When I was a boy, my grandfather taught me the list of kings: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius the Elder, Servius Tullius. Tarquinius the Proud was to be the last, the very last, cast out and replaced forever by something called a republic. A mockery! A mistake! An experiment that failed! Today is the republic’s final day. Tomorrow, men will shout in the Forum, ‘All hail King Coriolanus!
Steven Saylor (2007). “Roma: A Novel of Ancient Rome”, p.168, Macmillan
![When I was a boy, my grandfather taught me the list of kings: Romulus, Numa Pompilius, Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius the Elder, Servius Tullius. Tarquinius the Proud was to be the last, the very last, cast](http://cdn.myquotes.org/images/steven-saylor/when-i-was-a-boy-my-grandfather-taught-me-the-list-of-kings-romulus-numa-pompilius-tullus-hostilius-ancus-marcius.jpg)