003b - The Seven Kings of Rome

Hello, and welcome to the History of Rome. So far, we have covered four of the seven kings of Rome, Romulus, Numa Pompulius, Tullus Hostilius, and Ancus Martius. Today we will discuss the final three, the so-called Tarquin dynasty, the father Tarquinius Priscus, a decent, if manipulative king, his adopted son and successor Servius Tullius, and finally his real son, Tarquinius Superbus, who usurped his adopted brother, and was then himself usurped by a fed-up mob, marking him forever with the infamy of being the last king of Rome.

Lucius Tarquinius Priscus was born in Tarquini, one of the twelve cities of Etruria, the son of a Corinthian exile named Emeritus. Tarquin, the name by which history remembers him, was a shrewd businessman who became wealthy, but due to his racially mixed heritage he was only admitted so far up the Etruscan social and political ladder. Angered at being denied the respect he felt he deserved, he decided to move to Rome, a city famous for offering men a fresh start.

In Rome, Tarquin made an immediate splash. He gave lavishly, funding public projects, charities, and anything else that would bring him renown. It did not take long for Tarquin to come to the attention of Ancus Martius, the aging king. In his final years, Ancus brought Tarquin into his confidence, leading to a close relationship that resulted in Tarquin ultimately being made guardian of Ancus's two sons when the king died.

Tarquin knew an opportunity when he saw it, and after Ancus died he sent the two boys away on a hunting trip. He then lobbied the senate to hold elections for a new king immediately to avoid any possible threat to the city brought on by the vacuum in leadership. Tarquin had made a lot of friends in the short time he had been in Rome, and his further generosity no doubt convinced any fence-sitters that he was the man for the job. He was selected in a landslide and became the fifth king of Rome.

One of his first acts, demonstrating his characteristic shrewdness, was to expand the senate by another hundred men, bringing their total number to 300. The new senators were wholly obligated to Tarquin for their positions and, predictably, supported him in everything that he did, leaving the senate little more than a rubber stamp for Tarquin's policies. This could have proven disastrous if Tarquin had been an incompetent or tyrannical leader, but he proved to be a conscientious and able king, both as an administrator and military commander.

Soon after his election, Rome found itself at war, again, with some of its Latin neighbors. Tarquin easily routed his opponents and returned to Rome with a great deal of plunder. He decided to celebrate his victory by throwing public games the likes of which had never been seen. But there was no stadium large enough for Tarquin's vision, so he ordered a hippodrome built between the Powhatan and Aventine hills. This hippodrome, when completed, would become known as the Circus Maximus, one of the greatest sports venues in the ancient world. It would remain in continuous use for the thousand-year existence of the empire.

Immediately after work began on the Circus Maximus, Rome found itself embroiled in a fight with the remaining independent Sabine communities. They had never gotten over having half their population annexed by the Romans and now sought to challenge the upstart for control of the region. Tarquin again led the Romans to victory, defeating the Sabines with strategy as well as brute force. Destroying a bridge the Sabines had used to cross into Roman territory, cutting off any escape route, he then smashed them against the river.

To celebrate this victory, Tarquin inaugurated one of the most famous of all Roman traditions, the Triumph. Later years would set guidelines for what constituted an official triumph, but the basic parts were put in place by Tarquin. The leader of the victorious army rides into the city on a chariot drawn by four horses. The legions follow with prisoners of the vanquished army and all manner of plunder seized from the enemy. To be awarded a triumph was the greatest honor a Roman general could receive. More will be said later about the traditional elements of a triumph, so for now we will simply note for trivia's sake that it was Tarquinius Priscus who celebrated the first one.

Right around this time a fantastic story reached the king. The head of a slave's sleeping child had suddenly burst into flames, though the child remained unhurt and did not wake up. Legions testified that they had seen the event with their own eyes and that the flames only disappeared when the child awoke. Tarquin's wife believed it was an omen of the child's future greatness and implored the king to adopt him so as to invite destiny into their house and not have it break down their doors. Tarquin agreed and the child, Servius Tullius, was adopted by the king. He raised the boy as his own and the omen bore out as the boy grew into a capable leader and eventual heir apparent to the throne.

All was progressing nicely for Tarquin, but trouble was brewing. The sons of Anchus had not forgotten how Tarquin denied them their birthright and resolved to reclaim what they felt was theirs. Knowing they could never get close to the king, the brothers enticed two men to do their dirty work for them. The two men arrived at the palace and pretended to have a loud quarrel, eventually demanding the king settle their dispute. Tarquin came to see what all the commotion was about and agreed to settle the fight, but as he sat to adjudicate, one of the men pulled out an axe he had hidden in his robe and lodged it in the back of the king's head.

Tarquin fell and the two men attempted to escape, but they were immediately captured. Tarquin's wife, Taniquil, seeing the severity of the wound, immediately cleared the room and brought Servius Tullius in to help her tend to the king. Over the body she told Servius that nothing could be done for Tarquin, but that it was imperative the men responsible for the crime should not sit on the throne. She implored Servius to take part in a charade to guarantee that neither of Ancus's sons would ever be king.

