CHAPTER VIII.
FROM THE DEATH OF SERVIUS TULLIUS TO THE BANISHMENT OF TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS THE SEVENTH AND LAST KING OF ROME U.C.

220.
A nobler spirit warm'd Her sons; and roused by tyrants, nobler still It burn'd in Brutus .-- _Thomson_.
1.

LU'CIUS TARQUIN'IUS, afterwards called Super'bus, or the Proud, having placed himself upon the throne, in consequence of this horrid deed, was resolved to support his dignity with the same violence with which it was acquired.

Regardless of the senate or the people's approbation, he seemed to claim the crown by an hereditary right, and refused burial to the late king's' body, under pretence of his being an usurper.2.All the good part of mankind, however, looked upon his accession with detestation and horror: and this act of inefficient cruelty only served to confirm their hatred.3.Conscious of this, he ordered all such as he suspected to have been attached to Ser'vius, to be put to death; and fearing the natural consequences of his tyranny, he increased the guard round his person.
4.

His chief policy seems to have been to keep the people always employed either in wars or public works, by which means he diverted their attention from his unlawful method of coming to the crown.