The Timpson Lyceum · History of Rome – Titus Livius (2025)

Tarquinius Priscus, Fifth King of Rome – Lecture 6 (History of Rome)

Overview

Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome (traditionally reigning 616–579 BC), opens Rome's Etruscan chapter. He was the son of Demaratus, a wealthy Greek merchant from Corinth who had settled in the Etruscan city of Tarquinii; barred from power there because Etruscan cities ranked men strictly by bloodline, Tarquin and his ambitious, nobly-born wife Tanaquil emigrated to Rome precisely because Rome had a reputation as a meritocracy where an outsider could rise. That reputation was well earned — of the first four kings only Romulus and Tullus were pure Latin blood.

Tarquin's reign matters as the moment Rome absorbs Etruscan civilization wholesale and vaults in scale. He enlarged the Senate to 300, expanded the cavalry, and launched the monumental building program that defined the city for a thousand years: the Cloaca Maxima to drain the valley between the hills, the Circus Maximus for the chariot-racing Roman Games, and the great Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline. He fought and beat the Latins, Sabines, and a coalition of Etruscan cities, celebrated what tradition remembers as Rome's first triumph, and groomed the slave-born Servius Tullius as his heir — a choice that got him an axe to the head from the resentful sons of his predecessor.

Key Concepts

• Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (r. 616–579 BC) — Fifth king of Rome and the first of Etruscan background, ruling 38 years. Born Lucumo, son of the Corinthian Greek exile Demaratus who had settled at Tarquinii.
• Bloodline vs. meritocracy — Etruscan cities reserved power for established bloodlines, so a rich immigrant's son had no path upward. Rome, having already accepted a Sabine co-king and the foreigner Numa, offered advancement by merit — the reason Tarquin and Tanaquil moved there.
• Tanaquil — Tarquin's wife, an Etruscan noblewoman expert in reading omens. Her interpretations drive the reign twice: the eagle sign on the road to Rome, and later the flame around Servius' head.
• The eagle omen — On the journey to Rome an eagle lifted Tarquin's cap, circled, and replaced it. Tanaquil read it, in the Etruscan augural tradition, as a sign of coming kingship.
• Guardian of Ancus' sons — Tarquin used his wealth on lavish public works, won the friendship of King Ancus Marcius, and was made both royal adviser and guardian of the king's two sons.
• Canvassing for the throne — When Ancus died, Tarquin sent the king's sons away on a hunting trip and openly lobbied the Senate for the kingship — the first known instance of a man soliciting the office rather than being sought out.
• The Senate raised to 300 — Tarquin added 100 new senators, the patres minorum gentium ("fathers of the lesser clans"), taking the body from 200 to 300 and packing it with younger men loyal to him.
• Expansion of the cavalry (equites) — He greatly increased the mounted force, roughly doubling it from 600 toward 1,200 — additional strength drawn on decisively in the Sabine war.
• Cloaca Maxima — The great sewer begun to drain the standing water in the valleys between Rome's hills, reclaiming the low ground (the future Forum) for the expanding city.
• Circus Maximus — The grand racecourse laid out for the chariot races and boxing of the annual Roman Games (Ludi Romani) — an Etruscan-flavored institution. Tarquin's version was wooden stands; centuries later it seated on the order of $150{,}000$ spectators.
• Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus — The great Capitoline temple, begun (though not finished) under Tarquin, destined to be the religious heart of the Republic.
• The Sabine war and the burning bridge — With Etruscan allies, the Sabines crossed the Anio and nearly stormed the half-walled city. Tarquin floated burning debris downriver to destroy their bridge, then flanked them with his doubled cavalry, turning their retreat into a slaughter and winning Collatia in the peace.
• The first triumph — For these victories Tarquin celebrated what tradition calls Rome's first triumph, dated 13 September 585 BC: a day-long parade of spoils, captives, and armed soldiers inside the pomerium (the sole exception to the ban on arms in the city), the general dressed as Jupiter in purple with a red-painted face.
• Servius Tullius — Son of the captive Latin princess Ocrisia; a flame that played harmlessly around his head as a child was read by Tanaquil as a sign of kingship. Tarquin raised him as heir and betrothed his own daughter to him.
• The assassination — The sons of Ancus Marcius, cut out of the succession in favor of a slave's son, hired two farmers to stage a quarrel before the king; while he judged it, one struck him in the head with an axe. Tanaquil concealed his death, installed Servius as "regent," and secured him the throne.

Worked Example

The enlargement of the Senate: composition arithmetic and its effect on patrician power.

Trace how the Senate reached its long-lived total of $300$ and what Tarquin's addition did to the balance of power inside it.

1. Romulus' founding hundred. The original Senate was

$S_0 = 100 \text{ senators } (\textit{patres}).$

1. The Sabine union. When Rome merged with the Sabines under Titus Tatius, another hundred leading men joined:

$S_1 = 100 + 100 = 200.$

(Tullus Hostilius moved Alba Longa's people into Rome, but the Senate's count held at $200$ — the leap to $300$ waits for Tarquin.)

1. Tarquin's addition. He enrolled $100$ new senators, the patres minorum gentium:

$S_2 = 200 + 100 = 300.$

This $300$ becomes the standard size of the Senate for most of the Republic.

1. The old guard's diluted share. Before Tarquin, the established families ("greater clans") held all $200$ seats — the entire body. After the addition their share of the chamber falls to

$\frac{200}{300} = \frac{2}{3} \approx 66.7\%,$

while the new men hold

$\frac{100}{300} = \frac{1}{3} \approx 33.3\%.$

1. Why that mattered to the king. The $100$ new senators owed their rank entirely to Tarquin and were chosen from younger families — likely to outlive the old guard and to vote his way. On any question splitting the old families evenly, roughly $100$ each way, his loyal bloc of $100$ is decisive:

$\underbrace{100}_{\text{old, for}} + \underbrace{100}_{\text{new, loyal}} = 200 > 100 = \underbrace{100}_{\text{old, against}}.$

A one-third minority, reliably unified, controls outcomes against a divided two-thirds. By adding a loyal $\tfrac{1}{3}$ rather than seizing a majority outright, Tarquin secured working control of the Senate while leaving the traditional families their seats — power without an open coup. $\blacksquare$

Summary

• Tarquinius Priscus (r. 616–579 BC, ~38 years), son of a Greek merchant and Rome's first Etruscan king, rose in Rome because it rewarded merit where Etruria demanded bloodline.
• He was the first to canvass the Senate for the crown, then enlarged that Senate from 200 to 300 with loyal patres minorum gentium and expanded the cavalry.
• His monumental works — the Cloaca Maxima, the Circus Maximus and Roman Games, and the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus — reshaped the city and imported Etruscan culture.
• He defeated the Latins, Sabines (via the burning-bridge stratagem and a cavalry flank), and an Etruscan coalition, celebrating Rome's first triumph on 13 September 585 BC.
• Having groomed the slave-born Servius Tullius as heir, he was assassinated by the sons of Ancus Marcius; Tanaquil concealed his death and maneuvered Servius onto the throne.