Throwing open a window and addressing the crowd that had by this time gathered, Taniquil told them that her husband's wound was only superficial and that the king would be back on his feet soon. In the meantime, she told them to obey Servius who would act as king until Tarquin could resume his duties. At this point, of course, the king was already dead. Tarquin reigned 37 years and died in 579 BC.

Servius performed the duties of king for a time as if he was merely acting in Tarquin's stead, going so far as to reserve judgment in some legal disputes claiming that he must consult with the king. The sons of Ancus, believing their plot had failed and seeing Servius secure on the throne went into exile.

Not long after the transfer of power, Vae launched an attack on Rome and Servius marched to meet them. Completely destroying the Vaeid army, Servius returned to Rome a beloved savior. At this point, clearly in command of the throne, the death of Tarquin was announced. No one questioned Servius' continued reign as king and the plan hatched by Taniquil was brought to a successful conclusion.

Servius would be the second to last king of Rome and by all accounts the last good one. He was responsible for the final reconfiguration of Roman society prior to the establishment of the Republic, a reconfiguration that would have a profound effect on the way that Republic would ultimately be governed.

Desiring to take stock of the city's resources, wealth, and population, he instituted the first census. Based upon the data he received, he divided land-owning Romans, known as the sigii, into five classes. Nominally divided by wealth, the idea was to establish who could provide what when war inevitably came knocking. The first class was the richest, able to provide a helmet, round shield, bronze breastplate, leg armor, sword, and spear. The second class provided all the same equipment as the first, save for the breastplate. The third provided the same as the second, but for the leg armor. Only a spear and javelin were required of the fourth class and the fifth provided merely slings and stones. Sandwiching these classes were the richest of the rich, already separately designated as equites, cavalrymen able to provide horses, and the poorest of the poor, i.e. most of the population, who were exempted from military service.

Men aged eighteen to forty from the five classes formed the legions when the need, which was often, arose. The classes did not serve a strictly military function. They also formed the basis of the new Roman electoral college. The old tribal assembly created by Romulus, the comita curiata, was surpassed by Servius's new comita centuriata. Each of the classes were further divided into centuries, which voted as blocks.

The centuries, however, were not equal in size. The first class, which was the smallest, was divided into eighty centuries. The second, third, and fourth classes each had twenty. The fifth, by far the largest, was composed of thirty. The small group of equites were divided into twelve centuries, and the landless masses were granted just one. Elections being determined by a simple majority, the equites in the first class held between them all the votes they needed to control who would hold office and what policies would be pursued.

There was some logic to the wildly skewed voting system. The wealthy shouldered the financial burdens of both state and military, and thus felt entirely justified in their stranglehold on power. The bulk of the population, however, would come to view the system as entirely unjust and would eventually have to take drastic steps for their voices to be heard.

Servius's reign was progressing nicely. The Latin communities even contributed funds to build a temple to Diana in Rome, admitting once and for all that Rome was the capital of Latium. However, all was not well. Just as Anchis's sons were the undoing of Tarquin, so would the sons of Tarquin be the undoing of Servius.

Servius believed he had covered this obvious threat by marrying his daughters to the two Tarquin boys, Lucius and Arunes, but this was not enough for Lucius, who felt he had been tricked out of his rightful succession, though his new wife was noncommittal about this alleged injustice. His brother Arunes, who could not have cared one way or the other, found himself married to a woman, Tullia, who resented his lack of ambition and admired Lucius's drive. Tullia further despised her own sister for not supporting an obviously great man in his quest for the throne.

Evil took hold of them and, not being particularly creative, they decided to simply kill their unwanted mates so they could be together and pursue the crown at full throttle. The newlyweds began a whisper campaign against Servius, pointing out his low birth and the fact that he had never been truly elected. To the richest in Rome, they alleged that the census was no more than a trick to expose their wealth so Servius could snatch it up and hand it over to his low-born friends.

Lucius grew ever more bold as he gained support, until finally he decided to make his move. He went to the palace while Servius was away and sat upon the throne, demanding that the Senate assemble before him. When they did, out of a mixture of fear and confusion, he demanded they kneel before him and hail him King Tarquin. He was in the midst of a lengthy speech degrading Servius when the old king appeared, demanding an explanation.

A scuffle ensued between the supporters of Tarquin and those loyal to Servius, and in the melee, the old king himself was struck and killed. Servius had reigned forty-three years and died in 535 BC.

Lucius would become known to history as Tarquinius Superbus, or Tarquin the Proud, the last king of Rome. From the start, Tarquin was the very model of a tyrant. He was vain, arrogant, pompous, and dismissive of both the people and the Senate. He built monuments to himself at the expense of the rich, using the labor of the poor. Smart enough to understand his shaky position, having seized power without so much as a nod to electoral formalities, he chose fear as the basis for his reign. He claimed for himself all legislative and judicial functions and dared anyone to oppose him. Those who did quickly regretted their choice.

