Which former king of rome was expelled from the city

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus , last king of Rome, being engaged in the siege of Ardea , sent his son, Sextus Tarquinius , on a military errand to Collatia. Sextus was received with great hospitality at the governor's mansion, home of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus , son of the king's nephew, Egerius Tarquinius Collatinus, former governor of Collatia and first of the Tarquinii Collatini.

Lucius' wife, Lucretia, daughter of Spurius Lucretius , prefect of Rome, "a man of distinction", [ 3 ] made sure that the king's son was treated as became his rank, although her husband was away at the siege. In a variant of the story, [ 4 ] Sextus and Lucius, at a wine party on furlough, were debating the virtues of wives when Lucius volunteered to settle the debate by their all riding to his home to see what Lucretia was doing. She was weaving with her maids.

The party awarded her the palm of victory and Lucius invited them to visit, but for the time being they returned to camp. At night Sextus entered her bedroom by stealth, quietly going around the slaves who were sleeping at her door. Canon Roberts. This is a strange story.

After all, Brutus was closer related to the king than Collatinus. It is more likely that he wanted to be the sole ruler of Rome, unless we accept that the name was indeed more hateful than the family, and believe that the principle of collegial rule was already established.

Perhaps it is better to be suspicious and assume that Publius Valerius was not Brutus' colleague, but his right-hand man or an influential senator who had helped Brutus becoming sole ruler. There is another indication that Brutus in reality wanted to be king. Livy tells that several years before he was expelled, King Tarquin sent his sons Arruns and Titus to Delphi to consult the god Apollo about the building of a temple.

Their cousin was with them. After executing their father's commission the young men were desirous of ascertaining to which of them the kingdom of Rome would come.

A voice came from the lowest depths of the cavern: "Whichever of you, young men, shall be the first to kiss his mother, he shall hold supreme sway in Rome. They drew lots to decide which of them should be the first to kiss his mother. On their return to Rome, Brutus, thinking that the oracular utterance had another meaning, pretended to stumble, and as he fell kissed the ground, for the earth is of course the common mother of us all.

In this prophecy, it is assumed that Brutus held "supreme sway in Rome" - in other words, he did not share his power. The royal drama received a sequel when the expelled king tried to raise a rebellion against Brutus. However, the plot was discovered by a slave, and Brutus executed the conspirators.

Among them were his family-in-law and his sons Titus and Tiberius. Skip to main content. Search for:. He is best known for the Rape of the Sabine Women and the establishment of the Senate, as well as various voting practices. Numa Pompilius was a just, pious king who established the cult of the Vestal Virgins at Rome, and the position of Pontifex Maximus.

His reign was characterized by peace. Tullus Hostilius had little regard for the Roman gods, and focused entirely on military expansion. He constructed the home of the Roman Senate, the Curia Hostilia. Ancus Marcius ruled peacefully and only fought wars when Roman territories needed defending. Servius Tullius built the first pomerium —walls that fully encircled the Seven Hills of Rome. He also made organizational changes to the Roman army, and implemented a new constitution for the Romans, further developing the citizen classes.

He was eventually overthrown, thus leading to the establishment of the Roman Republic. Terms absolute monarchy A monarchical form of government in which the monarch has absolute power among his or her people.

Licenses and Attributions. Classical scholar Agnes Michels and others have suggested that the text Livy, Dionysius, and Cicero used to describe the events of the Tarquin Dynasty has all the earmarks of a classic tragedy, or rather, a trilogy of plays with the moral theme of cupido regni kingdom of lust.

Superbus' legacy of court intrigue and scandal led to the end of the Etruscan rule of Rome. Lucretia was the wife of his cousin Tarquinius Collatinus, and her rape brought about the end of Etruscan rule. Lucretia's rape was scandalous on several levels, but it came about because of a drinking party during which her husband and other Tarquins argued over who had the most beautiful wife.

Sextus was at that party and, aroused by the discussion, came to the virtuous Lucretia's bed and forcibly raped her. She called her family to demand revenge, and when they didn't deliver, she committed suicide.

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