with money and spent it lavishly for public purposes he was chosen praetor by them and was entrusted with the management of the government among them.  At that he secretly sent a man and acquainted his father with what had occurred, asking him for his intentions with regard to the future.  The king made no answer to the emissary, in order that he might not, being equally informed, either willingly or unwillingly reveal something; but leading him into a garden where there were poppies he struck off with a rod the heads that were prominent and strewed the ground with them; hereupon he dismissed the message-bearer.  The latter, without comprehending the affair, repeated the king’s actions to Sextus, and he understood the sense of the suggestion.  Therefore he destroyed the more eminent men of Gabii, some secretly by poison, others by robbers (supposedly), and still others he put to death after judicial trial by contriving against them false accusations of traitorous dealings with his father.

Thus did Sextus visit sorrow upon the men of Gabii and destroyed their superior citizens, distributing their money among the crowd.  Later, when some had already perished and the rest had been cozened and thoroughly believed in him, assisted by the Roman captives and the deserters (many of whom he had gathered for his projects), he seized the city and surrendered it to his father.  The king bestowed it upon his son, but himself made war upon other nations.

VII, 11.—­The oracles of the Sibyl to the Romans he obtained even against his will.  A woman whom they called Sibyl, gifted with divine inspiration, came to Rome bringing [Sidenote:  FRAG. 10^4] THREE OR NINE books, offered these to Tarquin for purchase, and stated the value of the books.  As he paid no attention to her, she burned one or three of the books.  When again Tarquin scorned her, she destroyed part of the rest in a similar way.  And she was about to burn up also those still left when the augurs compelled him to purchase the few that were intact.  He bought these for the price for which he might have secured them all, and delivered them to two senators to keep.  As they did not entirely understand the contents, they sent to Greece and hired two men to come from there to read and interpret these things.  The dwellers in the vicinity, desiring to learn what was revealed by the books, [Sidenote:  FRAG. 10^4] MANAGED TO BRIBE MARCUS ACILIUS,[6] ONE OF THE CUSTODIANS, AND HAD SOME STATEMENTS COPIED OUT.  THE AFFAIR BECAME PUBLIC AND MARCUS AFTER BEING THROWN INTO TWO HIDES SEWN TOGETHER was drowned (and beginning with him this punishment has ever since prevailed in the case of parricides), in order that earth nor water nor sun might be defiled by his death.

[Footnote 6:  Zonaras spells Acillius.]