21. Brutus, however, only waited this opportunity to avenge the cause of his family. He ordered Lucre'tia's[Pg. 87] dead body to be brought out to view, and exposing it in the public forum, inflamed the ardour of the citizens by a display of the horrid transaction. He obtained a decree of the senate, that Tarquin and his family should be for ever banished from Rome, and that it should be capital for any to plead for, or to attempt his future return. 22. Thus this monarch, who had now reigned twenty-five years, being expelled his kingdom, went to take refuge with his family at Ci'ra, a little city of Etru'ria. In the mean time the Roman army made a truce with the enemy, and Bru'tus was proclaimed deliverer of the people.
Thus ended with Tarquin, after a continuance of two hundred and forty-five years, the regal state of Rome.
Questions for Examination.
1. What was the conduct of Lucius Tarquinius at the commencement of his reign?
2. Was his claim quietly acquiesced in?
3. What means did he adopt for his security?
4. By what means did he divert the people's attention from the unlawful manner in which he acquired the crown?
5. What happened in the mean time?
6. To what mean artifice did he have recourse?
7. How did Sextus accomplish his father's design?