Why Did the Senate Vote to Establish a Republic and Never Again Allow a King to Rule Rome

Learning Objective

• Explain why and how Rome transitioned from a monarchy to a republic

Key Points

• The Roman monarchy was overthrown around 509 BCE, during a political revolution that resulted in the expulsion of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last male monarch of Rome.
• Despite waging a number of successful campaigns confronting Rome'due south neighbors, securing Rome's position as head of the Latin cities, and engaging in a serial of public works, Tarquinius was a very unpopular king, due to his violence and abuses of power.
• When word spread that Tarquinius's son raped Lucretia, the married woman of the governor of Collatia, an uprising occurred in which a number of prominent patricians argued for a change in regime.
• A general election was held during a legal associates, and participants voted in favor of the establishment of a Roman republic.
• Subsequently, all Tarquins were exiled from Rome and an interrex and two consuls were established to pb the new republic.

Terms

interrex

Literally, this translates to mean a ruler that presides over the menstruation between the rule of two separate kings; or, in other words, a brusque-term regent.

plebeians

A general body of gratuitous Roman citizens who were part of the lower strata of gild.

patricians

A group of ruling class families in aboriginal Rome.

The Roman monarchy was overthrown around 509 BCE, during a political revolution that resulted in the expulsion of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the final king of Rome. Subsequently, the Roman Republic was established.

Background

Tarquinius was the son of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome'due south Seven Kings period. Tarquinius was married to Tullia Minor, the girl of Servius Tullius, the 6th king of Rome's Seven Kings period. Around 535 BCE, Tarquinius and his wife, Tullia Small-scale, bundled for the murder of his male parent-in-law. Tarquinius became king post-obit Servius Tullius'southward death.

Tarquinius waged a number of successful campaigns against Rome's neighbors, including the Volsci, Gabii, and the Rutuli. He also secured Rome's position as head of the Latin cities, and engaged in a serial of public works, such equally the completion of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. However, Tarquinius remained an unpopular king for a number of reasons. He refused to bury his predecessor and executed a number of leading senators whom he suspected remained loyal to Servius. Following these deportment, he refused to replace the senators he executed and refused to consult the Senate in matters of government going forward, thus diminishing the size and influence of the Senate greatly. He also went on to judge capital criminal cases without the advice of his counselors, stoking fright amidst his political opponents that they would be unfairly targeted.

The Rape of Lucretia and An Uprising

Tarquin and Lucretia. Titian'south Tarquin and Lucretia (1571).

During Tarquinius's war with the Rutuli, his son, Sextus Tarquinius, was sent on a military errand to Collatia, where he was received with great hospitality at the governor's mansion. The governor's wife, Lucretia, hosted Sextus while the governor was away at war. During the night, Sextus entered her bedroom and raped her. The next day, Lucretia traveled to her begetter, Spurius Lucretius, a distinguished prefect in Rome, and, before witnesses, informed him of what had happened. Because her male parent was a master magistrate of Rome, her pleas for justice and vengeance could not exist ignored. At the end of her pleas, she stabbed herself in the centre with a dagger, ultimately dying in her ain father'south arms. The scene struck those who had witnessed it with such horror that they collectively vowed to publicly defend their liberty against the outrages of such tyrants.

Lucius Junius Brutus, a leading citizen and the grandson of Rome's fifth male monarch, Tarquinius Priscus, publicly opened a debate on the form of government that Rome should have in place of the existing monarchy. A number of patricians attended the debate, in which Brutus proposed the adjournment of the Tarquins from all territories of Rome, and the date of an interrex to nominate new magistrates and to oversee an ballot of ratification. Information technology was decided that a republican form of government should temporarily replace the monarchy, with two consuls replacing the king and executing the volition of a patrician senate. Spurius Lucretius was elected interrex, and he proposed Brutus, and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, a leading citizen who was as well related to Tarquinius Priscus, equally the first 2 consuls. His choice was ratified past the comitia curiata, an system of patrician families who primarily ratified decrees of the king.

In order to rally the plebeians to their cause, all were summoned to a legal assembly in the forum, and Lucretia'south torso was paraded through the streets. Brutus gave a speech and a general election was held. The results were in favor of a democracy. Brutus left Lucretius in command of the city as interrex, and pursued the king in Ardea where he had been positioned with his army on campaign. Tarquinius, yet, who had heard of developments in Rome, fled the camp before Brutus arrived, and the army received Brutus favorably, expelling the rex's sons from their encampment. Tarquinius was after refused entry into Rome and lived as an exile with his family.

The Establishment of the Republic

Brutus and Lucretia. The statue shows Brutus holding the knife and swearing the oath, with Lucretia.

Although there is no scholarly agreement as to whether or non information technology actually took place, Plutarch and Appian both claim that Brutus'due south starting time act as consul was to initiate an adjuration for the people, swearing never over again to allow a king to rule Rome. What is known for certain is that he replenished the Senate to its original number of 300 senators, recruiting men from amongst the equestrian course. The new consuls too created a separate office, chosen the rex sacrorum, to acquit out and oversee religious duties, a job that had previously fallen to the king.

The two consuls continued to be elected annually by Roman citizens and advised by the senate. Both consuls were elected for one-twelvemonth terms and could veto each other'south actions. Initially, they were endowed with all the powers of kings past, though over time these were broken downwards further past the addition of magistrates to the governmental arrangement. The start magistrate added was the praetor, an role that assumed judicial authority from the consuls. Later on the praetor, the conscience was established, who assumed the ability to conduct the Roman census.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-herkimer-westerncivilization/chapter/the-establishment-of-the-roman-republic/

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