Tarquin



Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, better known as simply Tarquin, was the seventh and final king of Rome before it became a republic.

History
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was said to be the son of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus and Tanaquil, the fifth king and queen of Rome. His wife was Tullia Minor, the younger daughter of the current king, Servius Tullius. Together, they arranged the deaths of her husband and father so Tarquin can become king. Tarquin gave a speech criticizing Tullius but when he came to defend himself, Tarquin threw him down the stairs where he was then murdered by Tarquin's men, Tullia then drove her chariot over her father's corpse. During his reign, he had many senators who were still loyal to King Servius to death. He changed the constitution of the Roman Kingdom to give himself complete power and used violence to rule. He also made many wars and signed treaties with many countries to get more land to built more temple for the gods, including the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. One of the Latin cities who rejected his treaties was Gabii, so Tarquin sent his son, Sextus, pretending to be abused by his father and covered in blood there. Once he gained their unlimited trust with the command of their troops, Sextus sent a messenger to his father. Tarquin was in his garden making no reply, instead striking off the heads of the tallest poppies with his stick. But Sextus knew what that meant, he banished or put to death all the leading men of Gabii resulting in the city to submit.

One day, Tarquin was visited by the Cumaean Sibyl who offered nine books. Seeing how immense the price was, Tarquin simply sent her away. The Sybil burned three of the books and offered them for the same price, which was promptly rejected. She burned three more and offered the same thing with the same reaction. She burned two more and offered the last one for the same price. King Tarquin was very curious and he could not believe someone would offer him one book for such a huge price and finally decided to buy it. Tarquin would consult this Sibylline book in times when Rome is in need.

The kingdom finally had enough of King Tarquin's tyranny when Sextus raped a noblewoman named Lucretia who subsequently committed suicide. The revolt was led by Lucius Junius Brutus, Tarquin's nephew from his sister and the head of his own personal bodyguard. The king and his family fled to exile and Rome became a republic, one of the examples that led to this was Servius Tullius' death, which was regarded as a "tragic crime".

Tarquin attempted to take the throne back many times. He joined forces with the Etruscan king and battled Rome in the Silva Arsia forest, although Brutus lost his life Tarquin was not able to take back the throne. Then he turned to Lars Porsena, the king of Clusium, for help but that didn't work either. His final attempt was at the battle of Lake Regillus, but soon after that failed Tarquin went to the court of Aristodemus at Cumae where he died in 495 AD.

The Burning Maze
Tarquin was first mentioned by Apollo when he, Meg McCaffrey, and Grover Underwood were solving puzzles in the Burning Maze. A prophecy they made stated that Apollo will die in the tomb of Tarquin unless Reyna Ramírez-Arellano opens the door to some soundless god.