§3.72.1βασιλεὺς δὲ Ταρκύνιος ἀναπεπαυμένος ἤδη τῶν πολεμικῶν ἔργων διὰ γῆρας, ἦν γὰρ ὀγδοηκονταέτης, δολοφονηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν Ἄγκου Μαρκίου παίδων ἀποθνήσκει ἐπιχειρησάντων μὲν ἔτι πρότερον ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ πολλάκις τοῦτο πραγματευσαμένων κατʼ ἐλπίδα τοῦ περιπεσεῖν εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐκπεσόντος ἐκείνου τὴν δυναστείαν, ὡς δὴ πατρῴαν σφίσιν ὑπάρχουσαν καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ῥᾴστου πρὸς τῶν πολιτῶν δοθησομένην.
And King Tarquinius, having already retired from military tasks because of old age—for he was eighty years old—died, being assassinated by the sons of Ancus Marcius, who had even earlier attempted to expel him from power and had often schemed for this, in the hope that, if he were expelled, the sovereignty would fall to them, on the ground that it belonged to them from their fathers and would be given most easily by the citizens.
§3.72.2ἐπεὶ δὲ διήμαρτον τῆς ἐλπίδος, ἐπιβουλὴν ἄφυκτον κατʼ αὐτοῦ ἐμηχανήσαντο, ἣν οὐκ εἴασεν ἀτιμώρητον γενέσθαι τὸ δαιμόνιον.
But when they failed in this hope, they devised an inescapable conspiracy against him, which the divine power did not allow to go unpunished.
διηγήσομαι δὲ καὶ τὸν τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς τρόπον ἀπὸ τῆς πρώτης ἐπιχειρήσεως αὐτῶν ἀρξάμενος.
I shall relate also the manner of the conspiracy, beginning from their first attempt.
§3.72.3ὁ Νέβιος ἐκεῖνος ὁ δεινὸς οἰωνομάντις, ὃν ἔφην ἐναντιωθῆναί ποτε τῷ βασιλεῖ πλείονας ἐξ ἐλασσόνων ποιῆσαι τὰς φυλὰς βουλομένῳ, ὅτε μάλιστα ἤνθει διὰ τὴν τέχνην καὶ πλεῖστον ἠδύνατο Ῥωμαίων ἁπάντων, εἴτε φθονηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν ἀντιτέχνων τινὸς εἴτʼ ἐπιβουλευθεὶς ὑπʼ ἐχθρῶν εἴτε ὅ τι δή ποτε ἄλλο παθὼν ἀφανὴς ἄφνω γίνεται, καὶ οὔτε τὸν μόρον αὐτοῦ τις ἠδύνατο τῶν προσηκόντων συμβαλεῖν οὔτε τὸ σῶμα ἐξευρεῖν·
That Nevius, the famous and skilled augur—whom I said had once opposed the king when he wished to make the tribes more numerous from a smaller number—when he was at the height of his fame because of his art and possessed the greatest influence of all the Romans, whether envied by one of his rivals, or plotted against by his enemies, or having suffered whatever other fate, suddenly disappeared; and neither could any of his relatives conjecture his death, nor find his body.
§3.72.4ἀχθομένου δὲ τοῦ δήμου καὶ δεινῶς φέροντος τὸ πάθος ὑπονοίας τε πολλὰς καὶ κατὰ πολλῶν λαμβάνοντος, κατανοήσαντες τὴν ὁρμὴν τοῦ πλήθους οἱ τοῦ Μαρκίου παῖδες, ἐπὶ τὸν βασιλέα Ταρκύνιον τὴν διαβολὴν τοῦ ἄγους ἀνέφερον ἄλλο μὲν οὐθὲν ἔχοντες φέρειν τῆς διαβολῆς οὔτε τεκμήριον οὔτε σημεῖον, δυσὶ δὲ τοῖς εἰκόσι τούτοις κρατυνόμενοι πρῶτον μέν, ὅτι πολλὰ καὶ καινὰ περὶ τὴν πολιτείαν διεγνωκὼς παρανομεῖν τὸν ἐναντιωσόμενον ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν προτέρων ἐκ ποδῶν ἐβούλετο ποιήσασθαι, ἔπειτα ὅτι δεινοῦ πάθους γεγονότος οὐδεμίαν ἐποιήσατο τῶν δεδρακότων ζήτησιν, ἀλλʼ ἀμελείᾳ παρέδωκε τὸ πραχθέν, ὅπερ οὐκ ἂν ποιῆσαί §3.72.5τινα τῶν ἔξω τῆς αἰτίας ὑπαρχόντων.
