degraded class, to which he himself belonged, through a hatred of the
high station of others, he had deprived the leading men of the state
of their land and divided it among the very lowest; that he had laid
all the burdens, which were formerly shared by all alike, on the chief
members of the community; that he had instituted the census, in order
that the fortune of the wealthier citizens might be conspicuous in
order to excite envy, and ready to hand, that out of it he might
bestow largesses on the most needy, whenever he pleased.

Servius, aroused by the alarming announcement, having come upon the
scene during this harangue, immediately shouted with a loud voice from
the porch of the senate-house: "What means this, Tarquin? By what
audacity hast thou dared to summon the fathers, while I am still
alive, or to sit on my throne?" When the other haughtily replied,
that he, a king's son, was occupying the throne of his father, a much
fitter successor to the throne than a slave; that he had insulted his
masters full long enough by shuffling insolence, a shout arose from
the partisans of both, the people rushed into the senate-house, and it
was evident that whoever came off victor would gain the throne. Then
Tarquin, forced by actual necessity to proceed to extremities, having
a decided advantage both in years and strength, seized Servius by the
waist, and having carried him out of the senate-house, hurled him
down the steps to the bottom. He then returned to the senate house
to assemble the senate. The king's officers and attendants took to
flight. The king himself, almost lifeless (when he was returning home
with his royal retinue frightened to death and had reached the top of
the Cyprian Street), was slain by those who had been sent by Tarquin,
and had overtaken him in his flight. As the act is not inconsistent
with the rest of her atrocious conduct, it is believed to have been
done by Tullia's advice. Anyhow, as is generally admitted, driving
into the forum in her chariot, unabashed by the crowd of men present,
she called her husband out of the senate-house, and was the first to
greet him, king; and when, being bidden by him to withdraw from such a
tumult, she was returning home, and had reached the top of the Cyprian
Street, where Diana's chapel lately stood, as she was turning on the
right to the Urian Hill, in order to ride up to the Esquiline, the
driver stopped terrified, and drew in his reins, and pointed out to