Tuscans however moulded the chariot, and set it in the furnace; but the case was very different with it from that of other clay in the fire, which condenses and contracts upon the exhalation of the moisture; whereas this enlarged itself and swelled, till it grew to such a size and hardness, that it was with difficulty drawn out, even after the furnace was dismantled. The soothsayers

being of opinion, that this chariot betokened power and success to the persons with whom it should remain, the people of Veii determined not to give it up to the Romans; but upon their demanding it replied, "That it belonged to Tarquin, not to those who had driven him from his kingdom." It happened that, a few days afterward, there was a chariot-race at Veii, which went off in the usual manner; except that as the charioteer, who had won the prize and received the crown, was gently driving out of the ring, the horses took fright without any visible cause; and, either by some direction of the gods or some turn of fortune, ran away with their driver at full. speed toward Rome. It was in vain that he pulled the reins, or soothed them with words; he was obliged to give way to their career, and was whirled along till they came to the Capitol, where' they threw him out at the gate now called Ratumena. The Veientes, surprised and terrified at this incident, ordered the artists to deliver up the chariot 38

Tarquin the son of Demaratus, in his wars

37 The young man's name was Ratumenas. See Plin. viii. 42., and Festus voc. Ratumenas.*

38 A miracle of this kind, and not less extraordinary, is said to have happened in modern Rome. When poor St. Michael's church was in a ruinous condition, the horses, that were employed in drawing stones for other purposes through the city, unanimously agreed to carry their loads to St. Michael!

with the Sabines, made a vow to build a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus; which was performed by Tarquin the Proud, son or grandson of the for mer 39. He did not however consecrate it, for it was not quite finished, when he was expelled from Rome. When it was quite finished, and had received every suitable ornament, Publicola was ambitious of the honour of dedicating it. This excited the envy of some of the nobility, who could better brook his other honours; to which indeed, in his legislative and military capacities, he had a better claim: but, as he had no concern in this, instead of granting it to him, they encouraged and importuned. Horatins to apply for it. In the mean time, Publicola's command of the army necessarily required his absence; and his adversaries, seizing this opportunity to procure an order from the people that Horatius should dedicate the temple, conducted him to the Capitol a point, which they could not have gained, had Publicola been present. Yet some say, the consuls having cast lots for it", the dedicasion fell to Horatius; and the expedition, against his inclination, to Publicola. We may easily conjecture, however, how they stood disposed, by the proceedings upon the day of dedication. This was the thirteenth of September, which is about the

39 Livy (i. 46.) has the same doubt upon this subject, though he seems inclined to the former opinion. But Dion. Halic. has proved (iv. 2.) by indisputable arguments, that Lucius and Aruns Tarquinius were the grandchildren of the elder Tarquin.*

40 This temple was two hundred feet long, and upward of one hundred and eighty-five broad. The front was adorned with three rows of columns, and the sides with two. In the nave were three shrines, one of Jupiter, another of Juno, and the third of Minerva. See a description of it in Dion. Halic. iv. 13. Livy says positively (ii. 8.), they cast lots for it.' And from him Plutarch seems to have taken the sequel of the story. (L.) It was a high honour, because the name of the dedicator was inscribed on the front of the temple.*

41

full moon of the month Metagîtnion; when pro digious numbers of all ranks being assembled, and silence enjoined, Horatius after the other ceremonies took hold of one of the gate-posts (as the custom is), and was going to pronounce the prayer of consecration. But Marcus the brother of Publicola, who had stood for some time by the gates watching his opportunity, cried out; "Consul, your son lies dead in the camp." This gave great pain to all, who heard it: but the consul, not in the least disconcerted, replied, "Then cast out the carcase where you please, I admit of no mourning upon this occasion;" and so proceeded to finish the dedication. The intelligence was not true, but an invention of Marcus, who hoped thus to prevent Horatius from completing what he was about. But his presence of mind is equally admirable, whether he immediately perceived the falsity, or believed the account to be correct without showing any emotion.

