1.34
During the reign of Ancus
a wealthy and ambitious man named Lucumo removed to
Rome, mainly with the hope and desire of winning
high distinction, for which no opportunity had
existed in Tarquinii, since there also he was an
alien. He was the son of Demaratus a Corinthian, who
had been driven from home by a revolution, and who
happened to settle in Tarquinii. There he married
and had two sons, their names were Lucumo and
Arruns. Arruns died before his father, leaving his
wife with child; Lucumo survived his father and
inherited all his property. For Demaratus died
shortly after Arruns, and being unaware of the
condition of his daughter-in-law, had made no
provision in his will for a grandchild. The boy,
thus excluded from any share of his grandfather's
property, was called, in consequence of his poverty,
Egerius. Lucumo, on the other hand, heir to all the
property, became elated by his wealth, and his
ambition was stimulated by his marriage with
Tanaquil. This woman was descended from one of the
foremost families in the State, and could not bear
the thought of her position by marriage being
inferior to the one she claimed by birth. The
Etruscans looked down upon Lucumo as the son of a
foreign refugee; she could not brook this indignity,
and forgetting all ties of patriotism if only she
could see her husband honoured, resolved to emigrate
from Tarquinii. Rome seemed the most suitable place
for her purpose. She felt that among a young nation
where all nobility is a thing of recent growth and
won by personal merit, there would be room for a man
of courage and energy. She remembered that the
Sabine Tatius had reigned there, that Numa had been
summoned from Cures to fill the throne, that Ancus
himself was sprung from a Sabine mother, and could
not trace his nobility beyond Numa. Her husband's
ambition and the fact that Tarquinii was his native
country only on the mother's side, made him give a
ready ear to her proposals. They accordingly packed
up their goods and removed to Rome.
They had got as far as the Janiculum when a
hovering eagle swooped gently down and took off his
cap as he was sitting by his wife's side in the
carriage, then circling round the vehicle with loud
cries, as though commissioned by heaven for this
service, replaced it carefully upon his head and
soared away. It is said that Tanaquil, who, like
most Etruscans, was expert in interpreting celestial
prodigies, was delighted at the omen. She threw her
arms round her husband and bade him look for a high
and majestic destiny, for such was the import of the
eagle's appearance, of the particular part of the
sky where it appeared, and of the deity who sent it.
The omen was directed to the crown and summit of his
person, the bird had raised aloft an adornment put
on by human hands, to replace it as the gift of
heaven. Full of these hopes and surmises they
entered the City, and after procuring a domicile
there, they announced his name as Lucius Tarquinius
Priscus. The fact of his being a stranger, and a
wealthy one, brought him into notice, and he
increased the advantage which Fortune gave him by
his courteous demeanour, his lavish hospitality, and
the many acts of kindness by which he won all whom
it was in his power to win, until his reputation
even reached the palace. Once introduced to the
king's notice, he soon succeeded by adroit
complaisance in getting on to such familiar terms
that he was consulted in matters of state, as much
as in private matters, whether they referred to
either peace or war. At last, after passing every
test of character and ability, he was actually
appointed by the king's will guardian to his
children.