The Kingdom. R O 
to determine it by ■ single combat betwixt himself and 
Fuffetius. This proposal, however, the Alban general 
declined; and it was at last agreed, that three champions 
should be chosen out of each camp to decide the differ¬ 
ence. 
Hence occurred that famous contest between the Horatii 
and Curiatii, of which the followingisan account. The Hora¬ 
tii were three brothers, Romans; the Curiatii three brothers, 
Sabines. The arena of the combat lay between the mar¬ 
shalled hosts of the Romans and Albans. The combatants 
took their station in the midst of the hopes and anxieties of 
their countrymen, and the glittering of their burnished swords 
and the clashing of their arms indicated the commencement 
of that fatal encounter. Three of the Albans were soon 
wounded, and two of the Romans having fallen dead beneath 
their blows, the surviving, but unhurt Roman, was soon 
surrounded by the three wounded Curiatii. Unable to con¬ 
tend with three antagonists, the Roman immediately retreated, 
and was followed at unequal distances by the three wounded 
Curiatii. No sooner did he perceive that he had succeeded, 
in separating his enemies, than he turned round upon the 
nearest, and having slain him at one blow, he flew to en¬ 
counter the second, whom he dispatched before the third 
could come to his assistance. The joyful shouts which had 
so lately resounded from among the Alban legions, were 
now transferred to the Roman line. The wounded and 
dispirited Alban became an easy prey to the victorious 
Roman, and yielded up with his life the sovereignty of 
Alba. 
This episode is rendered prettier by the introduction of 
female interest. It is said that previous to the war an 
affection had subsisted between the sister of the Horatii and one 
of the Curiatii: when this lady saw her brother returning 
crowned with the spoils and imbued with the blood of her 
•lover, she could not forbear reproaching him. Upon which, 
indignant at her want of patriotism, he killed her. For this 
brutal act he was condemned to death, but was pardoned by 
the people. 
In gratitude for the public deliverance by th» Horatii, 
Tull us decreed that whenever three sons were born at one birth, 
they should be brought up at the public charge. 
Of the death of Tullus nothing certain is known; some say 
he was killed by lightning, others by Ancus Martins who 
succeeded him. His reign lasted, according to the Roman 
historians, 33 years. 
Ancus Martius, the fourth king of Rome, grandson to 
Numa, inherited his virtues, to which he joined the talents 
of a warrior. He greatly increased the population of Rome, 
by naturalizing the conquered states; and he built the port 
of Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber, and a large prison. The 
Romans under this king first adopted the stratagem of mill¬ 
ing cities. His reign continued twenty-four years. 
Ancus left two sons behind him, one an infant, and the 
other about 15 years of age. Both of these he put under 
the tuition of Tarquin, the son of a rich merchant in Corinth, 
who had fled from that city to secure his wealth from 
Cypselus, tyrant of the place. He settled in Tarquinii, one 
of the principal cities in Etruria; but finding that he could 
not there attain to any of the principal posts in the city on 
account of his foreign extraction, he removed’to Rome, where 
he had been gradually raised to the rank of patrician and 
senator. The death of Ancus Martius gave him an oppor¬ 
tunity of assuming the regal dignity, and setting aside his 
pupils; and in the beginning of his reign he took care to 
strengthen his party in the senate by adding another hundred 
to that body. These were called senatores minorum gen- 
tium ,-because they were chosen out of the plebeians; how¬ 
ever, they had the same authority in the senate as the 
others, and their children were called patricians. 
Tarquin was not inferior to any of his predecessors either 
in his inclination or abilities to carry on a war. As soon as 
he ascended the throne, he recommenced hostilities with the 
Latins; from whom he took the cities of Apiolae, Crustu- 
minum, Nomen turn, and Collatia. The inhabitants of 
Apiolee were sold for slaves; but those of Crustuminum and 
M E. The Kingdom. 219 
Nomentum, who had submitted after their revolt, were treated 
with great clemency. The inhabitants of Collatia were dis¬ 
armed, and obliged to pay a large sum of money; the sove¬ 
reignty of it, in the mean time, being given to Egerius, the 
son of Arunx, Tarquin’s brother; from whence he took the 
name of Collatinus, which he transmitted to his posterity. 
Corniculum, another city of Latium, was taken by storm, 
and reduced to ashes. This progress having greatly alarmed 
the Latins, several of them joined their forces in order to 
oppose such a formidable enemy; but being defeated in a 
bloody battle near Fidenae, they were obliged to enter into 
an alliance with Rome; upon which the Latins having held 
a national conference, entered into a league with the Etru¬ 
rians, and again took the field with a very numerous army. 
But Tarquin, having defeated the confederate armies in two 
very bloody battles, obliged the Latin cities to submit to a 
kind of dependence on Rome; and having entered the city 
in triumph, built the circus maximus with the spoils which 
he had taken from the enemy. 
The war with the Latins was scarcelyended, when another 
commenced with Etruria. This powerful nation raised a 
great army, with which they ravaged the Roman territory, 
and took Fidense. Tarquin, not being in a condition to 
oppose them at first, was obliged to submit to the loss oc¬ 
casioned by their ravages for a whole year; after which he took 
the field, and at Eretum, a place about ten miles from Rome, 
defeated them with great slaughter, for which victory he was 
decreed a triumph by the senate; while the enemy, disheart¬ 
ened by so many misfortunes, were glad to sue for peace; 
which Tarquin readily granted, upon the sole condition of 
their owning his superiority over them. In compliance with 
this, the Etrurians sent him all the ensigns of royalty which 
were in use among them, viz. a crown of gold, a throne of 
ivory, a sceptre with an eagle on the top of it, a tunic em¬ 
broidered with gold, and adorned with figures of palm 
branches, together with a purple robe enriched with flowers 
of several colours. 
Tarquin, having now obtained some respite from war, 
applied himself to the beautifying and ornamenting the city. 
He built the walls of Rome with hewn stone, and erected 
those famous common sewers which have deservedly been 
accounted one of the wonders of the world, and have led 
some to suppose that Rome was built on the site of an ancient 
and populous city. 
Besides these great works, Tarquin adorned the Forum, 
surrounding it with galleries in which were shops for trades¬ 
men, and building temples in it for the youth of both sexes, 
and halls for the administration of public justice. He next 
engaged in a war with the Sabines, on pretence that 
they had assisted the Etrurians. Both armies took 
the field, and came to an engagement on the confines of 
Sabinia, without any considerable advantage on either side; 
neither was any thing of consequence done during the whole 
campaign. Tarquin then, considering with himself that the 
Roman forces were very deficient in cavalry, resolved to add 
some new bodies of knights to those already instituted by 
Romulus. But this project met with great opposition from 
the superstitious augurs. > r 
The king contented himself with augmenting the number 
in each body. He then renewed the war with the Sabines, 
ravaged their country, defeated them in three pitched battles, 
obliging them at last to submit to him and put him in pos¬ 
session of their country. In the decline of life he employed 
himself in further decorating the city, building temples, kci 
He was assassinated in his palace, in the 80th year of his age, 
by the sons of Ancus Martius, whom he had originally de¬ 
prived of the kingdom. 
After the death of Tarquin I. his wife Tanaquil preserved 
the kingdom for her son-in-law Servius Tullius, by artfully 
giving out that the king was only stunned, and would soon' 
recover; upon which the sons of Aliens ran away. The 
second day after his decease, Servius Tullius heard causes 
from the throne in the royal robes and attended by the lic- 
torsj but as he pretended only to supply the king’s place till 
he should recover, and thought' it incumbent on him to 
revenge 
