Lucius Tarquinius Priscus (Classical Latin: [tarˈkʷɪniʊs ˈpriːskʊs]), or Tarquin the Elder, was the legendary fifth king of Rome and first of its Etruscan dynasty.

However, he was prohibited from obtaining political office in Tarquinii because of the ethnicity of his father, Demaratus, who came from the Greek city of Corinth.

[5] In one tradition, the sons were away on a hunting expedition at the time of their father's death, and were thus unable to affect the assembly's choice.

According to Livy, Tarquin increased the number of the Senate to 300 by adding one hundred men from the leading minor families.

The Latins claimed that peace treaties developed by Romulus and the other Roman kings no longer applied and as such, launched the first set of attacks.

Choosing not to split up his military power, Tarquin chose to keep the attack on the Latins, leading to a Roman victory.

[11] In the peace negotiations that followed, Tarquin received the town of Collatia, and appointed his nephew, Arruns Tarquinius, better known as Egerius, as commander of the garrison there.

[12] Subsequently, the Latin cities of Corniculum, old Ficulea, Cameria, Crustumerium, Ameriola, Medullia, and Nomentum were subdued and became Roman.

[15] The Circus Maximus started out as an underwhelming piece of land, but was built into a grand and beautiful stadium.

There the king established a series of annual games; according to Livy, the first horses and boxers to participate were brought from Etruria.

According to Florus, Tarquin celebrated his triumphs in the Etruscan fashion, riding a golden chariot drawn by four horses,[15] while wearing a gold-embroidered toga and the tunica palmata, a tunic upon which palm-leaves were embroidered.

He also introduced other Etruscan insignia of civilian authority and military distinction: the sceptre of the king; the trabea, a purple garment that varied in form, but was perhaps most often used as a mantle; the fasces carried by the lictors; the curule chair; the toga praetexta, later worn by various magistrates and officials; the rings worn by senators; the paludamentum, a cloak associated with military command; and the phalera, a disc of metal worn on a soldier's breastplate during parades, or displayed on the standards of various military units.

[18] Strabo reports that Tarquin introduced Etruscan sacrificial and divinatory rites, as well as the tuba, a straight horn used chiefly for military purposes.

They arranged the king's assassination, disguised as a riot, during which Tarquin received a fatal blow to the head by an ax.

As the younger Tarquin died about 496 BC, more than eighty years after Tarquinius Priscus, the chronology seems to support the latter tradition.