Seven Legendary Kings of Rome

[00:00:00]Two brothers, Romulus and Remus, gathered their  men and founded a new city on the banks of the River Tiber, where they were nourished by a  she-wolf all those years ago. While Romulus was hard at work, his brother Remus mocked him  by leaping over his half-finished wall. Enraged, Romulus struck down his brother,  proclaiming: “So perish whoever shall overleap my battlements.” And thus, in  753, Romulus became the sole ruler of this new city that would bear his name in eternity. Having finished the outlines of Rome, Romulus set out to lay the foundations of his state.  Believing his followers to be an unruly bunch, he assumed the outward symbols of power.  He surrounded himself with twelve lictors, a custom borrowed from the nearby Etruscans.  Lictors were a special bodyguard who carried fasces, a bundle of wooden rods bound with an  axe. Lictors would accompany Roman magistrates who held imperium, or the power to rule,  for the duration of the Roman state.

[00:00:56]Romulus then gave his people a set of  laws. Transmitted orally, these laws would, in time, become a major source of internal  conflict. He then opened the city to everyone, and large numbers of criminals, beggars, runaway  slaves, and other men hoping to turn a new leaf in their lives flocked to his side. From these  men, Romulus hand-picked one hundred of them to form the Senate. It is said that this number was  chosen because it was deemed sufficient enough, or because there were only one hundred respectable  men in the city. These men were known as patres, and their descendants were the  patricians. The rest of the free citizens in Rome were known as plebeians. Romulus organised the first Roman legion, numbering three thousand foot soldiers and three  hundred horsemen. The army was formed from the citizen militia, and citizens were required to arm  themselves. This meant that only well-off citizens could serve in the legion, while only the rich  could finance a horse and serve in the cavalry.

[00:01:52]In this way, Rome became a formidable power,  able to challenge every neighbouring state. But, for all their greatness, the Romans were  doomed to die out in a single generation, for there were no women in the city. Romulus,  heading the advice of his senators, sent envoys to neighbouring states to request intermarriage  rites. Not appreciating this new power in their neighbourhood, they all rejected his request. Angered, the Romans hatched a nefarious plot to get their way. Romulus ordered his men to organise  the celebrations in honour of the god Neptune, to the best of their abilities. No expenses were  spared, and lavish games were held. Inhabitants of nearby communities were invited to participate,  and many, eager to see the new city up close, answered their call. Among the guests were  several Latin communities, and more importantly, the whole of the Sabine population. They  marvelled at the greatness of this new city, puzzled by the speed and quality with  which the Romans had built their homes.

[00:02:48]The celebrations had begun, and while everyone  was preoccupied with the magnificent display, the Romans gave a signal. In seconds, the  heavily armed Roman troops appeared from nowhere, drove the men from their city, and captured  the unsuspecting maidens. Romulus personally addressed the women, bidding them to lay aside  their resentments and assuring them they would find their husbands all the more agreeable,  as they would do their utmost to make up for the crimes committed. They were promised all  the rights of free women in the ancient world, that is to say, very little. Their sons, however,  would be free men and full citizens of Rome.

[00:03:22]The affected communities were not quick to forget  their daughters, and they all sought help from the Sabine king Titus Tatius. He was too slow to act,  and the citizens of Caenina attacked Rome of their own accord. They, however, lacked the strength to  challenge the newly created legion and were easily defeated. Romulus personally killed their king and  despoiled his body. Caenina was easily captured, and returning to the city, Romulus dedicated a  new temple to Jupiter Feretrius. He brought the spoils from the fallen king and presented them to  the temple. In this way, he established the most illustrious military honour in ancient Rome,  the spolia opima, or the “rich spoils”. Spolia opima was awarded to a Roman general who  killed an enemy leader in single combat.

[00:04:06]In Rome’s long history and countless wars,  the spolia opima was awarded only twice.

[00:04:12]First to Aulus Cornelius Cossus, who killed Lars  Toluminus, the king of Veii, around 437 BCE, and second to Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who killed  Viridomarus, the king of the Insubres, in 225 BCE.

[00:04:25]Following the fall of Caenina, the other Latin  communities acted alone and were all easily defeated. Titus Tatius, on the other hand, was  a wise man who waited for an opportune moment to strike. Having made all the preparations,  Tatius sent his armies to Rome. At night, the Sabines bribed a young girl to admit them to  the citadel, promising her rich gifts. These gifts she never received, and she was instead killed  for her role in the affair. With the first light, the Romans realised they were under siege from  within, and they drew their armies up to the citadel. The Sabines suddenly advanced, pushing  back the defenders, who fled towards the Forum.

