Tarquin the Proud: The Last King of the Romans

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roman monarchy and the birth of the republic before we get to tarquin we should look briefly at the roman kingdom itself as a whole is a part of history that is often overlooked the regnal period lasted for around 250 years roughly between 750 and 500 bc traditionally there are seven recognized kings of rome although realistically there could have been more or less for example most of us have heard of the first king romulus the founder of rome the boy who was raised by a shoelace alongside his twin brother remus who later murdered his sibling during a dispute over where to found their new city unsurprisingly many scholars considered the tale of romulus entirely legendary so whether or not he was a historical figure who served as king is up for debate the problem here is a complete lack of contemporary sources this is common for ancient times in general but not so much for the romans who were usually pretty good at documenting their history if records from these times did exist at some point they would have likely been destroyed in 390 bc when the city of rome was sacked for the first time our main source for the roman kingdom is the historian livy whose book the history of rome covers well it comes in the history of rome since its founding to the birth of the empire under augustus but even he lived almost 500 years after the last king was overthrown so he certainly relied on a lot of hearsay and legends other historians who covered this time period include cassius dio and diodora sailors but their works have not survived in their entirety so only get fragments about the reign of tarquin from them so let's start at the beginning romulus founded the city of rome and served as its first king unsurprisingly he wielded almost total power since he was in charge of the military the chief priest and the head of the executive judicial and legislative branches surprisingly though the roman senate existed from the very beginning according to livy romulus created it and named 100 senators from among rome's most influential families those original 100 were given the title of partres signifying that they held complete authority within their families their descendants were known as patricians although the term later simply referred to all members of rome's ruling class regardless of whether or not they were descended from patrice the roman kingdom also had several assemblies chief among them the curiat assembly however like the senate their authority was mostly symbolic as their main function was to simply enact the decrees of the king there was one exception to this and that was when it was time to find a new king surprisingly the roman kings were elected and they were not named by their predecessors whenever a king died rome ended a brief period called an interregnum where the senate had the power they then chose one among them and named him interrex and his duty was to serve as a provisional ruler ensuring that the transition to the next king went smoothly each interx could only serve for five days after which he was replaced by another senator he had the power to nominate a new king and presented them before the curiot assembly which decided whether or not they had the right stuff for the throne a religious ceremony followed to ensure that the candidate also had the approval of the gods and afterwards there was the final vote to see if this candidate would become the new king of rome lucius tarquinius superbus was born sometime around the mid 6th century bc assuming that our knowledge of the seven kings is accurate he was the only one who was actually descended from one of the previous rulers he was the son of the fifth king lucius tarquinius priskus who retroactively became known as tarquin the elder while his son was referred to as tarquin the proud to help distinguish them his mother was named tanakwil and neither her nor her husband were born in rome according to libby they were both etruscans an ancient italian civilization that predated the romans and came from etruria which was a region that mainly corresponds to tuscany today plus parts of umbria and lazio priscus and tanaquil had married back home in aturia they both came from wealthy families so they had money but they didn't have status some of the biggest privileges were off-limits to priskus because he was not fully etruscan as his father was a corinthian noble refugee named demaratus therefore the couple decided to move to rome where there wasn't so much focus on heritage yet on their way there they received an omen from the gods when an eagle swooped down and picked up priscas's hat circled the air for a while and then descended again and placed the hat gently on the head from whence it came tantaquil became convinced that this meant that a husband would be crowned king one day and resolve to see this prophecy fulfilled no matter the cost because regardless if it was a kingdom or a republic or an empire rome was never short on political intrigue conspiracy and the occasional assassination and the period that followed had all of these things in spades darkwing the elder and his wife arrived in rome during the reign of the fourth king ansus marcias presumably they had all their children after their relocation to the new city they had four offspring two boys and two girls there was the younger tarquin