[4,63] Ταῦτα διαπραξάμενος ὁ Ταρκύνιος ἐν εἰρήνῃ τε καὶ κατὰ πολέμους καὶ δύο πόλεις ἀποικίσας τὴν μὲν καλουμένην Σιγνίαν οὐ κατὰ προαίρεσεν, ἀλλ´ ἐκ ταὐτομάτου, χειμασάντων ἐν τῷ χωρίῳ τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ κατασκευασαμένων τὸ στρατόπεδον ὡς μηδὲν διαφέρειν πόλεως· Κιρκαίαν δὲ κατὰ λογισμόν, ὅτι τοῦ Πωμεντίνου πεδίου μεγίστου τῶν περὶ τῇ Λατίνῃ καὶ τῆς συναπτούσης αὐτῷ θαλάττης ἔκειτο ἐν καλῷ· ἔστι δὲ χερσονησοειδὴς σκόπελος ὑψηλὸς ἐπιεικῶς ἐπὶ τοῦ Τυρρηνικοῦ πελάγους κείμενος, ἔνθα λόγος ἔχει Κίρκην τὴν Ἡλίου θυγατέρα κατοικῆσαι· καὶ τὰς ἀποικίας ἀμφοτέρας δυσὶ τῶν παίδων οἰκισταῖς ἀναθείς, Κιρκαίαν μὲν Ἄρροντι, Σιγνίαν δὲ Τίτῳ, δέος ἅτε οὐδὲν ἔτι περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἔχων, διὰ γυναικὸς ὕβριν αὐτῆς, ἣν ὁ πρεσβύτατος αὐτοῦ τῶν παίδων Σέξτος διέφθειρεν, ἐξελαύνεται τῆς τ´ ἀρχῆς καὶ τῆς πόλεως, προθεσπίσαντος αὐτῷ τοῦ δαιμονίου τὴν μέλλουσαν γενήσεσθαι περὶ τὸν οἶκον συμφορὰν πολλοῖς μὲν καὶ ἄλλοις οἰωνοῖς, τελευταίῳ δὲ τῷδε. αἰετοὶ συνιόντες εἰς τὸν παρακείμενον τοῖς βασιλείοις κῆπον ἔαρος ὥρᾳ νεοττιὰν ἔπλαττον ἐπὶ κορυφῇ φοίνικος ὑψηλοῦ. τούτων δὲ τῶν αἰετῶν ἀπτῆνας ἔτι τοὺς νεοττοὺς ἐχόντων γῦπες ἀθρόοι προσπετασθέντες τήν τε νεοττιὰν διεφόρησαν καὶ τοὺς νεοττοὺς ἀπέκτειναν καὶ τοὺς αἰετοὺς προσιόντας ἀπὸ τῆς νομῆς ἀμύττοντές τε καὶ παίοντες τοῖς ταρσοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ φοίνικος ἀπήλασαν. τούτους τοὺς οἰωνοὺς ἰδὼν ὁ Ταρκύνιος καὶ φυλαττόμενος, εἴ πως δύναιτο διακρούσασθαι τὴν μοῖραν, οὐκ ἴσχυσε νικῆσαι τὸ χρεών, ἀλλ´ ἐπιθεμένων αὐτῷ τῶν πατρικίων καὶ τοῦ δήμου συμφρονήσαντος ἐξέπεσε τῆς δυναστείας. οἵτινες δ´ ἦσαν οἱ τῆς ἐπαναστάσεως ἄρξαντες καὶ δι´ οἵων τρόπων ἦλθον ἐπὶ τὰ πράγματα, δι´ ὀλίγων πειράσομαι διελθεῖν.

[4,63] Besides these achievements of Tarquinius both in peace and in war, he founded two colonies. One of them, called Signia, was not planned, but was due to chance, the soldiers having established their winter quarters in the place and built their camp in such a manner as not to differ in any respect from a city. But it was with deliberate purpose that he settled Circeii, because the place was advantageously situated in relation both to the Pomptine plain, which is the largest of all the plains in the Latin country, and to the sea that is contiguous to it. For it is a fairly high rock in the nature of a peninsula, situated on the Tyrrhenian Sea; and tradition has it that Circe, the daughter of the Sun, lived there. He assigned (p471) both these colonies to two of his sons as their founders, giving Circeii to Arruns and Signia to Titus; and being now no longer in any fear concerning his power, he was both driven from power and exiled because of the outrageous deed of Sextus, his eldest son, who ruined a married woman. Of this calamity that was to overtake his house, Heaven had forewarned him by numerous omens, and particularly by this final one: Two eagles, coming in the spring to the garden near the palace, made their aerie on the top of a tall palm tree. While these eagles had their young as yet unfledged, a flock of vultures, flying to the aerie, destroyed it and killed the young birds; and when the eagles returned from their feeding, the vultures, tearing them and striking them with the flat of their wings, drove them from the palm tree. Tarquinius, seeing these omens, took all possible precautions to avert his destiny but proved unable to conquer fate; for when the patricians set themselves against him and the people were of the same mind, he was driven from power. Who the authors of this insurrection were and by what means they came into control of affairs, I shall endeavour to relate briefly.