TARPEIAN ROCK 



5706 



TARTAN 



comedy, The Man from Home, which proved 

 a very successful stage production, greatly in- 

 creased his popularity. Other later works were 

 Cameo Kirby, Springtime, Your Humble Serv- 

 ant, Penrod and Getting a Polish. 



TARPEIAN, tahrpe'yan, ROCK, a steep 

 rock forming part of the Capitoline Hill at 

 Rome. According to tradition it was named 

 for Tarpeia, the daughter of the governor of 

 the Roman citadel in the time of Romulus. 



THE TARPEIAN ROCK 

 As it appears in the twentieth century. . 



Desiring greatly the golden bracelets worn by 

 the Sabine enemies of Rome, Tarpeia treach- 

 erously opened to them the gate of the for- 

 tress, having first gained from the Sabines a 

 promise that they would give her what they 

 wore on their left arms. Once within the cita- 

 del they cast their shields upon her and crushed 

 her to death. She was buried at the foot of 

 the rock, which ever afterward bore her name. 

 In later periods of Roman history those con- 

 victed of treason were ordinarily killed by be- 

 ing thrown from the Tarpeian Rock. 



TARPON, tahr'pon, a large game fish shaped 

 somewhat like a salmon, found in West Indian 

 waters and off the southern Atlantic coast of 

 the United States. It grows to the length of 

 nearly six feet and frequently weighs 100 

 pounds. The flesh is coarse and not desirable 

 for food, but the large, tough, silvery scales are 

 used in decorative designs. Tarpon fishing is 

 one of the best American sports, for the fish is 

 a skilful fighter and very strong. 



TARQUINIUS, tahrkwin'ius, Lucius, sur- 

 named PRISCUS, the fifth legendary king of 

 Rome, who reigned from 616 to 578 B.C. He 

 was not of royal blood, but succeeded in gain- 

 ing the throne on the death of Ancus Marcius, 

 to whose sons he had been appointed guardian. 

 His reign was one of the periods to which later 



Rome looked back longingly in times of trouble 

 or depression. He waged successful war against 

 the Sabines and the Latin cities, made vassals 

 of the powerful Etruscan cities (see ETRURIA), 

 and began many great public works, among 

 which were the cloacae, or sewers, the Circus 

 Maximus, and the Temple of Jupiter, on the 

 Capitoline Hill. It was he, according to some 

 legends, who acquired the Sibylline books, 

 though other traditions connect these famous 

 documents with Tarquinius Superbus. He was 

 assassinated by the sons of Ancus Marcius. 



TARQUINIUS, Lucius, surnamed SUPERBUS 

 THE PROUD, the last ctf the legendary kings of 

 Rome, whose reign was from 534 to 510 B.C. 

 He was the son of Tarquinius Priscus and the 

 son-in-law of Servius Tullius, whom he had 

 put to death to secure his own accession. He 

 at once annulled all of the reforms of his 

 predecessor, depriving the lower classes of their 

 rights and catering to the patrician class. His 

 tyranny won for him general hatred, and the 

 crime of his son, Sextus Tarquinius', against 

 Lucretia precipitated a rising which drove Tar- 

 quinius from the throne and resulted in the 

 founding of the Roman republic. Several un- 

 successful attempts were made to replace Tar- 

 quinius on the throne, the most famous of 

 which was that of Lars Porsena, celebrated by 

 Macaulay in his Horatius at the Bridge. 



TARSUS, tahr'sus, the most important town 

 in ancient Cilicia, in Asia Minor, and the 

 birthplace of the Apostle Paul. He spoke of it 

 as "no mean city." Located in a fertile plain 

 on the banks of the River Cydnus, twelve 

 miles from the sea, Tarsus was a center of 

 commerce from very early times. In the days 

 of Paul it was one of the "free cities" of the 

 Roman Empire and was renowned as a center 

 of education and culture. Modern Tarsus, 

 though it has a population of 25,000, is a back- 

 ward and unattractive Turkish town, with no 

 features of interest other than a few ruins of 

 the Roman era. 



TARTAN, tahr'tan, from the French tire- 

 taine and the Spanish tiritana, meaning a thin 

 woolen or silken cloth, is the name of a worsted 

 cloth checkered or crossbarred with threads 

 of different colors. Tartan is historically asso- 

 ciated with the costumes of the Highland- 

 ers of Scotland, and according to tradition 

 each of the numerous clans had its own dis- 

 tinguishing tartan or plaid. Thus there was 

 the tartan of Campbell of Argyll, light green 

 crossed with dark green, with narrow, inde- 

 pendent crosslines of white; the Macdonald of 