[00:05:01]Romulus, still keeping his wits about him,  invoked the name of Jupiter Optimus Maximus and encouraged his men to rally around him. A desperate fight was about to ensue on the streets of Rome, and the captured maidens looked  on in horror. On one side were their fathers, and on the other their husbands  and the fathers of their children, whom they had grown to love. Desperate, the  Sabine women jumped between the two forces, begging them to stop and reconcile. The armies  and their leaders were moved by their appeals, and the two kings advanced to arrange a treaty. They agreed to join into a single state, with many Sabines moving to Rome and doubling  its population. Leading Sabines were added to the Roman Senate, and the two kings, Romulus and  Titus Tatius, shared the kingship. Romulus divided the population of Rome into thirty curiae. Hoping  to preserve the memory of the brave Sabine women, each curia was named after one of them. He  then created the first citizen assembly, the Comitia Curiata, with each  curia having one collective vote.

[00:05:59]This series of events, known as the “Rape of the  Sabine Women,” became one of the foundational legends of Roman folklore. Throughout history,  it was often depicted by many talented artists, symbolising the conquest of territory  through the appropriation of native women.

[00:06:15]The two kings ruled together in perfect  harmony for five years. However, some relatives of King Tatius mistreated the Laurentine  ambassadors. The Laurentines asked for reprisal, but Tatius rejected their claims. That year, when  he travelled to Lavinium for an annual festival, he was killed by an angry mob. Romulus,  happy to be the sole ruler once more, did nothing to avenge his colleague and renewed  the old treaty between Rome and Lavinium.

[00:06:41]While Romulus was busy with these arrangements  in the south, a sudden war broke out on their northern border. A small town of Fidenae  on the banks of the Tiber, anxious about the rapid rise of Rome, launched a quick raid  into their territory. Romulus quickly gathered his armies and marched on Fidenae, which stood  no chance against the full might of the first legion. When the Romans were upon their gates, the  Etruscans from the nearby Veii sent their armies to aid Fidenae. Romulus abandoned the siege of the  city and turned his forces on the Etruscan army.

[00:07:11]They too were easily defeated, and the Romans  marched to Veii. Seeing the strong fortifications, they abandoned the assault and turned back. A  Roman colony was established in Fidenae, and a hundred-year peace treaty was signed with Veii. One day in 716, while Romulus was inspecting his armies, a great storm arose, and he  was enveloped in a dark cloud. The storm disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, and  Romulus was gone. Thus ended the founder and the first king of Rome. In his thirty-seven years  on the throne, Romulus guided the city from a fledgling settlement to the chief power in  Latium. After his death, Romulus was deified, and his cult was later assimilated with the cult  of Quirinus, the indigenous god of the Sabines.

[00:07:56]In the wake of his death, the senators could not  agree on who to elect as king. The Sabines did not forget the injustice committed against  Tulus and wanted to elect a king amongst themselves. The Romans, on the other hand,  would not suffer a foreigner ruling over them, and the Senate was in a deadlock. To  perform the day-to-day duties of a king, the senators shared power between themselves in a  period known as an interregnum. This lasted for a year and left the populace very anxious. They  assured the Senate that if they did not agree on a king, they would choose one themselves. The Romans finally relented and agreed to elect one of the Sabines, but on the condition that they  could pick the candidate. The Romans unanimously chose a man named Numa Pompilius. Numa was a  pious man, living at Cures in Sabine territory, far from the bustle of Rome. He devoted his  life to the service of the gods and had no interest in bearing the crown of Rome. On the  insistence of the senators, he agreed to seek divine guidance, and only after the gods showed  him favourable omens did he accept the crown.

[00:08:58]With Rome in a perpetual state of war, the men  of Rome were more akin to unruly bandits than to proper citizens. Seeing this, Numa chose to  found the city anew by reforming a wide range of laws and customs. He built the temple of Janus  at the forum. While Rome was at war, the gates of the temple would stay open, and they would be  closed only in peacetime. During Numa’s reign, the gates stayed closed, but following his death,  they were shut only twice. Once after the end of the First Punic War, and once after the Battle  of Actium in the reign of Emperor Augustus.

[00:09:30]Numa feared that his people, so accustomed to the  constant beat of war, would grow bored and unruly.

[00:09:36]To prevent this, he instilled the fear of the  gods in the Romans and occupied their days with numerous rituals and religious festivals.  Rituals that had previously been performed by the king were assigned to the high priests, who  would remain in Rome even in times of war. The most important of these priests were known as the  flamines maiores. They were the Flamen Dialis, the high priest of Jupiter; the Flamen Martialis, the  high priest of Mars; and the Flamen Quirinalis, the high priest of Quirinus. Alongside these,  he established twelve flamines minores, lesser priests responsible for minor deities.  He also established the priesthood of Vesta and charged the Vestal Virgins with guarding the  sacred flames, a tradition imported from Alba.

[00:10:18]He next created the Pontifex Maximus,  the chief of the Collegium Pontificum, or the College of Priests. The Pontifex acted  as the chief religious authority in the city.

