Quite a lot of coincidences if you ask me…īut despite the question, if the monarchy was really overthrown in 510 BC and if Tarquinius Superbus was really as tyrannic as he is portrayed on thing seems clear.
And coincidentally the Athenian tyrant Hippias was also overthrown in the year 510/509 BC! It is highly debated of Tarquinius Superbus was really as bad as roman writers presented him.įirst of all, it is important to realize that all the writers who wrote about him lived centuries after the Roman monarchy was overthrown.Īnd second of all, the depiction highly resembles the Greek tyrants. The foundation of his power was not the support of the Roman people but his bodyguard that would intimidate the people of Rome. Not even by the writers who explicitly frame Tarquinius Superbus as the stereotype of a tyrant.īut apart from these accomplishments, he is portrayed as a cruel and arrogant tyrant who didn`t respect the laws and customs. While roman sources present him in a negative way his accomplishments (especially the expansion of Roman influence and the construction of many important buildings) are not denied. But more on that in the next paragraph!Īccording to the myth the last king, named Tarquinius Superbus (=Tarquinius the arrogant), had become king by killing his father-in-law (the Roman king Servius Tullius) with the help of his wife. Since the sources for the early centuries of Rome are quite rare, more on that here in my article, it is not possible to name the exact year.Įspecially not since the entire procedure is highly contradictory. The roman writer Polybios on the other hand dates the fall of the roman monarchy into the year 508/507 BC. One possible date for the fall of the Roman monarchy is 510 BC.
There you can also find out why from 753 BC to 510 BC early Rome was ruled by kings! If you want to find out more about the myth and the reality of how Rome was founded you can check out my article here. Just like the founding of Rome itself the fall of the roman monarchy is also mythologically charged.
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