Attention was then paid to religious matters, and, as certain public functions had been regularly performed by the kings in person, to prevent their loss being felt in any particular, they appointed a king of the sacrifices.[1] This office they made subordinate to the pontifex maximus, that the holder might not, if high office were added to the title, prove detrimental to liberty, which was then their principal care.  And I do not know but that, by fencing it in on every side to excess, even in the most trivial matters, they exceeded bounds.  For, though there was nothing else that gave offence, the name of one of the consuls was an object of dislike to the state.  They declared that the Tarquins had been too much habituated to sovereignty; that it had originated with Priscus:  that Servius Tullius had reigned next; that Tarquinius Superbus had not even, in spite of the interval that had elapsed, given up all thoughts of the kingdom as being the property of another, which it really was, but thought to regain it by crime and violence, as if it were the heirloom of his family; that after the expulsion of Superbus, the government was inthe hands of Collatinus:  that the Tarquins knew not how to live in a private station; that the name pleased them not; that it was dangerous to liberty.  Such language, used at first by persons quietly sounding the dispositions of the people, was circulated through the whole state; and the people, now excited by suspicion, were summoned by Brutus to a meeting.  There first of all he read aloud the people’s oath:  that they would neither suffer any one to be king, nor allow any one to live at Rome from whom danger to liberty might arise.  He declared that this ought to be maintained with all their might, and that nothing, that had any reference to it, ought to be treated with indifference:  that he said this with reluctance, for the sake of the individual; and that he would not have said it, did not his affection for the commonwealth predominate; that the people of Rome did not believe that complete liberty had been recovered; that the regal family, the regal name, was not only in the state but also in power; that that was a stumbling-block, was a hindrance to liberty.  “Do you, Lucius Tarquinius,” said he, “of your own free will, remove this apprehension?  We remember, we own it, you expelled the royal family; complete your services:  take hence the royal name; your property your fellow-citizens shall not only hand over to you, by my advice, but, if it is insufficient, they will liberally supply the want.  Depart in a spirit of friendship.  Relieve the state from a dread which may be only groundless.  So firmly are men’s minds persuaded that only with the Tarquinian race will kingly power depart hence.”  Amazement at so extraordinary and sudden an occurrence at first impeded the consul’s utterance; then, as he was commencing to speak, the chief men of the state stood around him, and with pressing entreaties urged the same request.  The rest of them indeed