Tarquinius Superbus
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was, by tradition, the seventh and last king of Rome, and his expulsion in about 509 BC founded the republic. He is a legendary figure whose story was shaped over centuries to explain why Romans regarded monarchy with horror. He is said to have taken the throne by murdering his father-in-law Servius Tullius, throwing him down the steps of the senate house, with his wife Tullia driving her chariot over her father's body in the street afterwards. The epithet Superbus means the proud or the arrogant. He governed without consulting the senate, executed or exiled leading men and confiscated their property, judged capital cases alone, and relied on a personal bodyguard. He was militarily successful, dominating the Latin League and taking Gabii by a stratagem in which his son posed as a defector. He built the great temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitol using forced labour, and constructed the Cloaca Maxima. The Sibylline Books were said to have been bought during his reign, after he refused a price and the Sibyl burned six of the nine volumes. The revolution was triggered by his son Sextus, who raped Lucretia, the wife of a kinsman. She told her husband and father, demanded vengeance and killed herself. Lucius Junius Brutus carried her body to the forum, and the people voted the family into exile while the army was besieging Ardea. He spent years trying to return, backed by Etruscan Lars Porsena and by the Latins, and was defeated at Lake Regillus. He died at Cumae around 495 BC.
- Lived: 600 BCE – 496 BCE
- Nationality: Roman
- Roles: king, tyrant
