aced it on his head again.
His wife Tanaquil, who was skilled in augury, told him this was a happy
omen, and that he was destined to become great.

[Illustration: THE FORUM OF ROME.]

And so he did. His riches, courage, and wisdom brought him great favor
in Rome, and on the death of their king Ancus the people chose Lucius
Tarquinius--as they called him, from his native city--to reign over them
in his stead. He proved a valiant and successful warrior, and in times
of peace did noble work. He built great sewers to drain the city,
constructed a large circus or race-course, and a forum or market-place,
and built a wall of stone around the city in place of the old wooden
wall. He also began to build a great temple on the Capitoline Hill,
which was designed to be the temple of the gods of Rome. In the end
Lucius was murdered by the sons of King Ancus, who declared that he had
robbed them of the throne.

There is a story of the deed of an augur in his reign which is worth
repeating, whether we believe it or not. Lucius had little trust in the
augur, and said to him, "Come, tell me by your auguries whether the
thing I have in my mind may be done or not." "It may," said Attus, the
augur. "It is this," said the king, laughing: "it was in my mind that
you should cut this whetstone in two with this razor. Take them and see
if you can do it."

Attus took the razor and whetstone, and with a bold stroke cut the
latter in two. From that time on Lucius did nothing without first
consulting the augurs, and testing the purposes of the gods by the
flight of birds, and--so say the legends--he prospered accordingly.

The cause of the death of Lucius was this. One day a boy who dwelt in
the palace fell asleep in its portico, and as he lay there some
attendants who passed by saw a flame playing lambently around his head.
Alarmed at the sight, they were about to throw water upon him to
extinguish the flame, when Tanaquil, the queen, who had also seen it,
forbade them. She told the king of what had happened, and said that the
boy whom they were bringing up so meanly was destined to become great
and noble. She bade him, therefore, to rear the child in a way befitting
his destiny.

The boy, whose name was Servius Tullius, was thereupon brought up as a
prince, and when old enough married the king's daughter. Lucius reigned
forty years, and then the sons of Ancus, fearing to be robbed of their
claim to the throne by young Servius, who had bec