Reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (also called Tarquin the Proud or Tarquin II) was the last of the seven legendary kings of Rome, son of Tarquinius Priscus and son-in-law of Servius Tullius, the sixth king. The historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus may have divided one historical figure named Tarquin into two separate kings because of problems with dating their legendary events. Traditionally he was of Etruscan descent and ruled between 535/534 BC and 510 BC, in the years immediately before his expulsion and the founding of the Roman Republic

Tarquin’s reign was characterised by bloodshed and violence; his son Sextus Tarquinius’ rape of Lucretia laid the seeds for the revolt, led by Lucretia’s kinsman Lucius Junius Brutus (himself a member of the Tarquin dynasty) and Lucretia’s widowed husband. The uprising resulted in the expulsion of most of the royal family, after Tarquin had reigned for twenty-five years, and Brutus became one of the first consuls of the Roman Republic.After his exile, Tarquin attempted to gain the support of other Etruscan andLatin kings, claiming that the republicanism would spread beyond Rome. Even though the powerful Etruscan lord Lars Porsenna of Clusium (modern Chiusi) backed Tarquin’s return, all efforts to force his way back to the throne were in vain. He left two older sons, Titus Tarquinius and the Aruns Tarquinius, who was killed in 509 BC in one of his father’s wars to regain the throne. Tarquin died in exile at Cumae in Campania in 496 BC. Tarquin’s death ended the time of the Kings; the Roman people would no longer trust sole power in one ruler and so a Republic was formed.

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