Superbus, Lucius Tarquinius -495 BCE

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, Tarquin the Proud, was the legendary seventh and last Etruscan king of the Roman people. He was the son of Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king, and the son-in-law of Servius Tullius, the sixth king, having first married his elder daughter, Tullia Maior. After murdering his wife and his younger brother, Arruns Tarquinius, he married Servius' younger daughter, Tullia Minor. He then turned his attention to the murder of his father-in-law in order to claim the throne. His reign, which started in 535 BCE, was considered a ruthless tyranny, where he murdered, exiled, or imprisoned anyone who spoke against him or threatened his authority. During one of his many wars, his son, Sextus Tarquinius, "attacked the honor" of Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus. She summoned her husband, his friend, Brutus, and her father, Spurius Lucretius, with his friend, Publius Valerius, where she named her attacker and stabbed herself in the heart. This action set into motion the overthrow of Tarquin the Proud's reign and the end of the Roman monarchy and the beginning of the Roman Republic in 509 BCE. Tarquin the Proud is said to have died in 495 BCE after attempting to regain his throne at least twice. (Sextus was killed by the Gabii people where he fled for protection from Collatinus and Brutus.)