 Tarquin was said to be the son or grandson of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome, and Tanaquil.Tanaquil had engineered her husband's succession to the Roman kingdom on the death of Ancus Marcius.When the sons of Marcius subsequently arranged the elder Tarquin's assassination in 579 BC, Tanaquil placed Servius Tullius on the throne, in preference to her own sons.