1.50
Tarquin had now gained
considerable influence amongst the Latin nobility,
and he sent word for them to meet on a fixed date at
the Grove of Ferentina, as there were matters of
mutual interest about which he wished to consult
them. They assembled in considerable numbers at
daybreak; Tarquin kept his appointment, it is true,
but did not arrive till shortly before sunset. The
council spent the whole day in discussing many
topics. Turnus Herdonius, from Aricia, had made a
fierce attack on the absent Tarquin. It was no
wonder, he said, that the epithet "Tyrant" had been
bestowed upon him at Rome -for this was what people
commonly called him, though only in whispers -could
anything show the tyrant more than his thus trifling
with the whole Latin nation? After summoning the
chiefs from distant homes, the man who had called
the council was not present. He was in fact trying
how far he could go, so that if they submitted to
the yoke he might crush them. Who could not see that
he was making his way to sovereignty over the
Latins? Even supposing that his own countrymen did
well to entrust him with supreme power, or rather
that it was entrusted and not seized by an act of
parricide, the Latins ought not, even in that case,
to place it in the hands of an alien. But if his own
people bitterly rue his sway, seeing how they are
being butchered, sent into exile, stripped of all
their property, what better fate can the Latins hope
for? If they followed the speaker's advice they
would go home and take as little notice of the day
fixed for the council as he who had fixed it was
taking. Just while these and similar sentiments were
being uttered by the man who had gained his
influence in Aricia by treasonable and criminal
practice, Tarquin appeared on the scene. That put a
stop to his speech, for all turned from the speaker
to salute the king. When silence was restored,
Tarquin was advised by those near to explain why he
had come so late. He said that having been chosen as
arbitrator between a father and a son, he had been
detained by his endeavours to reconcile them, and as
that matter had taken up the whole day, he would
bring forward the measures he had decided upon the
next day. It is said that even this explanation was
not received by Turnus without his commenting on it;
no case, he argued, could take up less time than one
between a father and a son, it could be settled in a
few words; if the son did not comply with the
father's wishes he would get into trouble.