[00:10:28]All religious functions were placed under the  supervision of the Pontifex, and all regulations on religion were in his charge. The title of  Pontifex Maximus, or the high priest of Rome, is still in use today. From the fifteenth  century, at the height of the Renaissance, the title was adopted by the Catholic popes. Numa Pompilius reigned for 43 long years.

[00:10:49]Throughout his reign, he maintained peace  and security in his realm and transformed Rome from a cultural backwater  into a place of supreme worship.

[00:10:58]The nearby communities, which had previously  seen Rome as a troublesome military encampment, now came to respect its devotion to the divine. Following the death of Numa in 672, the Romans elected Tullus Hostilius as their king. They  could not have chosen a man more different from his predecessor. Where Numa devoted his life  to the gods, Tullus had a mind only for war.

[00:11:20]He believed the Romans had grown enfeebled through  inaction, and the king did not have to wait long for an opportunity to exercise his armies. On  the border with Alba Longa, some peasants from both sides carried out unauthorised raids. Tullus  used this as a pretext and declared war on Alba.

[00:11:36]The Albans moved first and marched close to  Rome, where they were met by the full might of the Roman army. The commander of the Albans,  Mettius Fufetius, was unwilling to risk his men in open battle, and he invited Tullus to a parley.  He warned the young king of the Etruscan threat on his borders and advised him to be mindful  of his soldiers. Heeding his words, Tullus agreed to settle the matter in an unusual way. Both armies had a set of three brothers in their midst, the Horatii among the Romans and  the Curiatii among the Albans. These brothers were equally matched in age and skill, and it was  agreed that they alone would determine the fate of their states. The two sets of brothers clashed  in full view of the two armies. After a prolonged struggle, two of the Horatii were killed, but  all the Curiatii were injured. The remaining Roman brother, Publius Horatius, managed to  separate the Albans and kill each of them in turn. Rome had thus prevailed, and the Albans  honoured the treaty and agreed to submit to Rome.

[00:12:35]The Roman army returned to the city in a  victorious procession. At the gates of the city, they were met by the sister of the Horatii.  She was betrothed to one of the Curiatii, and she burst into tears upon learning the fate of  her beloved. Enraged, Publius killed his sister, sending her to join her lover in the afterlife.  A murder in broad daylight could not be ignored, even for Rome’s greatest heroes, and Horatius was  put on trial. However, after his father condemned the actions of his daughter, Horatius was  acquitted by the people. The tale of the conflict between the Horatii and Curiatii became one of  the most celebrated events in early Roman history.

[00:13:12]The proud Albans, however, were not pleased  with this outcome. Mettius encouraged other states to attack Rome while feigning an  alliance. The people of Fidenae and Veii, assured that the Albans would revolt and aid  them, declared war on Rome. Tullus Hostilius gathered his forces and summoned the Albans to  his side. The armies drew up against each other, but when the battle started, the Albans retreated  to a nearby hill, afraid of actually attacking the Roman line. Tullus acted quickly, encouraged  his men, and led them to a swift victory.

[00:13:41]His wrath was now turned to the treacherous  Albans. However, Tullus would not seek his reprisal from the men, but from their  general. Mettius was executed on the spot, and the Albans were informed of their fate. Their  city was forfeit. It would be destroyed and never again rebuilt. All people of Alba Longa were  moved to Rome and became full Roman citizens. The legions were sent to Alba, and a city founded  by Trojan refugees that had stood proud for four hundred years was destroyed within an hour. Rome grew considerably with the addition of the Albans, doubling its population and expanding  beyond its original walls. Tullus nominated noble men among Alba’s most prominent families for  the Senate, and the army was bolstered by strong contingents of the Alban troops. With this new  force, he led a successful expedition against the Sabines, who were, according to Livy, second only  to the Etruscans at that time. With this victory, Tullus won great renown for himself and his  state as a whole. The days of peaceful Numa were forgotten, and Rome was once more  vying for the control of Central Italy.

[00:14:45]Tullus Hostilius reigned for thirty-two years.  He was succeeded by Ancus Marcius in 640. Ancus was the grandson of Numa Pompilius and shared  his grandfather’s peaceful nature. However, circumstances would not allow him to  devote his life to divine worship.

