Lucius Junius Brutus
Lucius Junius Brutus expelled the last king of Rome and founded the republic, according to a tradition written five centuries later. He was a nephew of Tarquinius Superbus, and the story has him survive the king's killing of his father and brother by feigning stupidity — the name Brutus means dull-witted, and the pretence is presented as deliberate protection. Sent with the king's sons to consult the Delphic oracle, he took a hollow staff filled with gold as his offering, which the tradition treats as an emblem of the same concealment. The oracle told the party that whoever first kissed his mother would rule Rome; Brutus pretended to stumble and kissed the ground. The occasion came in 509 BC when Sextus Tarquinius raped Lucretia. She summoned her husband and father, told them, and killed herself. Brutus drew the knife from her body, swore on it to drive out the Tarquins, and carried her corpse to the forum, where he addressed the people. The assembly voted the royal family into exile while the army was at Ardea. He and Lucretia's husband Collatinus became the first consuls, and he made the people swear never to allow a king in Rome. His two sons then joined a conspiracy to restore the Tarquins. Brutus presided over their trial and their execution by flogging and beheading, and watched it. He was killed in single combat with Tarquin's son Arruns in 509 BC, each running the other through. Marcus Brutus claimed descent from him, and his enemies used the claim to press him into killing Caesar.
- Lived: 545 BCE – 509 BCE
- Nationality: Roman
- Roles: statesman, military_leader, founder