The same fortune attended the dedication of the second temple. The first built by Tarquin, and dedicated by Horatius as we have related, was subsequently destroyed by fire in the. civil wars2 Sylla rebuilt it, but did not live to consecrate it; upon which the dedication of this

42 After it's destruction in the wars between Sylla and Marius (A. U. C.) 669. Sylla rebuilt it with columns of marble, which he had taken out of the temple of Jupiter Olympius at Athens, and transported to Rome. But (as Plutarch observes) he did not live to consecrate it; and he was heard to say, as he was dying, that his leaving that temple to be dedicated by another was the only unfortunate circumstance of his life. (L.) It was burned a second time, when Vitellius was besieging Flavius Sabinus in the Capitol; but whether by the besiegers or besieged, as Tacitus (Hist. iii. 71.72.) states, is doubtful. Vespasian restored it the year following; and the last-mentioned historian (Hist. iv. 53.) details all the ceremonies used upon the occasion. It was finally rebuilt by Domitian, and inscribed (as Suetonius affirms) with his name, without any mention of it's original founder.*

second temple fell to Catulus. It was again destroyed in the troubles, which happened in the time of Vitellius; and a third was built by Vespasian, who with his usual good fortune put the last hand to it, but did not see it demolished, as it was soon afterward: happier in this respect than Sylla, who died before his was dedicated, Vespasian died before his was destroyed. For, immediately after his decease, the capitol was burned. The fourth, which is now standing, was built and dedicated by Domitian. Tarquin is said to have expended thirty thousand pounds' weight of silver upon the foundations alone; but the greatest wealth, of which any private man is supposed to be now possessed in Rome, would not defray the expence of the gilding of the present temple, which amounted to more than twelve thousand talents. The pillars are of Pentelic marble, and the thickness was in most exact proportion to their length, when we saw them at Athens; when they had been cut however and polished anew at Rome, they gained less in the polish, than they lost in the proportion; for their beauty is injured by their appearing too slender for their height". But after admiring the

Livy (i. 55.) judiciously prefers the more moderate estimate of Fabius, an elder historian, to that of Piso, whom Plutarch seems to follow. The great interval between the wealth of private citizens in a free country, and that of the subjects of an arbitrary monarch, is highly deserving of remark. In Trajan's time, there was not a private man in Rome worth 200,000l.; whereas under the commonwealth Æmilius Scaurus, in his ædileship, erected a temporary theatre which cost above 500,000l.; Marcus Crassus had an estate in land of above a million a year; L. Cornelius Balbus left by will to every Roman citizen twenty-five denarii, which amounts to about sixteen shillings of our money; and many private men among the Romans, more for ostentation than for service, maintained from ten to twenty thousand slaves. No wonder then that the slaves once took up arms, and went to war with the commonwealth.

*The Roman artists, by the concession of their own writers, were always both in taste and execution inferior to those of Greece. See Hor. Ep. to Aug., and Art. Poet *

magnificence of the capitol, if any one were to go and see a gallery, a hall or bath, or the apartments of the women in Domitian's palace; what is said by Epicharmus of a prodigal, 6 temi bosiq on od 69270 quero VTV Varavbs aid blod od ti 30 97 Your lavish'd stores speak not the liberal mindas 7979 2010 But the disease of giving, bas moerneg edit medt dj anojs emo enin 159 26 od jedt he might apply to that emperor in some such manner as this. Neither piety, nor magnificence, ap819pears in your expence; youhave the disease of building, like Midas of old, you would turn every thing to gold and marble," So much for this subject. Let us now return to Tarquin. After the great battle in which he lost his son, who was killed in single combat by Brutus, he fled to Clusium, and begged assistance of Laras 45 Porsena, then the most powerful prince in Italy, and a man of emiworth and honour. Porsena promised him succours and, in the first place, sent to the Romans, commanding them to receive Tarquin. Upon their refusal, he declared war against them; and having informed them of the time when, and the place where, he intended to make his assault, he marched thither accordingly with a considerable Publicola, who was then absent, was chosen consul the second time; and with him Titus Lucretius. Returning to Rome, and desirous to out2801005ten to to zon omit and is aliud don tew chilge basanjal od tadige vernd & 28 Jlind enw di o vse ostal to Many commentators regard this as a name of honour, implying the head of the twelve Lucumons, or dodecarchy of Etruria; but Dion. Halic., v. 4., considers it as a private name.* single - Beside that Porsena was willing to assist a distressed king, he considered the Tarquins as his countrymen, on account of their Tuscan extraction. But the announcing of his plans is not mentioned either by Livy, or by Dion Halic. aids bonobos adi al TS It was when Publicola was consul the third time, and had for collegue Horatius Palvillus, according to Dion. Halic., that Porsena marched against Rome. Livy, however, agrees with Plu tarch.