[00:15:00]The religious institutions, neglected by  the warrior king, were promptly revived, and all the necessary rites were performed. While  the new king busied himself with these religious matters, an enemy appeared on his border. The Latins, who had made several concessions to Tullus, believed this grandson of Numa would  not dare to meet them in battle. They used this opportunity to renege on their promises and made  incursions into Roman territory. But although Ancus was a pious man, he could rival Tullus in  military brilliance. He would indeed go to war, but before mustering his armies, he formalised  a method of declaring war that was followed long into the times of the Roman Empire. First, the Romans would send a herald bearing a message. The herald would recite an ancient  prayer, calling on Jupiter, and lay out the terms four separate times. First, when crossing  the border, then to the first person he met, then upon crossing the gates of the city, and one final  time at the forum. Having presented their terms, the Romans would wait for thirty-three days.  If no satisfactory answer came in that time, the herald would again recite an ancient prayer  calling upon Jupiter and Janus Quirinus, and war would be declared by hurling a blood-smeared  spear into the ground. This ensured that the Romans were never the aggressors but always  the side waging a just war. In this way, they secured the support of the Gods and ensured  favourable omens in the long centuries of war.

[00:16:23]The war against the Latins was thus declared in  this way, and Ancus advanced against Politorium with his legions. The city was easily taken,  and, following the example set by Tullus, he transferred the whole population to Rome  and destroyed the deserted city. Rome was now growing at an extraordinary pace. The  earliest Romans inhabited the Palatine Hill; the Sabines settled on the Capitoline; and the  Albans were relocated to the Caelian Hill. The Latin newcomers were settled on the Aventine. Having defeated Politorium, Ancus advanced against Tellenae and Ficana, and both were easily  taken. The Latin defence was now centred around the strongly fortified Medullia. The Roman armies  besieged the city, and fighting went on for some time. With great effort, Ancus defeated the  Latin forces and returned victorious to Rome.

[00:17:10]With the city growing at a rapid pace, new  defences were needed to protect the inhabitants.

[00:17:15]Ancus constructed a ditch fortification known  as the Fossa Quiritium. He also incorporated Janiculum on the far side of the Tiber into  the city. A first bridge over the river, known as the Pons Sublicius, was constructed.  It was heavily fortified on the western end to protect from possible Etruscan incursions. The conquests of Ancus Marcius were not confined to a few Latin settlements. He  expanded the Roman frontier to the sea, founding the port city of Ostia. At the mouth of  the Tiber, he constructed salt-pits, providing the state with a steady source of revenue. Ancus  also expanded north, pushing back the Veientines and securing Fidenae and the northern frontiers.  Ancus Marcius, reigning for twenty-four years, had thus surpassed his predecessors both at  home and in the field. Under his leadership, Rome grew to new heights, and the borders  of the state expanded significantly.

[00:18:08]During his reign, Lucumo, a wealthy man from  Tarquinii, moved to Rome. His father was a Corinthian, exiled from Greece. He settled in  Tarquinii and took an Etruscan wife. Lucomo was therefore seen as a foreigner in his  hometown, and he decided to move to Rome, a young community where outsiders were not  only accepted but could rise to hold the highest offices. Lucomo took a new name, Lucius  Tarquinius, and he was later named Priscus, meaning “the elder”. Lucius was generous with his  wealth, winning over many friends and supporters.

[00:18:40]His deeds even reached the king, and soon Tarquin  was made one of the chief advisors to the ageing Ancus. Excelling in this position, Lucius was even  named the guardian of the king’s sons by his will.

[00:18:52]When the king had finally died, Tarquinius used  his position to manipulate the elections. He first sent away the sons of Ancus Marcius on a hunting  trip, and then quickly organised the elections, presenting himself as the only viable  candidate. His generosity and his skill as an advisor made him popular with the people,  and he was unanimously elected the fifth king of Rome in 616. His first order of business was  securing support from the Senate. He enrolled one hundred new senators, thus doubling the size  of the Senate. These were known as “the Lesser Houses” and were supremely loyal to the new king. Having secured his position at home, Lucius marched against the Latin town  of Apiolae. The city was easily taken, and great plunder was brought back to Rome. To  celebrate his victory, Tarquinius organised great games. For this occasion, he marked out a spot for  a large oval stadium used for chariot racing. This later became the site of the Circus Maximus, the  largest stadium in the Roman Empire. Amidst these celebrations, a sudden attack came from the north. The Sabines gathered a large force and marched against the city. So swift was their advance  that they crossed the Anio and came close to Rome before the legions could be mustered. A  bloody battle was fought near the city, but neither side could gain an advantage. Following  the battle, Tarquin doubled the number of equites in the army. Using this new supremacy of the Roman  cavalry, he crushed the Sabines and drove them into the river. Tarquinius led his forces into  the Sabine territory, and the city of Collatia, along with all the surrounding territory,  was taken by the Romans. Having concluded the war with the Sabines, Tarquin once more marched  against the Latins. Numerous towns were captured, greatly increasing Roman territory. During the reign of Tarquinius Priscus, a marvellous thing happened in Rome. While a  slave baby, Servius Tullius, was fast asleep, he was enveloped in flames. However, the flames  did not hurt the baby, and he slept on. The people looked in awe, not daring to disturb him. Once  he had woken up, the flames disappeared, and the boy was completely healthy. It was prophesied  that this slave would have a marvellous future, and the king took him and raised him among his  own children. In time, Servius Tullius grew into a youth capable in both body and mind, and  the king betrothed him to one of his daughters.

