Tarquin the Proud in Roman Biography

Tarquin the Proud, [Lat. Lu'cius Tarquin'ius Sii'er'bus; Fr. Tarquin le Superhe, laVkaN' leh sii'paiRb',] son of Tarquinius Priscus, and seventh King of Rome. In 534 B.C. he succeeded Servius Tullius, whom he had caused to be assassinated, and whose daughter Tullia he had married. He put to death the senators who had favoured the reforms of Servius, and, while displaying great ability, governed with despotic power. He conquered several neighbouring cities, built the Capitol and other public edifices, and established colonies at Signia and Circeii. The outrage committed by his son Sextus upon Lucretia roused the people, already exasperated by his tyranny, to throw off the yoke, and Tarquin was deposed by an armed force led by Junius Brutus. Alter several ineffectual attempts to regain his power, he formed an alliance with Lars Porsena of Clusium, in conjunction with whom he fought, the battle of Lake Regillus, (496 B.C.) They were totally defeated by the Romans, and Tarquin escaped to Cumse, where he died in 495 B.C. He was the last of the Roman kings. See Livv, " Histoid of Rome," books i. and ii. ; Niebuhr, " History of Rome;" V. Malvezzi, "Tarquinio Superbo," 1635; K. O. Muli.rr, "Etrnsker;" "Nouvelle Biographie Ge^ieVale;" Purruckrr, " Programmata II. de Taiquinii Superbi Rebus gestis," 1764-66.