of course plus his brother aarons tarquinius and two daughters and at least one of them was also called tarquinia so certainly not a lot of variety priskus proved himself to be an able and cunning businessman and he not only enlarged his fortune but he became a trusted advisor to the king at one point angus marcias even named priskus the guardian of his children he had two sons and it was assumed that one of them would be elected as the new king when they came of age but the tarquins had other plans it was said that after angus marius died tarquin arranged for his sons to be away on a hunting trip when it was time to decide on a new king he then canvassed rome for votes going from person to person and presenting himself as the best candidate for the job it seems that he made a good impression because tarquin the elder was elected as the fifth king of rome around 616 bc to the displeasure of anchors offspring the senior tarquin had a long reign of almost 40 years he expanded rome's borders by conquering many of its neighbors he added another hundred people to the senate and he enacted notable construction projects such as the city's first bridge and the first version of the circus maximus during his reign the story of another roman emerged one concerning a young slave boy named servius tullius whose mother used to be a noblewoman before her city was captured by the romans again we're relying heavily on livy here but the historian claims that the young boy's head was encircled by flames one day as he slept when he awoke the flames simply disappeared without causing him any harm queen tanoquil interpreted this as a sign that one day the boy would be their guiding light and would shield their house from harm we don't know if the tarquins officially adopted serbius julius but they raised him in their household and later even married him to their daughter tarquinia by all accounts it looked like the tarquins were positioning cervius julius as their heir even over their own two sons this could be because they felt he was more competent than them but it could also be that they were strong believers in omens or they could also be simply because thulius was much older than their legitimate sons again we don't really have any idea when talk when the proud was born so it's all a bit of guesswork really since his father's reign lasted so long he could have been decades younger than thulius and consequently not a suitable candidate for kingship when the time came some sources present tarquin the proud as the grandson of priskas not his son and even livy said that he was not completely sure so it is fairly reasonable to conclude that he was too young to follow in tarquin the eldest footsteps now we'll have more on the last roman king in just a moment but first a word from today's outstanding video sponsor squarespace you know what's great about the summer vacation time off a little bit of r r it's the perfect time to spend lying on the beach or in the park dreaming about that next project you want to start fortunately squarespace gives you every possible tool you could want to make that dream into a reality whether it's a small business a sports blog a creative portfolio or just a pitch full of dag memes well it doesn't matter if you can dream it you can build it with squarespace are you looking to get in and out quick without thinking too much about what your website should look like bam use one of their quick and beautiful templates to make a website that's fresh and for you like it's right out of the box or maybe you're more of a hands-on person got lots of opinions and ideas about 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angered the sons of angus marcus they already harboured deep resentment toward tarquin the elder for depriving them of what they considered to be their rightful throne and now they regarded the idea of someone like julius becoming the new king to be a great insult we're not sure why exactly they waited for almost four decades but they finally decided that it was time to get their revenge on tarquin their plan was hardly the work of a criminal mastermind they enlisted the help of two shepherds who entered the palace and started having a violent quarrel as the guards intervened and tempers settled down the shepherds were brought before the king to state their case while one of them was talking and held everybody's attention the other one produced an axe and drove it into the king's head and then they both quickly made a run for it kintarquin the elder was dead but it was his wife's quick thinking that ensured their family would not lose the throne she didn't allow word that the king had died to get out as far as the rest of rome was concerned tarquin had been attacked but he was recovering at home meanwhile he ceded temporary authority to tulias to act in his place this went on for a few days before julius revealed that tarkun was dead and that he had been ruling on his own by that point his authority was already secure so servius julius became the sixth king of rome and the first one not to be elected by the people julius also appeared to have a long reign spanning several decades but during that time he considered the possibility that tarquin's own sons had the same kind of animosity towards him as the sons of ankus marcias and towards his predecessor julius thought he could alleviate some of that enmity by marrying his two