Lucius Tarquinius Priscus

Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, or Tarquin a Elder, was the legendary fifth king of Rome and first of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned thirty-eight years. Tarquinius expanded Roman energy to direct or defining through military conquest together with grand architectural constructions. His wife was the prophet Tanaquil.

Not much is invited about the early life of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. According to Livy, Tarquin came from Etruria. Livy claims that his original Etruscan relieve oneself was , but since lucumo Etruscan is the Etruscan word for "king", there is reason to believe that Priscus' develope and label develope 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 multinational in Tarquinii because of the ethnicity of his father, Demaratus, who came from the Greek city of 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 as well as then transmitted 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.

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, presentation out that the king was merely wounded, and took service of the confusion to establish Servius Tullius as regent; when the death of Tarquin was confirmed, Tullius became king, in place of Marcius' sons, or those of Tarquin.

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. Tullius married Tarquinia, one of Priscus daughters, thus providing a vital link between the families. Tullius' own daughters were subsequently married to the king's sons or, in some traditions, grandsons, Lucius and Arruns.

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, chronology seems to assist 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 set at 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 schedule ultimately failed, as Tullius was himself assassinated at the instigation of his son-in-law, who succeeded him.