[3,35] Ταῦτα διαπραξάμενος ἐπὶ τῆς ἰδίας ἀρχῆς βασιλεὺς Τύλλος Ὁστίλιος, ἀνὴρ ἐν ὀλίγοις ἄξιος εὐλογεῖσθαι τῆς τε εὐτολμίας ἕνεκα τῆς πρὸς τὰ πολέμια καὶ τῆς φρονήσεως τῆς περὶ τὰ δεινά, ὑπὲρ ἄμφω δὲ ταῦτα, ὅτι οὐ ταχὺς ὢν εἰς πόλεμον ἰέναι βέβαιος ἦν καταστὰς εἰς αὐτὸν ἐν ἅπασι τῶν ἀντιπάλων προέχειν, ἔτη δὲ κατασχὼν τὴν ἀρχὴν δύο καὶ τριάκοντα τελευτᾷ τὸν βίον ἐμπρησθείσης τῆς οἰκίας, καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ γυνή τε ἀπόλλυται καὶ τέκνα καὶ ὁ ἄλλος οἰκετικὸς ἅπας ὄχλος καταληφθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρός. καταπρησθῆναι δὲ τὴν οἰκίαν οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ κεραυνοῦ λέγουσι μηνίσαντος τοῦ θεοῦ δι´ ὀλιγωρίαν ἱερῶν τινων (ἐκλιπεῖν γὰρ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς ἐκείνου πατρίους τινὰς θυσίας, ἑτέρας δ´ οὐχ ὑπαρχούσας ἐπιχωρίους Ῥωμαίοις παραγαγεῖν), οἱ δὲ πλείους ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνης φασὶν ἐπιβουλῆς τὸ πάθος γενέσθαι ἀνατιθέντες τὸ ἔργον Μαρκίῳ τῷ μετ´ ἐκεῖνον ἄρξαντι τῆς πόλεως. τοῦτον γὰρ ἐκ τῆς Νόμα Πομπιλίου θυγατρὸς γενόμενον ἄχθεσθαί τε, ὅτι ἐκ βασιλείου γένους πεφυκὼς αὐτὸς ἰδιώτης ἦν, καὶ γένος ἐπιτρεφόμενον ὁρῶντα τῷ Τύλλῳ παντὸς μάλιστα ὑποπτεύειν, εἴ τι πάθοι Τύλλος εἰς τοὺς ἐκείνου παῖδας ἥξειν τὴν ἀρχήν. ταῦτα δὴ διανοούμενον ἐκ πολλοῦ στήσασθαι κατὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπιβουλὴν πολλοὺς ἔχοντα Ῥωμαίων τοὺς συγκατασκευάζοντας αὐτῷ τὴν δυναστείαν, φίλον δὲ ὄντα τοῦ Τύλλου καὶ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα πιστευόμενον φυλάττειν ὅτε καιρὸς ἐπιτήδειος φανείη τῆς ἐπιθέσεως. μέλλοντος δὲ τοῦ Τύλλου θυσίαν τινὰ κατ´ οἶκον ἐπιτελεῖν, ἣν αὐτοὺς μόνον ἐβούλετο τοὺς ἀναγκαίους εἰδέναι, καὶ κατὰ δαίμονα τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης χειμερίου σφόδρα γενομένης κατά τε ὄμβρον καὶ ζάλην καὶ σκότος, ὥστ´ ἔρημον ἀπολειφθῆναι τὸν πρὸ τῆς οἰκίας τόπον τῶν φυλαττόντων, ἐπιτήδειον ὑπολαμβάνοντα τὸν καιρὸν ἅμα τοῖς ἑταίροις ἔχουσιν ὑπὸ ταῖς περιβολαῖς τὰ ξίφη παρελθεῖν εἴσω τῶν θυρῶν, ἀποκτείναντα δὲ τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τοὺς παῖδας αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσοις ἐνέτυχεν ἐνεῖναι πῦρ εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν κατὰ πολλοὺς τόπους, ταῦτα δὲ πράξαντα τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς κεραυνώσεως διασπεῖραι λόγον. ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦτον μὲν οὐ δέχομαι τὸν λόγον οὔτ´ ἀληθῆ νομίζων οὔτε πιθανόν, τῷ δὲ προτέρῳ μᾶλλον προστιθέμενος κατὰ δαίμονα νομίζω τὸν ἄνδρα ταύτης τῆς τελευτῆς τυχεῖν. οὔτε γὰρ ἀπόρρητον φυλαχθῆναι τὴν πρᾶξιν ὑπὸ πολλῶν συσκευαζομένην εἰκὸς ἦν, οὔτε τῷ συστήσαντι αὐτὴν βέβαιον ἦν ὅτι μετὰ τὴν Ὁστιλίου τελευτὴν ἐκεῖνον ἀποδείξουσι Ῥωμαῖοι βασιλέα τῆς πόλεως, οὔτ´ εἰ τὰ παρ´ ἀνθρώπων αὐτῷ πιστὰ καὶ βέβαια ἦν, τά γέ τοι παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ὅμοια ἔμελλε ταῖς ἀνθρωπίναις ἀγνοίαις ἔσεσθαι. μετὰ γὰρ τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν φυλῶν γενησομένην ψηφηφορίαν τοὺς θεοὺς ἔδει τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτῷ δι´ οἰωνῶν αἰσίων ἐπιθεσπίσαι· ἄνδρα δὲ μιαρὸν καὶ τοσούτοις ᾑμαγμένον φόνοις ἀδίκοις τίς ἔμελλε θεῶν ἢ δαιμόνων παρήσειν βωμοῖς τε προσιόντα καὶ θυμάτων καταρχόμενον καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἐπιτελοῦντα θεραπείας; ἐγὼ μὲν δὴ διὰ ταῦτα οὐκ εἰς ἀνθρωπίνην ἐπιβουλὴν ἀλλ´ εἰς θεοῦ βούλησιν τὸ ἔργον ἀναφέρω, κρινέτω δ´ ἕκαστος ὡς βούλεται.

