which the cause of Tarquin was lost--the subject of
the most beautiful of Macaulay's lays--and that Mutius Scaevola attempted to
assassinate Porsenna, and, as a proof of his fortitude, held his hand in
the fire until it was consumed, which act converted Porsenna into a
friend. Another interesting legend is related in reference to Brutus, who
slew his own sons for their sympathy with, and treasonable aid, to the
banished king. These stories are not history, but still shed light on the
spirit of the time. It is probable that Tarquin made desperate efforts to
recover his dominion, aided by the Etruscans, and that the first wars of
the republic were against them.

(M792) The Etruscans were then in the height of their power, and were in
close alliance with the Carthaginians. Etruria was a larger State than
Latium, from which it was separated by the Tiber. It was bounded on the
west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the north by the Appenines, and the east by
Umbria. Among the cities were Veii and Tarquinii, the latter the
birthplace of Tarquinius Priscus, and the former the powerful rival of
Rome.

(M793) In the war with the Etruscans, the Romans were worsted, and they
lost all their territory on the right bank of the Tiber, won by the kings,
and were thrown back on their original limits. But the Etruscans were
driven back, by the aid of the Latin cities, beyond the Tiber. It took
Rome one hundred and fifty years to recover what she had lost.

(M794) It was in those wars with the Etruscans that we first read of
dictators, extraordinary magistrates, appointed in great political
exigencies. The dictator, or commander, was chosen by one of the consuls,
and his authority was supreme, but lasted only for six months. He had all
the powers of the ancient kings.

(M795) The misfortunes of the Romans, in the contest with the Etruscans,
led to other political changes, and internal troubles. The strife between
the patricians and the plebeians now began, and lasted two centuries
before the latter were admitted to a full equality of civil rights. The
cause of the conflict, it would appear, was the unequal and burdensome
taxation to which the plebeians were subjected, and especially vexations
from the devastations which war produced. They were small land-owners, and
their little farms were overrun by the enemy, and they were in no
condition to bear the burdens imposed upon them: and this inequality of
taxation was the more oppressive, since t