Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (Classical Latin pronunciation: [tarˈkʷɪniʊs ˈpriːskʊs], or Tarquin the Elder) was the legendary fifth king of Rome and the first representative of the Etruscan dynasty on the Roman throne. The cognomen Priscus, meaning "Old" or "Elder" in Latin, became established in ancient sources to distinguish him from Tarquinius Superbus, or Tarquin the Proud, the seventh and last Roman king.Dionysius, Roman Antiquities, iii. 48. He reigned for thirty-eight years.Livy, History of Rome, i. 40. His wife was Tanaquil, renowned for her gift of prophecy.Livy, History of Rome, i. 34; Dionysius, Roman Antiquities, iii. 47. Tarquinius expanded Rome through military conquest; constructed enduring infrastructure such as the Circus Maximus and the Cloaca Maxima; reorganised state institutions including the Senate and the army; celebrated Rome's first triumphal procession (triumphus); and introduced numerous Etruscan civil and military symbols into Roman tradition—most notably the fasces, the curule seat, the toga praetexta, and the paludamentum.
Name and origin According to Livy, Tarquinius Priscus came from Tarquinii, an Etruscan city, and his original Etruscan name was Lucumo.Livy, History of Rome, i. 34. However, modern scholars note that lucumo was in fact a title or designation of political rank among the Etruscans (Etruscan lauchume, meaning "king"), and it is therefore thought that the ancient tradition may have conflated his personal name with his title. His father was Demaratus, a Greek merchant from Corinth. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Demaratus belonged to the Bacchiadae, one of Corinth's established oligarchic families, and had amassed a considerable fortune through trade between Etruria and Greece.Dionysius, Roman Antiquities, iii. 46. When Cypselus overthrew the Bacchiadae and established his tyranny at Corinth, Demaratus, fearing for his safety due to his great wealth, left the city and settled in Tarquinii. There he married an aristocratic Etruscan woman and had two sons, Arruns and Lucumo (Tarquinius). Arruns died childless before his father, and Demaratus died shortly afterwards of grief, leaving his entire fortune to his only surviving son, Lucumo.Dionysius, Roman Antiquities, iii. 46, 47. Pliny records that when Demaratus departed Corinth he brought Greek artists with him to Etruria, thereby introducing Corinthian pottery and artistic traditions to the region.Pliny, Naturalis Historia, xxxv. 16.
Youth and migration to Rome After inheriting his father's wealth, Tarquinius attempted to obtain political office in Tarquinii; however, this was denied to him because of his Greek-born father, and he was not admitted even to the middle ranks.Dionysius, Roman Antiquities, iii. 47. His wife Tanaquil, who was highly gifted in prophecy, recognised that they would never be fully accepted among the Etruscan nobility and persuaded her husband to migrate to Rome, for they had heard that the Romans welcomed foreigners and readily granted them citizenship.
According to ancient tradition, the omen occurred as the couple first caught sight of Rome from the Janiculum. An eagle descended from the sky, snatched the cap from Tarquin's head, soared high, then descended again and replaced the cap precisely upon his head. Tanaquil, skilled in interpreting omens, took this as a sign that he would rise from his present station to a throne. This scene of prophecy is also recounted in epic verse by Ennius.Ennius, Annales, fr. 149–158 (Skutsch).
After settling in Rome, Lucumo adopted the Latin name Lucius Tarquinius, replacing Lucumo in accordance with Latin convention: Lucius as his personal name and Tarquinius as his family name, derived from the city of his birth. According to Dionysius, the Roman king Ancus Marcius enrolled him and his Etruscan retinue into a tribe and a curia, and assigned them land and a house in the city. Lucius quickly gained prestige through his generosity, intelligence, and valour in battle; he became Ancus' most trusted adviser, and the king ultimately appointed him guardian of his sons.Livy, History of Rome, i. 34; Dionysius, Roman Antiquities, iii. 48.
Rise to kingship The principle of hereditary monarchy had not yet taken root in Rome. Even Ancus Marcius, grandson of Numa Pompilius, had not succeeded his father to the throne; none of the first three kings had been followed by their own sons, and each successive king had been acclaimed by the people. Upon the death of Ancus, while the king's sons were still young boys, Tarquinius sent them away briefly on a hunting trip and then delivered an impressive speech before the Comitia Curiata, arguing that he ought to be elected king, successfully persuading the assembly.Livy, History of Rome, i. 35.Dyer, History of the Kings of Rome, pp. 230–270. In one tradition it is also recorded that Ancus' sons were at the time on a hunting expedition and were therefore unable to influence the assembly's decision. Cicero, in De Republica, discusses in detail the legitimacy of Tarquinius' power and the transition to his successor, Servius Tullius.Cicero, De Republica, ii. 35–38. Thus Tarquinius Priscus became the first king in Roman history to actively lobby for the throne and to succeed in that endeavour.
The role of Tanaquil Tanaquil was far more than a consort during the reign of Tarquinius Priscus; she emerges as a politically decisive figure. It is known that women in Etruscan tradition held an important position in the fields of prophecy and religious ceremony, and Tanaquil stands as one of the most striking representatives of that tradition in the ancient sources.