[00:21:07]Lusius Tarquinius Priscus ruled Rome for  thirty-eight long years. In that time, he expanded the frontiers of the state and brought  great prosperity to the city. Not everyone, however, was content with his rule. The two sons  of Ancus Marcius, sidelined all those years ago, were still bitter about this foreigner taking  their throne. They feared that Servius Tullius was gaining too much support from the people and that  soon, a slave would sit on the throne of Romulus.

[00:21:35]Adamant on changing this, they hatched a nefarious  plot. Two of their supporters, disguised as shepherds, entered the palace and pretended  to have a heated quarrel. They attracted the attention of the king, and he agreed to hear them  out. While one was explaining the situation, the other swung his axe, striking down the king. The  queen acted quickly, closing down the palace, not allowing anyone to enter or leave. Healers were  summoned, but it was clear the wound was fatal.

[00:22:02]She spoke to Servius, bidding him to take the  reins of the city and avenge his father-in-law.

[00:22:07]Once he accepted, the queen addressed the people  of Rome. She assured them that the king would recover in no time at all. For the present,  while he was incapacitated, Servius Tullius would perform all the necessary functions in the  king's name. Owing to the popular support of the youth, none objected. Servius used this time to  strengthen his position on the throne, and once he was sure no opposition would arise, he announced  that the king had succumbed to his wound.

[00:22:33]And thus, in 578, Servius Tullius became  the first Roman king to inherit the throne.

[00:22:38]Having failed their plot, the sons of  Ancus Marcius went into exile, never to be seen in Rome again. Servius was anxious  not to share the fate of his father-in-law, so he married his daughters to the sons of the  late king, in hopes of gaining their support.

[00:22:53]Having thus secured his position at home, Servius  looked for an opportunity to prove his worth in battle. The truce with Veii had recently expired,  and he led an expedition against the Etruscans. A large coalition gathered to meet him, but that day  the gods were on his side, and the Etruscans were crushed. Servius returned to Rome in triumph. Having thus proved himself a formidable leader, Servius took on his greatest project.  He conducted the first census in Rome and devised social classes based on personal  wealth. The population was divided into seven classes in total. The richest men in the city  formed the equestrian rank. The men who formed the core of the infantry in the legion were  divided into five classes. The rest of the population who did not meet the minimum property  requirements were considered non-combatants and were placed into one final class. Each class was then subdivided into centuries, with equestrians forming eighteen centuries. The  first class was divided into eighty, the second, third and fourth classes each had twenty, and  the fifth class had thirty. The non-combatants, although forming the largest block, were all  placed into one century. Each century had one collective vote in the new assembly, the  Comitia Centuriata. This gave the equestrians and the first class a clear majority. Voting was  done publicly, from the richest to the poorest centuries. When a majority was reached, the voting  stopped. Therefore, the lower classes would seldom have the opportunity to cast their votes. The second, equally important role of the centuries was fielding the Roman army. The  equestrians were provided with horses by the state and formed the cavalry. The first three classes  formed the core of the Greek-style phalanx, while the fourth and fifth classes served as  lightly armed auxiliaries. As already stated, the poorest were exempt from military service. The men were required to arm themselves with prescribed equipment for each class. The first  class had to provide a helmet, a round shield, a coat of mail, and greaves, all made of brass.  They were armed with a thrusting spear and a short sword. The second class didn’t have to  provide a coat of mail and used wooden oblong shields. The third didn’t wear greaves. The fourth  class was armed only with a spear and javelins, while the fifth had only slings and stones. According to modern estimates, at the end of the sixth century BCE, Rome had a population  of around thirty-five thousand men. From this, it is estimated that they could field an army  of nine thousand men. Six thousand hoplites forming the legion, twenty-four hundred  auxiliaries, and six hundred cavalry. This made Rome a formidable force at that time. Having thus reformed the state, Servius set about fortifying the city of Rome. He added the  Quirinal, the Viminal, and the Esquiline hills to the core of the city, thus finally uniting the  seven hills of Rome. He surrounded all these hills with mighty fortifications, known as the  Servian Wall. Sections of this wall survive to this day. This wall marked the boundary  of the city, known as the pomoerium. The Romans were forbidden to carry arms within the  pomoerium, and magistrates with imperium had to lay down their power before entering the city. Just like the sons of Ancus Marcius proved to be the undoing of Tarquinius Priscus, so were  the sons of Tarquinius the undoing of Servius Tullius. As we have already mentioned, Servius  married them off to his daughters in order to prevent them from doing anything suspicious.  Arnus Tarquinius cared little for the throne, for which his ambitious wife Tullia resented him.  On the other hand, Lucius Tarquinius despised Servius and wanted the throne for himself. The  two of them, hoping to finally take the throne, started plotting together. First, they killed  their spouses and then moved against the king.