daughters both named julia to tarquin's two sons lucius tarquinius superbus and aaron's tarquinius this did not turn out like julius had hoped because neither couple paired well lucius tarquinius was conniving greedy and lustful for power while his wife juliet the elder was not meanwhile julia the younger was also conniving greedy and lustful for power while her husband aaron starquinus was not livvy said it was the good fortune of rome which intervened in order to prevent the two violent scheming personalities from marrying each other but it did not manage to stop them as it only delayed their partnerships soon enough tarquin and tulia the younger realized that they were made for each other first things first they had to get rid of their spouses it's uncertain how tully the elder died but aaron's tarquinius was supposedly poisoned by his wife afterwards the two unscrupulous partners in crime married each other and began plotting against julius to usurp the throne tarquin first secured the support of all the senators who had grievances against julius this did not prove to be too difficult many of the lesser houses were on tarquin's side since it was his father who originally adopted them to the senate then there were all the ones who resented julius for taking power without being elected once tarquin was confident that he had enough support he stormed the forum with armed guards into the senate house sat on the royal chair and gave an impassioned speech denigrating thulius focusing mainly on his roots as a slave and his illegitimate rise to the throne when julius arrived the two of them got into an argument which turned physical the younger stronger tarquin had the advantage and he hurled the king down the steps of the senate house his armed guards then rushed to the injured tullius and put him to death but the greatest wickedness was displayed by the king's own daughter tulia she arrived at the forum in a cart and her driver stopped suddenly in horror as he saw the mangled corpse of servius julius but julia then ordered him to drive right over her father's body and approached the senate house to be the first to salute tarquin the proud as the new king of rome with tulias out of the way tarquin was now free to begin his reign of terror and indeed it was that because tarquin knew that he had no legitimate claim to the kingdom having been neither elected by the people nor confirmed by the senate he also realized that what he had done to tulius could very easily happen to him and so he saw no other choice but to use violence and fear to secure his position he started out with a purge killing all the senators and other nobles he suspected might be loyal to his predecessor afterwards he began holding trials with no counselors or assessors basically just being able to execute banish or simply find anyone he wanted with no justification he also refused to fill the vacancies in the senate in order to weaken it as much as possible in fact cassius dio claimed that tarquin wanted to get rid of the senate permanently but felt that this was a step too far even for him and that it would cause a revolt so great that even his own guards would turn against him once he felt confident in his position tarquin embarked on a campaign of conquest determined to turn rome into the most dominant power in the region he fought some of the neighbors such as the volca the sabines and the city of gabby others he befriended through treaties such as the etruscans and the city of tusculum whose leader octavius mamilius became tarquin's son-in-law meanwhile the king also worked on ambitious projects inside rome although some of these had been initiated by his father and completed by tarquin among them was the cloaca maxima one of the world's first sewage systems and the first version of the temple of jupiter optimus maximus built on the capitoline hill which retained its significant as the most important temple in rome throughout the ancient period the king was also responsible for acquiring one of rome's most cherished artifacts a collection of prophecies divinations and other oracular wisdoms known as the sibilane books according to the legends an old prophetess called sybil visited rome one day carrying nine books she went to tarquin and offered to sell him the books of prophecies for a huge sum of money when he refused the sibyl burns three of these books and then offered to sell him the remaining six but for the same exact amount this time the king was more hesitant but he still turned down the deal the sybil then burned another three books and once again asked tarquin to buy the three which were left but she did not change the price at all finally the king relented and purchased the remaining three books which were placed inside the aforementioned temple of jupiter and only consulted during times of crisis such as a plague of famine or a great war darwin's ruthless reign as king cemented rome's regional power but it also created a powder keg of hate fear and resentment in his own people just waiting for that one event that finally caused it to explode that event happened in 510 bc but it was not caused by tarquin himself but by one of his son's sextus darquinius he had fallen in love with a noblewoman named lucretia but she was already married to one of his cousins lucius tarquinius collatinus this did not deter sextus however and he visited lucretia while her husband was away busy