Tarquin arrested, tried, and executed his opponents, completely bypassing the traditional court system. He confiscated property whenever he saw fit and arbitrarily reduced the ranks of the Senate, leaving it anemic and unable to counter his actions.

Tarquin's misconduct was not confined to the city itself. He sought to consolidate Rome's power over Latium and to this end called a council of the local nobility. He let them sit all day without making an appearance until one of them rose to declare that Tarquin was making them wait on purpose to show that he could order them around at will. Just then Tarquin finally appeared.

The king made note of the man who had spoken against him and, after the meeting broke up, bribed one of the noble slaves to plant a cache of weapons in his master's room. The deed done, Tarquin recalled the council and announced that he had just discovered a plot against his life and fingered the offensive noble as its leader. They marched as a group to where the noble was staying and discovered the hidden weapons. That, coupled with his speech from the day before, was enough to frame the poor man and he was immediately executed without so much as a trial.

The remaining Latin nobility, whether they believed the charges or not, believed that Tarquin was capable of almost anything and so did nothing to challenge his position in Rome. The city and surrounding countryside thus pacified, Tarquin sat back to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

But only poisoned fruit can grow from such poisonous seeds and Tarquin would soon pay the ultimate price for his underhanded tactics. Tarquin, obviously, had engendered no goodwill in the city and the population waited only for a spark to light them into full revolt.

Tarquin's own son would provide that spark. The young man, Sextus, was invited to a dinner party hosted by Collatinus, a local noble, and upon meeting Lucretia, the lady of the house, Sextus decided that he must have her. Enflamed with lust, he returned to the house while Collatinus was off laying seeds to the nearby town of Ardia and raped her. His lust faded, Sextus rode off unaware of what he had set in motion.

Collatinus, riding back to Rome with a certain Lucius Junius Brutus, was met by a messenger who bid him return to his house at once. There, surrounded by her father, Collatinus and Brutus, Lucretia told him what Sextus had done and then, overwhelmed by shame, grabbed a knife and stabbed herself in the heart.

The three men, grief-stricken, stood over her body and swore that the Tarquins would pay for her death. Returning at once to the encamped army at Ardia, Brutus raised them into revolt with a stirring speech denouncing the Tarquins as oppressive criminals. He then led the army back to Rome where he planned to expel the Tarquins once and for all.

Arriving in the city, he marched through the streets and found a population slaving away on Tarquin's various pet projects and ready for revolution. Tarquin, at this point, having heard of the mutiny in Ardia, had ridden out to take control of the situation, but instead found his army gone and himself in exile from the city he allegedly ruled. Tarquinius Superbus reigned 24 years and would die seeking, but never regaining, the throne.

Back in the city, the liberated people declared the Tarquins enemies of the state and forever barred them from Rome. The Comitus Centuriata was convened and it was decided that kings should never again rule Rome and that two men should be elected annually to be leaders so that power could never again be concentrated in the hands of a single man. Collatinus and Brutus were duly elected and were inaugurated as the first two consuls in Roman history. The year was 509 BC and the most famous republic in the history of the world was born.

The story of the ill-fated Tarquin dynasty casts an interesting shadow over Roman history. Through the obviously apocryphal royal biographies, a general outline of actual history begins to emerge. As I said in part one, Roman culture was derived largely from Etruscan and Greek influences so, as an instructive parallel, we are given the story of a family of kings who became masters of Rome after emigrating from Etruria and were descended from an exiled Greek. There, in the micro-story of the Tarquins, is the macro-story of all Rome.

This dramatic, if fictitious, account has roots in reality. Modern historians recognize the dominance Etruria had over Rome until the founding of the republic. It is thought that Etruscan kings did indeed command Rome and that they were rejected by a native population wary of their rule, though the neatness of this account no doubt misses a reality filled with intermarriage and colliding cultures making it hard to know who was a native Roman and who was a foreign Etruscan.

The story of the kings also offers a moral that the Romans followed to great success and abandoned at their peril. Until the ill-fated Tarquinius Superbus, none of the kings had been the son of a previous ruler. Hereditary succession played almost no part in the ascension of the kings. Ancus Martius was the only one who was even related to one of his predecessors and he was the grandson of Numa, not an immediate heir. This stands in stark contrast to the monarchies that emerged in the Middle Ages that were founded entirely on the passing of power from father to son, whatever the merits or abilities of the child.

Gibbon famously marks the beginning of the end of the Roman Empire with Marcus Aurelius's sentimental choice of his son Commodus and not another, more capable man to succeed the Imperium in 177 AD. The choice ended five successive transfers of power from the emperor to a man chosen on merit and not relation. The hundred year period of the so-called five good emperors marked the height of Roman power, wealth and stability. History has shown again and again that the ship of state is well sailed when leadership is based on great ability and run against the rocks when it is based upon mere birth.

The Roman monarchy was now dead, never to return. Next we move on to the story of the Roman Republic and trace its long march through the Italian peninsula, across the Mediterranean and into legend. Next week we will discuss the first days of the Republic, who its initial leaders were and what would happen to any man who ever again tried to make himself king of Rome.