[00:26:32]They were constantly reminding people that Servius  was never elected and that the census was just a way for him to steal their property. When Lucius  thought he had acquired the support of the people, he walked into the senate-house with  his bodyguards and called a session into meeting. While he was giving a lengthy  speech to the senators, Servius marched in and asked for an explanation. Lucius, being a  much younger and stronger man, physically threw Servius out of the senate, where he was killed. Servius Tullius died in 534, having reigned for forty-four years. Under his leadership, the city  of Rome grew to new heights, able to challenge the powerful Etruscan states. Servius was succeeded  by Lucius Tarquinius, later known as Superbus, meaning “the proud”. As soon as he took the  throne, he instituted a reign of terror. He had no legitimate claim to the throne and had  to maintain his position by violence and fear.

[00:27:25]He alone presided over criminal cases, condemning  numerous powerful people to death or exile. His goal was to reduce the number of senators so the  Senate itself would lose importance and to amass large amounts of wealth from those he condemned. To further secure his position at home, Tarquin worked hard to secure the loyalty of the  Latin people. At that time, Octavius Mamilius of Tusculum was considered the foremost man among the  Latins. Tarquin gave him his daughter in marriage, thus securing the support of Octavius and his  numerous followers. With his allegiance secured, Tarquinius moved to bind other Latin  chieftains to himself. He summoned them to a meeting in the Grove of Ferentina. When the agreed-upon hour had come, the Latin chiefs assembled, but the king was  nowhere to be seen. Turnus Herdonius of Aricia was not partial to Tarquinius, and he accused the  king of tyranny at home. He advised his countrymen to ignore Tarquin’s words and return home. When  the king finally arrived, he was displeased with the sentiment displayed. The meeting was adjourned  for the day, and Tarquinius would present his case on the morrow. He lacked influence among the  Latins to execute one of their own, so he had to resort to nefarious means. While everyone  was asleep, Tarquinius bribed some disloyal Aricians, and they helped him smuggle large  quantities of weapons into Turnus’s quarters.

[00:28:43]Before the first light, he summoned an urgent  meeting. He explained that a plot against his life had been uncovered. He led the chieftains  to Turnus, and when the weapons were discovered there, they were appalled. Without waiting to  hear him out, the other chieftains condemned him to a swift death. Having dealt with his greatest  opposition, Tarquinius invited the Latins to renew the treaty his predecessor Tullus had concluded  with Alba Longa. Hoping to henceforth share in Rome’s glory, the Latins agreed, and the treaty  was concluded. In this way, Tarquinius secured the whole of Latium and doubled the Roman army.  In future, for every raised Roman legion, another allied legion, known as alea, would join it. With this alliance in hand, Tarquinius chose to expand his realm. He was the first Roman king to  wage war against the nearby Volscians. They could not stand against the combined armies of Rome  and the Latins, and the Volscians were swiftly defeated. Tarquinius returned to Rome with  large plunder and celebrated a triumph. Gabii, a powerful Latin stronghold near Rome, was  unhappy with this new alliance and rebelled.

[00:29:46]Tarquinius marched on the city, but he was  unable to breach its strong walls. His son, Sextus Tarquinius, pretended to abandon  Rome and seek refuge in Gabii. There, he gained the trust of the people and tricked them  into facing the Roman legions in open battle. They were easily defeated, and Gabii was taken. Upon returning to Rome, Tarquinius observed a strange omen. Worried, he sent his sons  to Delphi to consult the Oracle. They were accompanied by one Lucius Junius Brutus. The  king killed his brother, and Lucius pretended to be a fool so as not to attract his attention.  When they arrived at Delphi, they were informed by the Oracle that the kingship of Rome would  fall to the man who kissed his mother first.

[00:30:26]While the two Tarquins argued over who should  get this honour, Brutus pretended to stumble, and as he fell, he kissed the ground, for he knew  that the earth was the common mother to us all.

