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of robbers, and others he killed even from the law courts, fabricating accusations of treason against them before his father. And Herodotus relates something similar to this. For he says that Periander, the son of Cypselus, who became tyrant of Corinth, sent a message to Thrasybulus, the tyrant of Miletus, to inquire how his rule might be secure. But Thrasybulus gave no answer to the one reporting these things, but leading him into a cornfield, he cut off and threw away the tallest ears of grain, and thus sent the messenger away. The man, upon returning and being asked for Thrasybulus's advice, said that he had been sent to a madman, and he related what that man had done, without having uttered anything in response to what he had been asked; but Periander understood Thrasybulus's reasoning, and destroyed all the most eminent of the Corinthians. And so Sextus likewise dealt with the Gabinians, and he destroyed the more powerful, and distributed their wealth to the populace. and after this, with some having already been destroyed, and the rest being deceived and trusting him in everything, with the Roman captives and the deserters, many of whom he had gathered for this purpose, he seized the city and handed it over to his father. And he ceded that city to his son, while he himself waged war against other nations. And he acquired the oracles of the Sibyl for the Romans, even unwillingly. For a certain divinely inspired woman, whom 2.115 they called the Sibyl, came to Rome bringing three or nine books, and she offered to sell these to Tarquin and set the price for the books. But when he paid no attention to her, she burned one or three of the books. And when Tarquin again slighted her, she likewise destroyed from the remaining books. And as she was about to burn the ones still remaining, the augurs compelled him to buy at least those that were saved. And he purchased these for as much as he was to have acquired them all, and he handed them over to two men of senatorial rank to guard. But since they did not fully understand what was written, they sent two men to Greece and brought from there for a fee men who would read and interpret these things. But the neighboring people, wishing to learn what was revealed through the books, persuaded one of the guardians, Marcus Acilius, with money and transcribed some of it. When the deed became known, Marcus was put into two sewn-up hides and drowned, a practice which from that time on came to prevail against parricides, so that neither the earth, nor the water, nor the sun might be polluted by his death. And he built the temple on the Tarpeian hill according to his father's vow. And as the ground was being broken for the laying of the foundations, the head of a recently killed man appeared, still bloody. Therefore the Romans sent to a Tyrrhenian diviner, asking what was signified by the appearance. But he, contriving to transfer the sign to Tyrrhenia, made a diagram on the ground, and having marked on it the position of Rome and the Tarpeian 2.116 hill, he was about to ask the envoys: "Is this Rome? Is this the hill? Was the head found here?" so that, when they suspected nothing and agreed, the power of the sign might be transferred to the place where it had been drawn. And while he was contriving these things, the envoys, having learned the trick from his son, when asked, said, "Rome is not situated here, but in Latium, and the hill is in the territory of the Romans, and the head was found on that hill." And so, with the diviner's contrivance having been thwarted, they learned the whole truth and announced to the citizens that they would be most powerful and would rule over many. Hope, therefore, came to them from this as well. And from this the hill was renamed by them the Capitol; for in the Roman dialect a head is called *capita*. But being in need of money for the building of the temple, Tarquin brought war upon the Ardeates; whence he not only acquired no money, but also fell from his kingship. And there were also for him certain signs indicative of his fall. For from the

