Tarquin

Tarquin [tär′kwin]

( Lucius Tarquinius Superbus) semilegendary Etruscan king of Rome (534?-510? B.C. )

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▪ king of Rome [534-509 BC]

Latin in full  Lucius Tarquinius Superbus  

flourished 6th century BC

died 495 BC, Cumae [near modern Naples, Italy]

      traditionally the seventh and last king of Rome, accepted by some scholars as a historical figure. His reign is dated from 534 to 509 BC.

      Tarquinius Superbus was, in Roman tradition, the son (according to Fabius Pictor) or grandson (according to Calpurnius Piso Frugi) of Tarquinius Priscus (Tarquin) and son-in-law of Servius Tullius. Tarquin supposedly murdered Tullius and established an absolute despotism—hence his name Superbus, meaning “the proud.” In the reign of terror that followed, many senators were put to death. Eventually a group of senators led by Lucius Junius Brutus raised a revolt, the immediate cause of which was the rape of a noblewoman, Lucretia, by Tarquin's son Sextus. The Tarquin family was expelled from Rome, and the monarchy at Rome was abolished (traditionally 509 BC). Tarquin was said to have provoked a series of attacks on Rome by its neighbours. The Etruscan cities of Caere, Veii, and Tarquinii were defeated by Rome at the Battle of Silva Arsia. Tarquin's appeal to Lars Porsenna of Clusium led to a Roman defeat, but not to Tarquin's restoration. Finally he roused his son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius, dictator of the Latin League, to fight Rome at Lake Regillus. After the defeat of the Latins there, Tarquin fled to the Greek tyrant Aristodemus of Cumae.

      The text of a treaty between a Tarquin—probably Tarquinius Superbus—and the city of Gabii, 12 miles (19 km) from Rome, did actually exist and was preserved in the Temple of Semo Sancus in Rome until the age of Augustus (27 BC–AD 14).

▪ king of Rome [616-578 BC]

Latin in full  Lucius Tarquinius Priscus,  original name  Lucomo 

flourished 6th century BC

      traditionally the fifth king of Rome, accepted by some scholars as a historical figure and usually said to have reigned from 616 to 578.

      His father was a Greek who went to live in Tarquinii, in Etruria, from which Lucumo moved to Rome on the advice of his wife, the prophet Tanaquil. Changing his name to Lucius Tarquinius, he was appointed guardian to the sons of King Ancus Marcius. Upon the king's death Tarquin assumed the throne. Eventually Ancus' sons had Tarquin murdered. Tanaquil then managed to put her son-in-law Servius Tullius in power.

      The legends maintain that Tarquin increased the number of persons of senatorial and equestrian rank. He is thought to have instituted the Roman Games and to have begun the construction of a wall around the city.

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