Tanaquil's role was determinative even before Tarquinius reached the throne: it was she who persuaded her husband to migrate to Rome at a time when he was blocked politically in Tarquinii, and who interpreted the eagle omen on the Janiculum, foreseeing his rise to kingship. Throughout the reign she remained an active adviser in the religious and political decisions of the royal court. Ancient sources emphasise that she had a thorough knowledge of the Etruscan tradition of divination (haruspicina) and that she brought this knowledge to the Roman court.
At the end of the reign, when Tarquinius was assassinated, Tanaquil managed the transfer of power with extraordinary composure and effectively ensured the accession of Servius Tullius.
Children Ancient sources do not present a consistent picture of the children of Tarquinius Priscus. According to Livy, Tarquinius had at least two sons and one daughter.Livy, History of Rome, i. 34, 40–41.
His daughter Tarquinia married his successor, Servius Tullius; this marriage formalised the political bond between the Tarquinian dynasty and Servius.Livy, History of Rome, i. 39. His sons Lucius and Arruns asserted their claims to the kingship after their father's death, but their claim came to nothing through Tanaquil's intervention.Livy, History of Rome, i. 41; Dionysius, Roman Antiquities, iii. 73. Both continue to be mentioned in connection with Tarquinius Superbus in subsequent generations through complex lines of descent. Disputed traditions exist holding that Arruns was either the father or the brother of Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud); ancient sources are inconsistent on this point.
Servius later married his own daughters to Lucius and Arruns; the generation produced by these unions stood at the centre of the conflicts that would shape the final period of the Roman Kingdom.Neel, Legendary Rivals.
Military campaigns
War against the Latins The first campaign of Tarquinius was waged against the Latins. He captured the city of Apiolae by storm and brought great plunder back to Rome. According to the Fasti Triumphales, this war must have taken place before 588 BC.Fasti Triumphales. When the Latins declared that the peace treaties concluded in the time of Romulus and the other Roman kings were no longer valid, Tarquinius responded by conquering several Latin cities and bringing them under Roman authority. The Latins thereupon sought help from the Sabines and the Etruscans; but Tarquinius, without dividing his forces, kept the Latin front as his primary objective and emerged victorious.Dionysius, Roman Antiquities, iii. 49–54.
War against the Sabines After defeating the Latins, Tarquinius turned against the Sabines. The Sabine base camp was situated at the confluence of two rivers, a position that allowed their forces to move quickly and efficiently. Tarquinius employed a night-raid strategy: he set a fleet of small boats ablaze and sent them downriver towards the Sabine camp; while the Sabines were occupied with extinguishing the flames, he stormed the camp.Dionysius, Roman Antiquities, iii. 55, 56. In a subsequent Sabine attack, the fighting extended into the streets of Rome itself, yet Tarquinius emerged victorious from these fierce engagements as well.Eutropius, Breviarium Historiae Romanae, i. 6. In the ensuing peace negotiations, the town of Collatia was ceded to Rome, and Tarquinius' nephew Egerius was appointed garrison commander there. Tarquinius returned to Rome and celebrated a triumph on 13 September 585 BC.
Subjugation of the Latin cities Following the Sabine victory, the cities of Corniculum, old Ficulea, Cameria, Crustumerium, Ameriola, Medullia, and Nomentum submitted and came under Roman administration.Livy, History of Rome, i. 38.
War against the Etruscans Tarquinius wished to make peace with the Etruscans, but they refused. Because Tarquinius had kept captured Etruscan auxiliary troops as prisoners for their interference in the Sabine war, five Etruscan cities that had taken part declared war on Rome, and seven further cities joined them. The Roman colony of Fidenae, which became the focal point of the conflict, was captured by the Etruscans. After several bloody engagements Tarquinius was again victorious and reduced the Etruscan cities that had participated in the war to submission.Dionysius, Roman Antiquities, iii. 57–59. According to Pliny, various monuments were erected with the spoils taken during these wars, and bronze statues commemorating Tarquinius' victories of 616–579 BC were placed in the Forum.Pliny, Naturalis Historia, xxxiv. 22. Justin records that during this period Phocaean Greeks began settling on the coasts of Italy, and that these migrations occurred in an environment shaped by Tarquinius as he defined the relationships between Rome and neighbouring peoples.Justin , Epitome of Trogus, xliii. 3.
Institutional reforms In addition to his military achievements, Tarquinius carried out institutional reforms that profoundly affected the structure of the Roman state.
Reform of the Senate According to Livy, Tarquinius doubled the membership of the Senate by adding one hundred men drawn from lesser noble families (minorum gentium), bringing the total to two hundred. The new senators were designated patres minorum gentium (fathers from the lesser noble families), while the existing senators received the title patres majorum gentium (fathers from the greater noble families). Among these new senators were the Octavii family, from whom the first Roman emperor, Augustus, would descend.Suetonius, "The Life of Augustus", 2. Tarquinius' intention was that these families would feel indebted to him for their position and thus remain loyal, thereby strengthening his rule.Penella, "The Ambitio of Livy's Tarquinius Priscus".
Reform of the cavalry and the episode of Attus Navius Tarquinius wished to add three new cavalry centuries (equites) to the three centuries established in the time of Romulus, naming them after himself and two of his close friends. However, the celebrated augur Attus Navius objected, arguing that Romulus had founded the cavalry centuries with divine approval, and declared that no change could be made without first obtaining divine sanction.Livy, History of Rome, i. 36.