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λῃστῶν, αλλους δὲ καὶ ἐκ δικαστηρίων ἀπέκτεινε, συκοφαντίας κατ' αὐτῶν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα προδοσίας πλαττόμενος. Ομοιον δέ τι τούτῳ καὶ ὁ ̔Ηρόδοτος ἱστορεῖ. Περίανδρον γὰρ τὸν Κυψέλου τύραννον Κορίνθου γενόμενόν φησι πρὸς Θρασύβουλον τὸν Μιλήτου τύραννον διαπέμψασθαι πυνθανόμενον οπως αὐτῷ τὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἀσφαλῶς εξει. τὸν δὲ Θρασύβουλον τῷ ἀπαγγείλαντι ταῦτα μηδὲν ἀποκρίνασθαι, ἀπαγαγόντα δ' εἰς λήιον τῶν ἀσταχύων τοὺς ὑπερέχοντας ἐκτέμνειν τε καὶ ῥιπτεῖν, καὶ ουτως ἀποπέμψαι τὸν ἐσταλμένον. τὸν δὲ ἐπανελθόντα καὶ τὴν Θρασυβούλου συμβουλὴν ἐρωτώμενον εἰπεῖν εἰς παραπλῆγα πεμφθῆναι, καὶ διηγεῖσθαι οσα ἐκεῖνος ἐποίησε, μή τι πρὸς ο ἠρωτήθη φθεγξάμενος· τὸν δὲ Περίανδρον συνεικέναι τὸν τοῦ Θρασυβούλου λογισμόν, καὶ τοὺς ὑπερέχοντας τῶν Κορινθίων απαντας ἀπολέσαι. Καὶ ὁ Σέξτος ουν ουτω τοὺς Γαουίνους μετῆλθε, καὶ τοὺς μὲν κρείττους ἀπώλλυε, τῷ πλήθει δὲ τὰ σφῶν διένειμε χρήματα. καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο τῶν μὲν διαφθαρέντων ηδη, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν ἠπατημένων καὶ πάντα πιστευόντων αὐτῷ, μετὰ τῶν αἰχμαλώτων ̔Ρωμαίων καὶ τῶν αὐτομόλων, ους πολλοὺς διὰ τοῦτο συνήθροισε, κατέσχε τὴν πόλιν καὶ τῷ πατρὶ παραδέδωκε. καὶ ος ἐκείνης τῷ υἱῷ παρεχώρησεν, αὐτὸς δὲ πρὸς αλλα ἐπολέμησεν εθνη. Τοὺς δὲ τῆς Σιβύλλης χρησμοὺς ̔Ρωμαίοις καὶ ακων προσεποιήσατο. γυνὴ γάρ τις θεόμαντις, ην 2.115 Σίβυλλαν ὠνόμαζον, ἐς τὴν ̔Ρώμην ἐλήλυθε βιβλία τρία η ἐννέα φέρουσα, καὶ ταῦτα πρίασθαι τῷ Ταρκυνίῳ ἐδίδου καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τῶν βιβλίων ὡρίσατο. ἐκείνου δὲ μὴ προσεσχηκότος αὐτῇ, τὸ εν η τὰ τρία τῶν βιβλίων κατέκαυσεν. ὡς δ' αυθις ὠλιγώρει αὐτῆς ὁ Ταρκύνιος, κἀκ τῶν λοιπῶν ὁμοίως διέφθειρε. μελλούσης δὲ καὶ τὰ ετι λοιπὰ καταφλέξειν, ἠνάγκασαν αὐτὸν οἱ οἰωνισταὶ τὰ γοῦν σωζόμενα πρίασθαι. καὶ ὠνήσατο ταῦτα οσου τὰ πάντα κτήσασθαι εμελλε, καὶ δύο βουλευταῖς ἀνδράσι φυλάσσειν παρέδωκεν. ὡς δ' οὐ πάνυ τῶν γεγραμμένων συνίεσαν, εἰς τὴν ̔Ελλάδα στείλαντες δύο ανδρας ἐκεῖθεν μισθοῦ ηγαγον τοὺς ἀναγνωσομένους ταῦτα καὶ ἑρμηνεύσοντας. οἱ δὲ περίοικοι μαθεῖν ἐθελήσαντες ο,τι ποτὲ τὸ διὰ τῶν βιβλίων ειη δηλούμενον, τὸν ετερον τῶν φυλασσόντων αὐτὰ Μάρκον ̓Ακίλλιον χρήμασιν ἀναπείσαντες μετεγράψαντό τινα. γνωσθέντος δὲ τοῦ εργου ὁ Μάρκος βύρσαις δύο συρραφείσαις ἐμβληθεὶς κατεποντώθη, ο ἐξ ἐκείνου μετέπειτα κατὰ τῶν πατροκτόνων ἐπεκράτησε γίνεσθαι, ινα μήτε ἡ γῆ μήτε τὸ υδωρ μήτε ὁ ηλιος μιανθῇ αὐτοῦ θνήσκοντος. Τὸν δὲ νεὼν τὸν ἐν τῷ Ταρπηίῳ ορει κατὰ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς εὐχὴν ᾠκοδόμει. τῆς δὲ γῆς εἰς τὴν τῶν θεμελίων καταβολὴν ἀναρρηγνυμένης, ἀνδρὸς νεοθνῆτος κεφαλὴ ἀνεφάνη εναιμος ετι. επεμψαν ουν ̔Ρωμαῖοι πρὸς ανδρα Τυρσηνὸν τερατοσκόπον ἐρωτῶντες τὸ διὰ τοῦ φανέντος δηλούμενον. ὁ δὲ τὸ σημεῖον εἰς τὴν Τυρσηνίδα μεταθεῖναι μηχανησάμενος, διάγραμμα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐποιήσατο, καὶ εἰς αὐτὸ τήν τε τῆς ̔Ρώμης θέσιν ἐντείνας καὶ τὸ Ταρπήιον 2.116 ορος, εμελλε τοὺς πρέσβεις ἀνερέσθαι "ἡ ̔Ρώμη αυτη ἐστί; τὸ ορος τοῦτό ἐστιν; ἡ κεφαλὴ ἐνταῦθα εὑρέθη;" ιν' ἐκείνων μηδὲν ὑποτοπησάντων καὶ συμφησάντων ἡ δύναμις τοῦ σημείου εἰς τὸ χωρίον ἐν ῳ διεγέγραπτο μετασταίη. καὶ ὁ μὲν ταῦτα ἐτεχνάσατο, οἱ δὲ πρέσβεις παρὰ τοῦ υἱέος ἐκείνου μαθόντες τὸ τέχνασμα, ἐρωτώμενοι "οὐκ ἐνταῦθα" ειπον "οἰκεῖται ἡ ̔Ρώμη, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ Λατίῳ, καὶ τὸ ορος ἐν τῇ ̔Ρωμαίων ἐστί, καὶ ἡ κεφαλὴ ἐν τῷ ορει ἐκείνῳ εὑρέθη." ουτω δὲ τῷ τερατοσκόπῳ διακρουσθέντος τοῦ μηχανήματος πᾶσαν ἐκεῖνοι τὴν ἀλήθειαν εμαθον καὶ τοῖς πολίταις ἀνήγγειλαν οτι κράτιστοι εσονται καὶ πλείστων αρξουσιν. ἐλπὶς ουν κἀκ τούτου αὐτοῖς προσεγένετο. κἀντεῦθεν τὸ ορος μετωνομάσθη παρ' αὐτῶν Καπιτώλιον· καπίτα γὰρ τῇ ̔Ρωμαίων διαλέκτῳ ἡ κεφαλὴ ὀνομάζεται. ∆εηθεὶς δὲ χρημάτων εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ ναοῦ ὁ Ταρκύνιος ̓Αρδεάταις ἐπήνεγκε πόλεμον· οθεν ουτε χρήματα προσεκτήσατο καὶ τῆς βασιλείας ἐξέπεσε. γεγόνασι δ' αὐτῷ καὶ σημεῖά τινα δηλωτικὰ τῆς ἐκπτώσεως. εκ τε γὰρ τοῦ