besieging the city of ardeia first he tried to seduce her then to bribe her and finally to threaten her but none of these worked as lucretia remained faithful to her husband finally sexton said that he would kill her and her servant and place their naked bodies together so that it would appear like they were caught in adultery to this lucretia relented and sextus raped her afterwards she sent word to her father and husband to come home immediately she told both of them what had happened made them swear an oath to punish sextus and then committed suicide this set in motion a chain of events that went far beyond the punishment of sex to starquinius who was later killed in the city of gabby strangely enough it was not her husband clattens who became the leading figure of the anti-royal movement but another tarquin named lucius junius brutus who was the son of tarquin's sister but hated the king because he had both his father and brother killed and their property confiscated in livy's version of events brutus picked up the bloody knife luke creature used to commit suicide and swore an oath to the gods to bring down lucious tarquinius superbus and his whole brood with fire and sword he then passed the knife to gelatinous who swore the same oath and then to two other men lucretius who was lucretia's father and publius valeria's publicola as it turned out no fire and sword was necessary as the people of rome didn't need a lot of convincing to get rid of the tarquins both olivia and cassius dio said the brutus simply road to rome went to the forum and spoke to the people of the latest heinous act committed by the tarquins and easily turned the crowd against the royals they then held a vote and banished tarquin and his family afterwards brutus rode to ardea where the roman army was and basically gave the same speech turning the soldiers against tarquin as well the question now was who's going to rule rome according to some versions of the story brutus made everyone swear and know that they would never allow a man to become king of rome again the senate was restored to its full ranks so of course it played a large role in the running of rome going forward but the city still needed someone at the top therefore the office of console was created with two consoles governing simultaneously so that no one man became too powerful the first two consoles were brutus and collaternus although the public soon turned against the latter even though lucretia had been collatinus's wife he was still related to the tarquins and the people of rome decided that they didn't want any tarquin in any position of power therefore collatinus was forced to resign and was replaced by publicola but what about king tarquin unsurprisingly once he found out he was no longer welcomed in rome he didn't just pack up his bags and call it a day although cassius dio did mention that tarquin's wife julia destroyed herself when she discovered what had happened anyway tarquin still had treaties with neighboring cities and he hoped that they would be able to restore him to power first he turned to the etruscans a few cities such as tarquina and they lent their support and they fought a roman army led by the two consuls at the battle of silvia asia and 509 bc the romans 1 although the man who was instrumental in bringing down the monarchy lucius junius brutus was killed in action almost 500 years later his descendant marcus junius brutus played another pivotal role in the history of rome when he assassinated julius caesar although he wasn't as successful but you can find out more about that in the biographics video we did on marcus junius brutus undeterred tarquin then appealed to lars porcina the king of a powerful etruscan city named clusian in 508 bc porcina laid siege on rome but ultimately he wasn't successful and he signed a peace treaty with rome we're not sure why but livvy tells the story of a brave young roman named mucias who snuck into porcina's camp to assassinate him however a case of mistaken identity caused him to kill the king's scribe by mistake during interrogation mucias willingly put his own hand in the fire to show that he was not afraid to die some say that porcina was moved by the young man's bravery others that he was simply shook up by the attempt on his life either way he lifted the siege and returned to closium tarquin's last attempt to retake the throne occurred with the help of his son-in-law octavius mamilius leader of the tusculum this happened around 496 bc it was over a decade later and tarquin was an old man by this point he still held out hope but it was eventually extinguished at the battle of lake regelius where mamilius was killed tarquin had no more allies left he retired to the city of kumai at the court of the tyrant aristodemus and he died soon after circa 45 bc news of his death was met with joy back in rome as both plebs and patricians celebrated not only the demise of tarquin the proud but of the entire roman monarchy so i really hope you enjoyed that video if you did please do hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe please do check out fantastic sponsor squarespace as well link below and thank you for watching you

Channel: Biographics

Views: 207,701

Keywords: biographics, biography, biographies, people, famous people, simon whistler

Id: 1wgnWuBTRqk

Length: 20min 23sec (1223 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 15 2021