rity he might have gained. And for all we know, he lived and died
thereafter a simple tiller of the ground.

_THE SACRIFICE OF VIRGINIA._

In the year 504 B.C. a citizen of Regillum, of much wealth and
importance, finding himself at odds with his fellow-citizens, left that
city and proceeded to Rome, with a long train of followers, much as the
elder Tarquin had come from Tarquinii. His name was Atta Clausus, but in
Rome he became known as Appius Claudius. He was received as a patrician,
was given ample lands, and he and his descendants in later years became
among the chief of those who hated and oppressed the plebeians.

[Illustration: THE SACRIFICE OF VIRGINIA.]

About half a century after this date, one of these descendants, also
named Appius Claudius, was a principal actor in one of the most dramatic
events of ancient Rome. The trouble which had long existed between the
patricians and the plebeians now grew so pronounced, and the demand for
a reform in the laws so great, that in the year 451 B.C. a commission
was sent to the city of Athens, to report on the system of government
they found there and elsewhere in Greece. After this commission had
returned and given its report, a body of ten patricians was appointed,
under the title of Decemvirs (or ten men), to prepare a new code of laws
for Rome. They were chosen for one year, and took the place of the
consuls, tribunes, and all the chief officials of Rome.

At the head of this body was Appius Claudius. The laws of Rome had
previously been only partly written, the remainder being held in memory
or transmitted as traditions. A complete code of written laws was
desired, and to this work the decemvirs set themselves diligently. After
a few months they prepared a code of laws, which was accepted by nobles
and people alike as fair and satisfactory, and it was ordered that these
laws should be engraved upon ten tables of brass and hung up in the
comitium, or place of assembly of the people, where all might read them
and learn under what laws they lived. It is probable that the plebeian
demand for reform was so great that the decemvirs did not dare to
disregard it.

At the end of the year of office of these officials it was felt that
they had done so well that it was thought wise to continue them in power
for another year. But when the time for election came round, Appius
Claudius managed to have his nine associates defeated, he alone being
re-elected. The othe