them, blend hopelessly fact and fable. We cannot be quite sure even as to
the names. Respecting Roman affairs, however, under the last three rulers
(the Tarquins), who were of Etruscan origin, some important things are
related, the substantial truth of which we may rely upon with a fair
degree of certainty; and these matters we shall notice in the following
paragraphs.

GROWTH OF ROME UNDER THE TARQUINS.--The Tarquins extended their authority
over the whole of Latium. The position of supremacy thus given Rome was
naturally attended by the rapid growth in population and importance of the
little Palatine city. The original walls soon became too strait for the
increasing multitudes; new ramparts were built--tradition says under the
direction of the king Servius Tullius--which, with a great circuit of
seven miles, swept around the entire cluster of the Seven Hills. A large
tract of marshy ground between the Palatine and Capitoline hills was
drained by means of the Cloaca Maxima, the "Great Sewer," which was so
admirably constructed that it has been preserved to the present day. It
still discharges its waters through a great arch into the Tiber. The land
thus reclaimed became the Forum, the assembling-place of the people. Upon
the summit of the Capitoline Hill, overlooking the Forum, was built the
famous sanctuary called the Capitol, or the Capitoline temple, where
beneath the same roof were the shrines of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, the
three great national deities. Upon the level ground between the Aventine
and the Palatine was laid out the Circus Maximus, the "Great Circus,"
where were celebrated the Roman games.

[Illustration: VIEW OF THE CAPITOLINE, WITH THE CLOACA MAXIMA. (A
Reconstruction.)]

NEW CONSTITUTION OF SERVIUS TULLIUS.--The second king of the Etruscan