Servius Tullius in the context of Caelius Vibenna

Vesta (Classical Latin: [ˈwɛs.ta]) is the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. She was rarely depicted in human form, and was more often represented by the fire of her temple in the Forum Romanum. Entry to her temple was permitted only to her priestesses, the Vestal Virgins. Their virginity was deemed essential to Rome's survival; if found guilty of inchastity, they were buried or entombed alive. As Vesta was considered a guardian of the Roman people, her festival, the Vestalia (7–15 June), was regarded as one of the most important Roman holidays. During the Vestalia privileged matrons walked barefoot through the city to the temple, where they presented food-offerings. Such was Vesta's importance to Roman religion that following the rise of Christianity, hers was one of the last non-Christian cults still active, until it was forcibly disbanded by the Christian emperor Theodosius I in AD 391.

The myths depicting Vesta and her priestesses were few; the most notable of them were tales of miraculous impregnation of a virgin priestess by a phallus appearing in the flames of the sacred hearth — the manifestation of the goddess combined with a male supernatural being. In some Roman traditions, Rome's founders Romulus and Remus and the benevolent king Servius Tullius were conceived in this way. Vesta was among the Dii Consentes, twelve of the most honored gods in the Roman pantheon. She was the daughter of Saturn and Ops, and sister of Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, and Ceres. Her Greek equivalent is Hestia.

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (died 495 BC) was the legendary seventh and final king of Rome, reigning 25 years until the popular uprising that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic. He is commonly known as Tarquin the Proud, from his cognomen Superbus (Latin for "proud, arrogant, lofty").

Ancient accounts of the regal period mingle history and legend. Tarquin was said to have been either the son or grandson of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome, and to have gained the throne through the murders of both his wife and his elder brother, followed by the assassination of his predecessor, Servius Tullius. His reign has been described as a tyranny that justified the abolition of the monarchy.

The early Roman army was deployed by ancient Rome during its Regal Era and into the early Republic around 300 BC, when the so-called "Polybian" or manipular legion was introduced.

Until c. 550 BC, there was probably no "national" Roman army, but a series of clan-based war-bands, which only coalesced into a united force in periods of serious external threat. Around 550 BC, during the period conventionally known as the rule of King Servius Tullius, it appears that a universal levy of eligible adult male citizens was instituted. This development apparently coincided with the introduction of heavy armour for most of the infantry.

Lucumo, in Etruscan lauchme or lauchume, was a title of Etruscan rulers, equivalent to the Latin rex, or "king". In Roman sources, it is frequently mistaken for a personal name, particularly in the case of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth King of Rome, a native of Etruria who is said to have adopted a Roman name in place of his original name, Lucumo. Heurgon compares this to the Etruscan use of the Roman magister, "magistrate", as a personal name in the case of Servius Tullius, the sixth Roman king, known in Etruscan as the hero "Macstarna".

Although much of what is known of the Etruscans from Roman literature refers to their kings, the various Etruscan city-states seem to have abolished their monarchies around the same period as the establishment of the Roman Republic. The lucumones were replaced by magistrates bearing the title of zilath, evidently the Etruscan equivalent of magister. In later times, Lauchme survived as an Etruscan surname.

41°54′26.42″N 12°29′55.37″E / 41.9073389°N 12.4987139°E / 41.9073389; 12.4987139

The Colline Gate (Latin Porta Collina) was a landmark in ancient Rome, supposed to have been built by Servius Tullius, semi-legendary king of Rome 578–535 BC. The gate stood at the north end of the Servian Wall, and past it were two important streets, the Via Salaria and Via Nomentana. Within this area the Alta Semita linked the Quirinal with the Porta Carmentalis. Several temples were located near the gate, including temples of Venus Erycina and Fortuna. To a person facing the gate in the 4th century AD, the Gardens of Sallust would have been on the left, with the Baths of Diocletian on the right.