1.7

Servius Tullius, 578–534 BCE

hunc: Tarquinius Priscus

Servius Tullius: Servius Tullius built a temple to Diana on the Aventine and concluded a treaty with the Latin League which was still kept in the temple in Augustan times. The tradition that he was the son of a handmaiden and built the walls of Rome have generally been rejected, though he probably did have the ditches dug, as Eutropius states. His most important achievement was the holding of a census and the reorganization of Rome according to military units and property classes, which strengthened the monarchy against the nobility and balanced the interests of the middle class which provided Rome with legionary hoplites (Bird).

genitus: from gignō, lit. "born" = "the son" (Hazzard).

ex nōbilī fēminā: Florus describes his upbringing:

Then Servius Tullius took over the state. The fact that his mother was a slave did not affect his political aspirations. Tarquinius’ wife Tanaquil recognized the child’s innate talents and cultivated them, saying that his fame was foretold in an omen: for she claimed a flame had appeared over his head. Therefore, when Tarquinius died, Tanaquil saw to it that Servius would stand in for the king temporarily, but the new king ruled so effectively that no one questioned his legitimacy. (Florus 1.1.168-175).

montēs trēs: the Quirinal, Esquiline, and Viminal

fossās circum mūrum: portions of the Servian wall still exist (Hazzard)

omnium: take with prīmus instead of cēnsum

cēnsum ōrdināvit: the number of Roman citizens was ascertained every five years, though not always with perfect regularity, for the assessment of taxes and the arrangement of military service. Originally the kings took the census. After the establishment of the Republic the duty was performed by the consuls. After 444 BCE, special officers, called censors, had charge of it. The census was concluded with the solemn ceremony of reviewing the newly constituted army, called a lustrum (Hazzard).

quī: antecedent is cēnsus

per orbem terrārum: "through the whole world" 

(2) eō: Tulliō

omnibus in cēnsum dēlātīs: ablative absolute using a perfect passive participle from defero (AG 419).

capita: "souls," cf. our expression "head of cattle" (Hazzard). However, this only includes Roman citizens, and not women, slaves, and non-citizens dwelling within Roman territory.

scelere generī suī Tarquinī Superbī: see the next chapter, Brev. 1.8. generi is genitive singular from gener

eius rēgis: "that king," Tarquinius Priscus

ipse: Servius Tullius

cui: "whom," dative object of successerat (AG 370); antecedent is eius regis. 

fīliae: the villainous Tullia, younger daughter of Servius Tullius, and wife of Tarquinius Superbus. Along with her husband, she was said to have arranged the overthrow and murder of her father, securing the throne for her husband. She went so far as to drive her carriage over the corpse of her father, which had been pitched out into the street, at a spot ever after known as the "Street of Crime" (vicus sceleratus). French artist Jean Bardin (1732–1809) depicted the scene in a dramatic painting now in the Landesmuseum Mainz.

uxōrem: "as his wife" (Hazzard), in apposition with quam