The Republic. ROM 
forbade'his countrymen to hope for deliverance by the death 
of Tarquin, since his sons would succeedand of the first 
of these sons he shewed them the achievement testified by 
the dead body before him. The orator then artfully in¬ 
sinuated, that the gods, by directing Tarquin to his camp, 
had given the Romans the present opportunity of emancipa¬ 
tion. He finished by informing them, that the patricians 
were ready to support the cause of the people. Such an 
appeal could not be made in vain. The plebes rushed to 
ar ms ; the senate decreed the perpetual banishment of the 
Tarquins; and Lucretius, the father of Lucretia, was ap¬ 
pointed temporarily governor of the city. 
In a short time it was resolved, that the title of king should 
be conferred only on the chief sacrificer who had no share 
in the temporal government; and that the regulations of 
Servius Tullius should be restored. 
The Romans next proceeded to elect two consuls. This 
title, derived from consular, to consult, would seem to im- 
ply that those who bore it were accordingly only the exe¬ 
cutive power who were to ask the advice or commands of 
the people. They were, however, obedient to no other 
authority; they had the command of the army and the 
office of judges, and the law which defined their duties was 
merely this general exhortation: O/lis salus populi su- 
prtpma lex. They had a guard of lictors, an ivory throne, 
and on great’occasions, carried a sceptre as the kings had 
done. 
Brutus and Collatinus, the husbands of Lucretia, were the 
first consuls. The establishment of the consulship was 
owing to Brutus, but it is said by some, that he received 
the suggestion of it from a plan drawn out by Servius Tul¬ 
lius for abolishing the regal dignity. 
The duration of the kingdom of Rome is computed at 
243 or 244 years, but as in this time only seven kings 
reigned, of whom three met with violent deaths, and one 
was dethroned, the account is perhaps greater than it ought 
to be. 
The Roman Republic. 
The Romans now congratulated themselves on their happy 
deliverance from tyranny. However, as Tarquin had by his 
policy procured himself many friends abroad, these now 
became enemies to the Roman name: and, by the defection 
of their allies, the Roman dominions were left in much the 
same state as they had been in the time of Romulus. The 
territory of Rome had always been confined to a very narrow 
compass. Though almost constantly victorious in war for 
243 years, they had not yet gained land enough to supply 
their city with provisions. The main strength of the state lay 
in the number of the citizens of Rome; which the custom 
of transplanting the inhabitants of the conquered cities 
thither had so prodigiously increased, that it put the Romans 
in a condition of usurping the authority over other nations, 
the most inconsiderable of which had an extent of territory 
far exceeding theirs. By frequent depredations and incursions 
they so harassed the petty states of Latium and Etruria, that 
many of them were constrained to enter into treaties with 
Rome, by which they obliged themselves to furnish her with 
auxiliaries whenever she should be pleased to invade and 
pillage the lands of her other neighbours. Submissions of 
this kind the Romans called making alliances with them, and 
these useful alliances supplied the want of a larger territory; 
but now, upon the change of her government, all the allies 
of Rome forsook her at once, and either stood neuter, 
or espoused the cause of the banished king; so that 
she was now obliged to maintain her liberties as she best 
might. 
The new consuls in the mean time took the most effectual 
methods they could for securing the liberties of the republic. 
The army which had been employed in the siege of Ardea 
by Tarquin deserted him and marched home under the 
conduct of Herminius and Horatius, who concluded a truce 
with the Ardeates for 15 years. The consuls then again 
assembled the people by centuries, and had the decree of 
E. The Republic. ’ 223 
Tarquin’s banishment confirmed; and amongst the laws of 
Servius Tullius which were revived, the people were restored 
to their ancient right of voting in all important affairs. Tar¬ 
quin, however, resolved not to part with his kingdom on 
such easy terms. Having wandered from city to city in or¬ 
der to move compassion, he at length made Tarquinii the seat 
of his residence; where he engaged the inhabitants to send 
an embassy to Rome, with a modest, submissive letter from 
himself, directed to the Roman people. The ambassadors 
represented in such strong terms to the senate how reasonable 
it was to let the king be heard before he was condemned, and 
the danger which threatened-the state from the neighbouring 
powers if that common justice were refused, that the consuls 
inclined to bring these agents before the people, and to leave 
the decision thereof to the curise; but Valerius, who had been 
very active in the revolution, strenuously opposed this, and 
by his influence in the senate got it prevented. As that 
illustrious body had been greatly thinned by the murders 
committed by Tarquin, new members were elected from 
among the knights, and the ancient number of 300 again 
completed. The old senators had been called patres or 
“ fathers;” and as the names of the new ones were now 
written on the same roll, the whole body received the name of 
patres conscripti. 
The old king was not to be foiled by a single attempt. 
He prevailed on the inhabitants of Tarquinii to send a second 
embassy to Rome, under pretence of demanding the estates 
of the exiles, but with private instructions to get the consuls 
assassinated. The restoration of the estates of the exiles was 
opposed by Brutus, but Collatinus was for complying with it; 
whereupon Brutus accused his colleague of treachery, and of 
a design to bring back the tyrant. The matter was then 
referred to the people, where it was carried by one vote in 
favour of the Tarquins. But whilst the people were employed 
in loading carriages with the effects of the exiles, and in 
selling what could not be carried off, the ambassadors found 
means to draw some of the nearest relations of the consuls 
into a plot with them. These were three young noblemen of 
the Aquilian family (the sons of Collatinus’s sister), and two 
of the Vitellii (whose sister Brutus had married); and these 
last engaged Titus and Tiberius, the two sons of Brutus, in the 
same conspiracy. They all bound themselves by solemn 
oaths, but though they used all imaginable precaution, their 
proceedings were overheard by one Vindicius a slave, who 
immediately communicated the whole to Valerius:' upon 
which all the 1 criminals were apprehended. Brutus stood 
judge over his own sons; and, notwithstanding the interces¬ 
sion of the whole assembly, and the tears and lamentations 
of his children, commanded them to be beheaded; nor would 
he depart till he saw the execution of the sentence. Having 
performed this piece of heroism, he quitted the tribunal, and 
left Collatinus to perform the rest. Collatinus, however, 
being inclined to spare his nephews, allowed them a day to 
clear themselves ; and caused Vindicius, the only witness 
against them, to be delivered up to his masters. This roused 
the indignation of the people in general, especially of 
Valerius, who had promised to protect the witness, and there¬ 
fore he refused to deliver him up to the lictors. The multi¬ 
tude called aloud'for Brutus to return; which when he had 
done, he told them that he had executed his two sons in 
consequence of his own paternal authority over them, but 
that it belonged to the people to determine the fate of the 
rest. Accordingly, by a decree of the curiae, all the delin¬ 
quents suffered as traitors except the ambassadors, who .were 
spared out of respect to their character. The slave Vindicius 
had his liberty granted him ; and was presented with 25,000 
ases of brass, in value about 80/. 14s. Id. of our money. The 
decree for restoring the estates of the exiled Tarquins was an¬ 
nulled, their palaces were destroyed, and their lands divided 
among the indigent people. The public only retained a 
piece of ground, near the Campus Martins, which the king 
had usurped. This they consecrated to Mars, and it after¬ 
wards became a common field where the Roman youth 
exercised themselves in running and wrestling. 
The 
