Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, (Tarquin for short) was the seventh and final king of. Rome. Supposedly, he was either the son or grandson of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. He gained the throne while the 6th king of Rome was still alive. When the king complained that you know, he was still very much alive, Tarquin picked him up and threw him in the path of his daughter, who was riding a chariot.ui
A lovely start to a new reign.
Tarquin was a proud, evil king who only wanted the best for himself and only himself. He instructed the slaves of Rome to build many building projects, the biggest one was the clocao maxima, the sewers of Rome. Every single building project that he ordered took the lives of many and whenever the senators objected, he would put them to death. He also never consulted the Senate for government purposes. All the while, Rome grew weaker and weaker.
Early in his reign, Tarquin called a meeting of the Latin leaders to discuss the bonds between Rome and the Latin towns. The meeting was held at a grove sacred to the goddess Ferentina. At the meeting, Turnus Herdonius inveighed against Tarquin's arrogance and warned his countrymen against trusting the Roman king. Tarquin then bribed Turnus' servant to store a large number of swords in his master's lodging. Tarquin called together the Latin leaders and accused Turnus of plotting his assassination.
The Latin leaders accompanied Tarquin to Turnus' lodging and, the swords then being discovered, the Latin's guilt was then speedily inferred. Turnus was condemned to be thrown into a pool of water in the grove with a wooden frame, or cratis, placed over his head, into which stones were thrown, drowning him. The meeting of the Latin chiefs then continued, and Tarquin persuaded them to renew their treaty with Rome, becoming her allies rather than her enemies. It was agreed that the soldiers of the Latins would attend at the grove on an appointed day, and form a united military force with the Roman army.
This became Tarquin's favorite form of torture. Whenever he wanted someone killed, he ordered the same form. With all of his building projects, there came a cost. Roman soldiers were armed with wolf skin instead of metal armor. The senators were dressed in rags instead of gleaming purple robes. Pillows were now just straws. Eventually, the Roman people were fed up and revolted against Tarquin. Even after Tarquin was exiled, he never gave up trying to get back the throne. He kept gathering new allies and attacking the city over and over again.
In one story, Tarquin was approached by Sybil of Cumae, she tried to sell the Sybilline books to Tarquin. Tarquin refused to do so. The Sybil burned 6 of the 9 books and finally Tarquin agreed.