This scene of
dissimulation continued for some days, till he had made his party good
among the nobles; when, the death of Tarquin being publicly
ascertained, Ser'vius came to the crown, solely at the senate's
appointment, and without attempting to gain the suffrages of the
people.
3. Ser'vius was the son of a bondwoman, who had been taken at the
sacking of a town belonging to the Latins, and was born whilst his
mother was a slave. While yet an infant in his cradle, a lambent
flame[1] is said to have played round his head, which Tan'aquil
converted into an omen of future greatness.
4. Upon being acknowledged king, he determined to make a great change
in the Roman constitution by admitting the plebeians to a
participation in the civil government. The senate was too weak to
resist the change when it was proposed, but it submitted with great
reluctance. 5. Ser'vius divided all the Romans into classes and
centuries according to their wealth and the amount of taxes paid
to the state. The number of centuries in the first class nearly
equalled that of all the others; a great advantage to the plebeians;
for the lower classes being chiefly clients of the patricians, were
always inclined to vote according to the prejudices or interests of
their patrons.
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