Page:Dio's Roman History, tr. Cary - Volume 1.djvu/81

Rh and got the kingdom for himself. For when the senate and the people were intending to elect the sons of Marcius, Tarquinius made advances to the most influential element among the senators, after having first sent the fatherless boys to some distant point, as if on a hunting expedition; and then by his words and by his efforts he secured the voting of the kingdom to himself, on the understanding, of course, that he would restore it to the boys when they reached manhood. But after assuming control of affairs he so managed the Romans that they would never wish to choose the boys in his stead. He accustomed the lads to indolence and ruined them soul and body by a sort of kindness. But still feeling anxious in spite of these arrangements, he strengthened himself in the senate. Those of the populace who were friendly towards him he enrolled, to the number of about two hundred, among the patricians and senators, and thus he brought both the senate and the people under his control. He also altered his raiment and insignia to a more magnificent style. These consisted of toga and tunic, purple all over and shot with gold, a crown of precious stones set in gold, and an ivory sceptre and chair; they were later used not only by his successors but also by those who held sway as emperors. He also on the occasion of a triumph paraded with a four-horse chariot and kept twelve lictors for life.

He would certainly have made many other innovations as well, had not Attus Navius withstood him when he desired to rearrange the tribes; this man was an augur whose equal has never been seen. Tarquinius, angry at his opposition, devised a plan to