Page:The City-State of the Greeks and Romans.djvu/210

186 But as a preliminary step we must look for a moment back to the period of the monarchy. We saw that the aristocratic government which succeeded the last king was probably the result of a reaction from an exaggerated use of kingly power. That the monarchy had undergone a change in the last century of its existence there is hardly a doubt. As often happened in the history of City-States, the monarchy in this case changed into something very like a tyranny, without the interposition of an aristocratic regime between the two; a change which was all the more natural at Rome where the conception of magisterial power (imperium) was so remarkably clear and strong. And the explanation of this change is not wholly wanting. There is much evidence that the last three kings were not of Roman descent. The very name Tarquinius is not Roman but Etruscan, and it was believed by Etruscan annalists that the original name of Servius Tullius was Mastarna. Both these names have been