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Thinking that Vindicius ought to receive something for his services, he made him a freedman, the first ever made in Rome, and allowed him to vote in whatever tribe he chose to be enrolled. The other freedmen were not allowed the suffrage till, long after, it was given them by Appius to obtain popularity among them.
At last he laid his hands upon the two corpses, called for Brutus, and reproached Collatinus for making his colleague act against nature by condemning his own sons to death, and then thinking to please the wives of these traitors and public enemies by saving their lives. The consul, vexed at this, ordered the lictors to seize Vindicius.
At the new elections in his room, Valerius obtained, with high honor, the consulship, as a just reward of his zeal; of which he thought Vindicius deserved a share, whom he made, first of all freedmen, a citizen of Rome, and gave him the privilege of voting in what tribe soever he was pleased to be enrolled; other freedmen received the right of suffrage a long time after from Appius, who thus courted popularity; and from this Vindicius, a perfect manumission is called to this day vindicta.
They agreed to assassinate both consuls, and wrote a letter to Tarquin acquainting him with their determination, which they gave to the ambassadors, who were lodging in the house of the Aquillii as their guests, and were present at this scene. After this they dispersed, and Vindicius came out from his hiding-place.
The sacredness of the walls was thus illustrated in the tale of the death of Remus, the abolition of blood-revenge in the tale of the end of king Tatius , the necessity of the arrangement as to the -pons sublicius- in the legend of Horatius Cocles, the origin of the -provocatio- in the beautiful tale of the Horatii and Curiatii, the origin of manumission and of the burgess-rights of freedmen in the tale of the Tarquinian conspiracy and the slave Vindicius.
When the consuls had quieted the tumult, Vindicius was brought out by the orders of Valerius, and the accusation stated, and the letters were opened, to which the traitors could make no plea. Most of the people standing mute and sorrowful, some only, out of kindness to Brutus, mentioning banishment, the tears of Collatinus, attended with Valerius's silence, gave some hopes of mercy.
The consul seemed inclined to their proposal, and was proceeding to dissolve the assembly; but Valerius would not suffer Vindicius, who was surrounded by his people, to be surrendered, nor the meeting to withdraw without punishing the traitors; and at length laid violent hands upon the Aquillii, and, calling Brutus to his assistance, exclaimed against the unreasonable course of Collatinus, to impose upon his colleague the necessity of taking away the lives of his own sons, and yet have thoughts of gratifying some women with the lives of traitors and public enemies.
The whole ceremony is up to the present day called vindicta, after Vindicius, we are told. VIII. After this they allowed the king's property to be plundered, and destroyed the palace. Tarquinius had obtained the pleasantest part of the Field of Mars, and had consecrated it to that god.
But when Vindicius came and made a complete discovery to him, his brother Marcus and his own wife being present, Valerius was struck with amazement, and by no means would dismiss the discoverer, but confined him to the room, and placed his wife as a guard to the door, sending his brother in the interim to beset the king's palace, and seize, if possible, the writings there, and secure the domestics, whilst he, with his constant attendance of clients and friends, and a great retinue of attendants, repaired to the house of the Aquillii, who were, as it chanced, absent from home; and so, forcing an entrance through the gates, they lit upon the letters then lying in the lodgings of the ambassadors.
The building chosen for the transaction was, as was natural, dark and unfrequented, and a slave named Vindicius had, as it chanced, concealed himself there, not out of design or any intelligence of the affair, but, accidentally being within, seeing with how much haste and concern they came in, he was afraid to be discovered, and placed himself behind a chest, where he was able to observe their actions and overhear their debates.
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