[00:30:36]At that time, an old woman arrived in the city.  She appeared before the king and offered him nine books of prophecy at an exorbitant price.  The king refused her, and the woman burned three of the books and repeated her offer.  When Tarquinius again refused her, she burnt three more books. The woman offered him the last  three books at the same original price. Worried, Tarquinius consulted his augurs, who implored  him to acquire the remaining books. These books, known as the Sibylline Books, were kept in the  temple of Jupiter. Throughout Roman history, they were consulted in times of momentous  crises. The originals were lost in 83 BCE when the temple of Jupiter was destroyed in a fire. Lucius Tarquinius Superbus continued his rule of terror until one of his sons brought a great  calamity to his house. In a fit of lustful rage, Sextus Tarquinius violated a married woman  named Lucretia. As soon as he left her side, she sent a message to both her father, Spurius  Lucretius Tricipitinus, and her husband, Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus. They were  instructed to make haste back to her house, each accompanied by a trusted friend. Her father  came with Publius Valerius, and her husband with Brutus. Lucretia told the four men what had  happened and, overwhelmed by shame, took her own life. In this moment of immense grief, Brutus held  up the bloody knife and swore an oath to end the tyranny of the Tarquins and to never again let one  man rule the city. Although the men were puzzled by this sudden change of character, they followed  his lead and swore oaths to end the tyranny.

[00:32:08]They went to the forum and told the story of  Lucretia. They reminded people that the king had seized the throne by force and spoke of all the  terrors he had committed. The Roman population, oppressed for so long, decided to banish the  Tarquins from the city. Having won over the Romans to his side, Brutus went to a nearby  army camp and convinced the soldiers to join his cause. After ruling for 25 years, Tarquinius,  recognising his end, abandoned Rome and fled to Etruria with his family. Sextus Tarquinius fled to  Gabii, hoping to rule the city, but the citizens remembered his treachery, and he was killed. And thus, in 509 BCE, 244 years after the founding of the city, the monarchy was at an end. Two  orchestrators of the coup, Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, were elected  the first consuls of this fledgling Republic.

[00:32:59]This account of the Seven Kings of Rome is  given to us by the Roman historian Titus Livius, who lived during the reign of the first emperor,  Augustus. This account presents numerous problems, for never in history did seven kings rule  uninterrupted for 244 years. As we have stated previously, Romulus arose from the indigenous  founding myth, with his name simply meaning “the Roman”. His immediate successors, the devoted  Numa Pompilius and the warlike Tullus Hostilius, are simple stereotypes. Although it’s possible  that men with these names ruled Rome at one time or another, nothing about their reigns can be  stated with certainty. The following two kings, Ancus Marcius and Tarquinius Priscus, are more  rounded characters, possibly pointing us to more historical figures than their predecessors. The  sixth king, Servius Tullius, is the most complex, but also the most enigmatic, of them  all. His wide-ranging reforms and large construction projects had the greatest impact  on the nature of the Roman state. Finally, the tyrant Tarquinius Superbus is the most  likely to be a historical figure. Under his rule, Rome became the dominant power in Central Italy,  but he also brought an end to the monarchy itself.

[00:34:11]However, it’s important to note that while  the kings themselves might be mythical or semi-mythical characters, their recorded  actions are, for the most part, historical.

[00:34:20]Numerous institutions and customs described in  this episode really did develop before the rise of the Republic. Furthermore, when the kings  were expelled, Rome was not a fledgling state, but already a dominant power in Central Italy. To resolve the chronological problems, historians have resorted to one of two options.  The earliest traces of the city-state on the banks of the Tiber are dated to the latter part of the  seventh century, more than a hundred years after the date of the legendary founding. While some  believe that the early kings are part of the pre-urban legends of Rome, others argue that  all developments of the regal period should be placed between around 625 and 500 BCE, thus  considerably shortening the length of the period.

[00:35:02]The main episode from the reign of  Romulus, regarding the Sabine Women, has some basis in history. Although Livy claims  that the Sabines settled on Capitoline Hill, archaeological evidence indicates that an early  Sabine community lived on the Quirinal. Throughout Roman history, the citizens of Rome had another  name for themselves. When acting in civil matters, they would refer to themselves as Quirites.  The etymological connection with the Sabine language and their god Quirinus suggests  that the early Latin community living on the Palatine merged with this Sabine  community to form the city-state of Rome.

[00:35:36]If this development occurred at the end of  the seventh century, the earliest kings, from Numa to Ancus, would have reigned  until the middle of the sixth century.

[00:35:45]This would allow enough time for the development  of early religious practices and the first Roman expansions into Latium. Following this  chronology, the last three, possibly historical, kings of the Tarquin dynasty would have reigned  for around fifty years. Some modern historians claim that the rise of Tarquinius Priscus  marks the Etruscan conquest of Rome. However, the ancient sources are clear on this point.  Every surviving record from Ancient Rome claims that Priscus was legally elected to the throne. Tarquin’s successor, Servius Tullius, is the first Roman king to take the throne illegally. Possibly  the most interesting thing about him was the claim he was born a slave. The fact that one of their  kings, let alone their most revered one, was a slave was deeply shameful for the Romans, and they  tried to conceal it. Stories arose that he was actually the son of a defeated king of Corniculum,  or, more brazenly, the son of the fire god Vulcan.

