Tarquinius the Proud

Tarquinius the Proud was the fifth king of Rome: Tarquinius Priscus . After his assassination in 578 BC. e. by the sons of Anka Marzia , power was taken into their own hands by the favorite of Tanakville (Tarquinius Prisca's wife) - Servius Thulius . The sons of Tarquinius Priscus - Lucius and Arun - were still infants at that time. In order to prevent his possible overthrow by the sons of the predecessor king, Servius Tullius tried to tie them to himself. The tsar decided to give his daughters as a wife: meek and affectionate for the proud Lucius, and an ambitious lesser for the indecisive Arun. However, the younger Tullia, against her father’s will, married Lucius Tarquinius. They plotted and killed Arun and the elder Tullia.

The dissatisfaction of the patricians with the reforms of Servius Tullius led to the fact that the king lost the support of the senate . Lucius Tarquinius took advantage of this and tried to remove his father-in-law. The first time he did not succeed - according to legend, the people stood up for the king. Lucius Tarquinius was forced to flee. Having drawn conclusions, the next time he dared to take decisive action when the people were busy in the fields. Lucius Tarquinius convened the Senate (it was the privilege of the king) and announced that he, not Servius Tullius, was the rightful heir to the throne. When Servius Tullius (by then already a very old man) appeared in the Senate in order to drive away the impostor, Tarquinius threw him from the steps to the stone platform. Servius Tullius tried to flee, but was killed on the street by the adherents of Lucius. Immediately his body was moved by chariot to his youngest daughter Tullia.

Immediately after his election to the kingdom, Lucius Tarquinius surrounded himself with lictors and began to pursue a policy of repression against the adherents of the deceased Servius Tullius. The size of the Senate, which hoped that Lucius Tarquinius would return the former privileges to the patricians, was reduced by almost half as a result of intrigues and denunciations . The king not only did not replenish it, but also began to convene as rarely as possible. The functions of the Senate were actually replaced by the advice of the king’s close associates.

Thanks to the large military production , Lucius Tarquinius took up active construction in Rome. With him, the temple of Jupiter on Capitol Hill was completed, the construction of the sewage system ( Cloaca Maxima ) was completed. Tarquinius the Proud destroyed the Sabine shrines and leveled the Tarpean rock , towering above the forum , from where the convicts were dumped into the Tiber .

Tarquinius is proudly attributed to the purchase of part of the collection of prophecies of the Qum Sibyl , which itself appeared to the king and offered him to purchase 9 bundles at a huge price. The king at this time was busy building the temple of Jupiter and refused. After some time, the sybil appeared again and offered to buy at the same price not 9 bundles, but 6. She burned the rest of the bundles. Tarquinius the Proud refused this time. When the Sibyl at the same price offered Tarquinia to buy only three packages with a prediction of the fate of Rome, threatening to burn them, the king nevertheless agreed. The prophecies of the Sibyl were entrusted to be stored in the dungeon of the Capitol, and to consult with them only on an emergency. For example, scrolls were consulted after the defeat of the Romans at the Battle of Cannes . Then the prophecy advised to bury alive two Gauls and two Greeks in the market square. Magistrates followed this advice, thereby demonstrating that any barbarism could get away with it, if it was a question of defending the independence of Rome.

Lucius Tarquinius the Proud pursued an active conquering foreign policy. He strengthened the alliance of Rome and the Latin cities by physically eliminating those who considered Rome the enslaver of Lacy , and the creation of related alliances. So, he gave his daughter out for Octavius ​​Mamilia - king of Tuskul . Under Tarquinius, Proudly Roman troops invaded the Volsk region for the first time - the cities of Suessa Pompezia and Anksur were conquered. The Sabines and Etruscans were suppressed.

A special legend is associated with the Latin city of Gabia , located in the center of Lacy, which rebelled against the dictatorship of Tarquinius the Proud. Due to the great extent of its walls and the difficulties of the siege, the Roman troops could not take the city. Then Lucius Tarquinius resorted to cunning: Sextus Tarquinius arrived in Gabia under the pretext of saving his father from the cruelty. No one was surprised that Tarquinius was cruel even to his children. Sextus excelled in sorties , and soon he was entrusted with commanding the garrison of the besieged city. By order of his father, he weakened or destroyed all the rich and important citizens of the city of Gabia, and then completely opened the city's gates to the Romans. However, the city was not plundered. Lucius Tarquinius gave it to his son Sextus in a fiefdom.

Under Tarquinius, Proud of the army ceased to take representatives of the lower classes - they were used in construction. The army was manned mainly from mercenaries .

The tyranny of the king and the abuse of his sons turned all sectors of society against him. The rape of virtuous Lucretia by Sextus Tarquinius was the last straw that overflowed the cup of patience: Lucretia's relatives Lucius Yuni Brut and Publius Valery Publikola brought her body to the forum and convinced the citizens to expel the king and establish republican rule. Tarquinius the Proud was not allowed into Rome, and he was forced with three younger sons to seek refuge in Etruria . Sextus Tarquinius was killed during the uprising in Gabia .

In exile, Lucius Tarquinius tried to enlist the support of the Etruscan and Latin kings, convincing them that Rome wanted to extend republican rule throughout Lacy. The Etruscan king Lars Porsen , whom Lucius Tarquinius counted on the most, despite his victories over the Romans, was forced to conclude a peace treaty with the republic. Lucius Tarquinius managed to turn the Latins against Rome, however, in the battle at Lake Regil in 496 BC. e. the allied army was defeated by the Romans. In the battle, all the remaining sons of Tarquin died. The former king was forced to flee to the Greek colony of Kuma to king Aristodem , where he died in 495 BC. e.

• Titus Livy - “ History from the founding of the city ” - I, 40-60; II, 2-20.

• Obnorsky N.P. ,. Tarquinia, genus // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.

• A. A. Neikhardt - “Legends and Tales of Ancient Rome”
• A. V. Koptev - “The Exile of Tsars and the“ Ritual of the Transition “of Power in Early Rome”
• The ruins of the palace of the last king of ancient Rome
• William Shakespeare. Lucretia Translation by V. Tomashevsky