy, the first horses and boxers to participate were brought from Etruria.<ref name=Livy135/> It received the name Circus Maximus as a way to set it apart from the other stadiums built at this time in a similar fashion.<ref>{{Citation|last=Gellius|first=Aulus|editor1-first=P. K|editor1-last=Marshall|title=Noctes Atticae|date=1968-03-13|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00134296|work=Oxford Classical Texts: Aulus Gellius Noctes Atticae, Vol. 1: Libri I–X|pages=1|publisher=Oxford University Press|doi=10.1093/oseo/instance.00134296|isbn=978-0-19-814651-3|access-date=2020-12-04}}</ref>

After a great flood, Tarquin drained the damp lowlands of Rome by constructing the [[Cloaca Maxima]], Rome's great sewer.<ref name="EB1911"/> The arch was constructed in 578 BC and took inspiration from Etruscan structures of the earlier period.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Campbell|first=Nicole|title=Columbia Encyclopedia|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2001|isbn=978-0787650155|edition=6th|location=New York|page=6}}</ref>  He also constructed a stone wall around the city, and began the construction of a temple in honour of [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]] Optimus Maximus on the [[Capitoline Hill]].  The latter is said to have been funded in part by the plunder seized from the Sabines.<ref name=Livy138/>

=== Shows of triumph ===
Tarquinius was the first Roman ruler to ever celebrate a Roman triumph. According to Florus, Tarquin celebrated his triumphs in the Etruscan fashion, riding a golden chariot drawn by four horses,<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Tarquinius Priscus, Lucius|volume=26|pages=430–431}}</ref> while wearing a gold-embroidered [[toga]] and the tunica palmata, a tunic upon which palm-leaves were embroidered.  He also introduced other Etruscan insignia of civilian authority and military distinction: the [[sceptre]] of the king; the [[trabea]], a purple garment that varied in form, but was perhaps most often used as a mantle; the [[fasces]] carried by the [[lictor]]s; the [[curule seat|curule chair]]; the [[toga#Varieties|toga praetexta]], later worn by various magistrates and officials; the rings worn by [[Roman Senate|senators]]; the [[paludamentum]], a cloak associated with military command; and the [[phalera (military decoration)|phalera]], a disc of metal worn on a soldier's breastplate during parades, or displayed on the standards of various military units.<ref name="Florus1.5.6">[[Florus]], ''Epitoma de Tito Livio bellorum omnium annorum DCC'', I, 5.6.</ref>  Strabo reports that Tarquin introduced Etruscan sacrificial and divinatory rites, as well as the [[Roman tuba|tuba]], a straight horn used chiefly for military purposes.<ref>Strabo, ''Geographia'', V, 2.2</ref> As a result, most classical Roman symbols for war harken back to his time as king.

==Death and succession==
Tarquin is said to have reigned for thirty-eight years.  According to legend, the sons of his predecessor, Ancus Marcius, believed that the throne should have been theirs.  They arranged the king's [[assassination]], disguised as a riot, during which Tarquin received a fatal blow to the head by an ax. However, the queen, Tanaquil, gave out that the king was merely wounded, and took advantage of the confusion to establish [[Servius Tullius]] as regent; when the death of Tarquin was confirmed, Tullius became king, in place of Tarquin's sons, or those of Ancus Marcius.

Tullius, said to have been the son of Servius Tullius, a prince of Corniculum who had fallen in battle against Tarquin, was brought to the palace as a child with his mother, Ocreisia. According to legend, Tanaquil discovered his potential for greatness by means of various omens, and therefore preferred him to her own sons.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Levy|title=Ab urbe condita|page=1:39}}</ref> Tullius married [[Tarquinia (wife of Servius Tullius)|Tarquinia]], one of the daughters of Priscus, thus providing a vital link between the families. His own daughters were subsequently married to Tarquin's sons (or, in some traditions, grandsons), Lucius and [[Arruns Tarquinius (brother of Tarquin the Proud)|Arruns]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Neel|first=Jaclyn|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/895116581|title=Legendary rivals : collegiality and ambition in the tales of early Rome|year= 2014|isbn=978-90-04-28185-1|location=Leiden|oclc=895116581}}</ref>

Most ancient writers regarded Tarquin as the father of [[Lucius Tarquinius Superbus]], the seventh and last King of Rome, but some stated that the younger Tarquin was his grandson.  As the younger Tarquin died about 496 BC, more than eighty years after Tarquinius Priscus, the chronology seems to support the latter tradition.  An Etruscan legend related by the emperor [[Claudius]] equates Servius Tullius with ''Macstarna'' (apparently the Etruscan equivalent of the Latin ''magister''), a companion of the Etruscan heroes Aulus and [[Caelius Vibenna]], who helped free the brothers from captivity, slaying their captors, including a Roman named Gnaeus Tarquinius.  This episode is depicted in a fresco at the tomb of the Etruscan Saties family at [[Volci|Vulci]], now known as the [[François Tomb]].  This tradition suggests that perhaps the sons of the elder Tarquin attempted to seize power, but were defeated by the regent, Servius Tullius, and his companions; Tullius would then have attempted to end the dynastic struggle by marrying his daughters to the grandsons of Tarquinius Priscus.  However, this plan ultimately failed, as Tullius was himself assassinated at the instigation of his son-in-law, who succeeded him.

==See also==
* [[Tarquinia gens]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* [[Livy]], ''[[Wikisource:From the Founding of the City|Ab urbe condita]]'' [[File:Wikisource-logo.svg|15px]]
* [[Florus]], ''[[Wikisource:Epitome of Roman History/Book 1|Epitoma de Tito Livio bellorum omnium annorum DCC]]'' [[File:Wikisource-logo.svg|15px]]
* [[Eutropius (historian)|Eutropius]], ''[[Wikisource:Abridgement of Roman History|Breviarium historiae romanae]]'' [[File:Wikisource-logo.svg|15px]]

== External links ==
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080505101908/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/3310.html Stemma Tarquiniorum]}}, Tarquinius family tree

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg | leg }}
{{s-bef | before = [[Ancus Marcius]] }}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[King of Rome]] | years = 616–579 }}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Servius Tullius]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Kings of Rome}}
{{Etruscans}}
{{Roman religion}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:570s BC deaths]]
[[Category:7th-century BC Romans]]
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[[Category:6th-century BC monarchs]]
[[Category:Etruscan kings]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:Tarquinii]]
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[[Category:Assassinated ancient Roman politicians]]