[00:36:39]Surprisingly, a fragment from Etruscan sources  concerning Servius was passed down to us from an unlikely place. In one of his speeches to the  Senate, the scholar-emperor Claudius references a discovery he made in the Etruscan records.  According to this speech, Mastarna was a follower of the legendary Etruscan adventurer,  Caelius Vibenna. Following a turn of fortune, Mastarna led the remnants of Caelius’ army  to Rome, where he occupied one of the hills and renamed it Caelian, after his former  leader. Mastarna then changed his name to Servius Tullius and took the throne of Rome. Interestingly, in a tomb in the Etruscan city of Vulci, a large fresco depicting Caelius and  his followers was discovered. The scene shows Caelius and his men, including Mastarna, being  rescued. In the process, they kill their captors, among whom is a man named Gnaeus Tarquinius of  Rome. Some historians have claimed that this is none other than Tarquinius Priscus. But  this raises the question of his praenomen, since Priscus is remembered as Lucius in the  Roman records. It is said that Lucius is a Latinised form of his name, Lucumo, but we know  that “lucumo” is an Etruscan word meaning “king”.

[00:37:47]It is therefore possible that early Roman records  confused the two names and forgot his real name, Gnaeus. We must note that this is no more than  conjecture, and at least for now, there is no way of concretely connecting the two Tarquins. This leaves us with two incompatible accounts of the origin of Servius Tullius. Original records  referenced by the Emperor Claudius were lost, and we don’t know to what extent they asserted  that Mastarna and Servius were the same person.

[00:38:13]It is possible that they only indicated that  Mastarna succeeded the Roman king Tarquinius, and that Claudius, well-versed in early Roman  history, made the connection himself. In reality, Mastarna could represent a  missing link in the story.

[00:38:27]This brings us to the very nature of  kingship in Ancient Rome. Interestingly, not one king came from the great patrician clans  of Rome. They were either outsiders, like Numa and Tarquinius Priscus, a slave like Servius, or  lowborn Romans, as in the case of Hostilius and Marcius. We know from later Roman history that  the Pompilii, Hostilii, Marcii and Tullii were mostly plebeian gentes. This is unlikely to be an  accident, and it suggests that patricians were not eligible for kingship, a stark contrast to the  early consuls, who were exclusively patricians.

[00:39:01]The death of a king was followed by an  interregnum, during which the patricians controlled the state. During an interregnum, an  election was held, with the people choosing the king and the Senate ratifying their decision.  It’s unclear whether the people simply had to accept the candidate presented by the Senate or  genuinely had a choice. Following the elections, the king was inaugurated through  a special religious ceremony.

[00:39:24]The later Roman kings, culminating with  Tarquinius Superbus, were increasingly depicted as Greek tyrants of the Archaic Age.  Historians have previously interpreted this as a purely literary phenomenon, with ancient Roman  authors modelling their reigns after prominent Greek tyrants. Although there is some truth  in this, it’s not entirely clear-cut. Firstly, the Greek tyrants and the Roman kings were likely  products of similar historical circumstances, to which they reacted in the same way. Secondly,  sixth-century Romans were already in contact with Greeks and were well aware of political  developments in Greek poleis. It is therefore entirely possible that the later kings set out to  imitate their Greek counterparts and increasingly took on the characteristics of a tyranny. Tyrants, who took power illegally, had to find a way to legitimise their positions. They would  often emphasise their connection to the divine, while positioning themselves as allies of the  masses in opposition to the aristocracy. These elements can clearly be seen in the story  of Servius Tullius, who not only claimed descent from Vulcan but also emphasised a  special connection to the goddess of luck, Fortuna. His reforms concerning the Comitia  Centuriata are seen as a way of undermining the traditional aristocratic base of power. The last king, Tarquinius Superbus, went even further. He patronised the arts and undertook  grand building projects. Superbus pursued an aggressive foreign policy, finally subjugating  the whole of Latium. He openly prosecuted the aristocracy and undermined the Senate. In the end,  it was this oppressed aristocracy, not the people, that hatched a plot to overthrow the last king. The story of Lucretia and the fall of the Tarquins continues into the early years of the Roman  Republic, with numerous attempts to reinstate Superbus on the Roman throne. The convoluted tale  finally ends with the intervention of the Etruscan warlord Lars Porsena. The whole story is more  akin to a grand epic than to a historical account.

[00:41:22]However, it is almost impossible to confirm  or outright reject any details of the story.

[00:41:28]The involvement of Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius  Tarquinius Collatinus, two close relatives of the king, led some historians to suggest that the  whole saga was a dynastic power struggle and not a republican revolution. The broader strokes  of the story, however, may be correct. Whatever led to the initial bout of unrest around 500  BCE, the Tarquins were expelled from the city, and Rome was soon engulfed in a broader  struggle for control of Tyrrhenian Italy.

[00:41:54]Join us next time as we discuss these  turbulent early years of the Roman Republic.

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