While the people were vexed and bore the calamity heavily, harboring many suspicions against many men, the sons of Marcius, observing the impulse of the crowd, directed the accusation of the pollution against King Tarquinius, having no other proof or sign to bring forward for the accusation, but strengthening their case with these two plausible arguments: first, that because he had resolved to commit many unlawful innovations regarding the constitution, he wished to put out of the way any who would oppose him, as in previous instances; second, that although a terrible calamity had occurred, he made no inquiry after the perpetrators, but treated what had been done with neglect—which no one who was free from blame would have done.
παρασκευασάμενοι δὲ μεγάλας ἑταιρείας περὶ αὑτοὺς πατρικίων τε καὶ δημοτικῶν, οἷς τὰς ἑαυτῶν οὐσίας κατηγορήγουν, πολλὴν ἐποιοῦντο τοῦ Ταρκυνίου κατηγορίαν καὶ τῷ δήμῳ παρῄνουν μὴ περιορᾶν ἄνδρα μιαρὸν ἱεροῖς τε προσφέροντα τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τὴν ἐξουσίαν μιαίνοντα καὶ ταῦτʼ οὐκ ἐπιχώριον ἀλλʼ ἐπήλυτον ὄντα καὶ ἄπολιν.
And having formed large factions of both patricians and plebeians around themselves, to whom they distributed their own property, they made a vehement accusation against Tarquinius and advised the people not to tolerate a defiled man, who laid hands on sacred things and polluted the sovereign power, and that too though he was not a native, but an immigrant and a man without a country.
§3.72.6τοιαῦτα κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν δημηγοροῦντες ἄνδρες ἰταμοὶ καὶ λέγειν οὐκ ἀδύνατοι πολλοὺς μὲν ἠρέθισαν τῶν δημοτικῶν, οἳ παραγενόμενον αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἀπολογίας χάριν ἐξελαύνειν ἐπεχείρησαν ὡς οὐ καθαρόν·
By delivering such speeches in the forum, being bold men and not lacking in eloquence, they incited many of the plebeians, who, when he arrived in the forum for the sake of his defense, attempted to drive him away as one who was impure.
οὐ μὴν καταγωνίσασθαί γε τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἴσχυσαν οὐδὲ πεῖσαι τὸν δῆμον ἐδυνήθησαν ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς ἀρχῆς.
Nevertheless, they were not strong enough to defeat the truth, nor were they able to persuade the people to expel him from power.
§3.72.7ἐπεὶ δὲ αὐτός τε ἀπολογηθεὶς κράτιστα περὶ αὑτοῦ τὴν διαβολὴν ἀπελύσατο καὶ ὁ κηδεστὴς αὐτοῦ Τύλλιος, ᾧ τὴν ἑτέραν δεδωκὼς ἦν θυγατέρα, μέγιστον ἐν τῷ δήμῳ δυνάμενος εἰς ἔλεον τοὺς Ῥωμαίους ὑπηγάγετο, συκοφάνται καὶ πονηροὶ δόξαντες εἶναι καὶ πολλὴν ὀφλόντες αἰσχύνην ἀπῆλθον ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς.
But when he himself, having defended himself most excellently, cleared away the slander, and his son-in-law Tullius, to whom he had given his other daughter, and who possessed the greatest influence among the people, moved the Romans to pity, they, appearing to be slanderers and wicked men and having incurred great shame, departed from the forum.