[3,35] These were the achievements performed during his reign by King Tullus Hostilius, a man worthy of exceptional praise for his boldness in war and his prudence in the face of danger, but, above both these qualifications, because, though he was not precipitate in entering upon a war, when he was once engaged in it he steadily pursued it until he had the upper hand in every way over his adversaries. After he had reigned thirty-two years he lost his life when his house caught fire, and with him his wife and children and all his household perished in the flames. Some say that his house was set on fire by a thunderbolt, Heaven having become angered at his neglect of some sacred rites (for they say that in his reign some ancestral sacrifices were omitted and that he introduced others that were foreign to the Romans), but the majority state that the disaster was due to human treachery and ascribe it to Marcius, who (p153) ruled the state after him. For they say that this man, who was the son of Numa Pompilius' daughter, was indignant at being in a private station himself, though of royal descent, and seeing that Tullus had children growing up, he suspected very strongly that upon the death of Tullus the kingdom would fall to them. With these thoughts in mind, they say, he had long since formed a plot against the king, and had many of the Romans aiding him to gain the sovereignty; and being a friend of Tullus and one of his closest confidants, he was watching for a suitable opportunity to appear for making his attack. Accordingly, when Tullus proposed to perform a certain sacrifice at home which he wished only his near relations to know about and that day chanced to be very stormy, with rain and sleet and darkness, so that those who were upon guard before the house had left their station, Marcius, looking upon this as a favourable opportunity, entered the house together with his friends, who had swords under their garments, and having killed the king and his children and all the rest whom he encountered, he set fire to the house in several places, and after doing this spread the report that the fire had been due to a thunderbolt. But for my part I do not accept this story, regarding it as neither true nor plausible, but I subscribe rather to the former account, believing that Tullus met with this end by the judgment of Heaven. For, in the first place, it is improbable that the undertaking in which so many were concerned could have been kept secret, and, besides, the author (p155) of it could not be certain that after the death of Hostilius the Romans would choose him as king of the state; furthermore, even if men were loyal to him and steadfast, yet it was unlikely that the gods would act with an ignorance resembling that of men. For after the tribes had given their votes, it would be necessary that the gods, by auspicious omens, should sanction the awarding of the kingdom to him; and which of the gods or other divinities was going to permit a man who was impure and stained with the unjust murder of so many persons to approach the altars, begin the sacrifices, and perform the other religious ceremonies? I, then, for these reasons do not attribute the catastrophe to the treachery of men, but to the will of Heaven; however, let everyone judge as he pleases.