Gabians generally had the advantage, then all the Gabians, from the highest to the lowest, were eager to believe that Sextus Tarquinius had been sent to them as their general, by the favour of the gods.  By exposing himself equally with the soldiers to fatigues and dangers, and by his generosity in bestowing the plunder, he became so loved by the soldiers, that his father Tarquin had not greater power at Rome than his son at Gabii.  Accordingly, when he saw he had sufficient strength collected to support him in any undertaking, he sent one of his confidants to his father at Rome to inquire what he wished him to do, seeing the gods had granted him to be all-powerful at Gabii.  To this courier no answer by word of mouth was given, because, I suppose, he appeared of questionable fidelity.  The king went into a garden of the palace, as if in deep thought, followed by his son’s messenger; walking there for some time without uttering a word, he is said to have struck off the heads of the tallest poppies with his staff.[49] The messenger, wearied with asking and waiting for an answer, returned to Gabii apparently without having accomplished his object, and told what he had himself said and seen, adding that Tarquin, either through passion, aversion to him, or his innate pride, had not uttered a single word.  As soon as it was clear to Sextus what his father wished, and what conduct he enjoined by those intimations without words, he put to death the most eminent men of the city, some by accusing them before the people, as well as others, who from their own personal unpopularity were liable to attack.  Many were executed publicly, and some, in whose case impeachment was likely to prove less plausible, were secretly assassinated.  Some who wished to go into voluntary exile were allowed to do so, others were banished, and their estates, as well as the estates of those who were put to death, publicly divided in their absence.  Out of these largesses and plunder were distributed; and by the sweets of private gain the sense of public calamities became extinguished, till the state of Gabii, destitute of counsel and assistance, surrendered itself without a struggle into the power of the Roman king.

Tarquin, having thus gained possession of Gabii, made peace with the nation of the Aequi, and renewed the treaty with the Etruscans.  He next turned his attention to the affairs of the city.  The chief of these was that of leaving behind him the Temple of Jupiter on the Tarpeian Mount, as a monument of his name and reign; to remind posterity that of two Tarquinii, both kings, the father had vowed, the son completed it.[50] Further, that the open space, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship, might be entirely appropriated to Jupiter and his temple, which was to be erected upon it, he resolved to cancel the inauguration of the small temples and chapels, several of which had been first vowed by King Tatius, in the crisis of the battle against Romulus, and afterward