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Oh, my dear. Did you think ‘that’ was the invasion? Those troops were just my skirmishers, tasked with keeping you all divided and confused while I came here to secure the books. Now I know where they are, which means the city can be properly pillaged! The rest of my army should be coming through your sewers right about- now.

–Tarquin taunting Hazel shortly before the battle goes in her favour in The Tyrant's Tomb.

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, better known as simply Tarquin, was the seventh and final king of Rome, having reigned for 25 years before it became a republic. He was the main antagonist and titular character of The Tyrant's Tomb, having survived for a millennia as a undead creature and allying himself with Triumvirate Holdings. Tarquin was finally killed by Diana, who was summoned by her twin to help defeat him.

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 that Tarquin could be crowned king. In 535 BCE, Tarquin marched with a host of armed men into the Forum, took the throne, and proclaimed himself king. Tarquin took him up and cast him down the steps. Tullia then drove her carriage over her father, killing him. The street on which this deed took place was thereafter called the vīcus scelerātus, or "wicked street". Tarquin refused to bury Servius Tullius, a deed from which he earned his name Superbus, meaning "the proud".

During his reign, Tarquin had many senators who were still loyal to Servius Tullius put to death. He changed the constitution of the Roman Kingdom to give himself complete power and used violence to rule, surrounding himself with an armed guard, lest anyone attempt to kill him. He was obsessed with building projects, he was responsible for the construction of Rome's main Sewer (cloāca maxima) and the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Tarquin also made many wars forcing many countries to sign treaties so he could get land to build more temples for the gods. One of the Latin cities that rejected his treaties was Gabii, so Tarquin sent his son, Sextus Tarquinius, 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 when he received it but he made no reply, instead, he just struck off the heads of the tallest poppies with a stick. However, Sextus knew what that meant, he banished or put to death all the leading men of Gabii, forcing in the city to submit.

While Tarquin was overseeing these building projects, an ostent came to him: a snake had fallen down from a wooden column, and after stirring up terror and flight in the palace, it filled the king's mind with not so much fear as with fearful worries of what it meant. Thus, that several seers might been summoned to interpret the sign, Tarquin, terrified by the vision, sent some men to Delphi, where resided the most renowned prophets in the lands. He did not dare to reveal the occurrence to anyone else, but he sent only two of his sons across unknown (at that time) lands, and across the seas to Greece, whose names were Titus and Arruns. Lucius Junius Brutus was to accompany them, the son of Tarquinia, sister of the king, whose true nature he disguised under a pretense of stupidity. For he, when he had heard the leaders of the city, amongst whom was his brother, had been killed by his uncle, he made sure there was nothing in his mind that could threaten the king, lest he be killed as well. Brutus hardly rejected his nickname (brūtus meaning "slow-witted, thick" in Latin), for under his feigned stupidity, he waited for the opportunity to liberate the Roman people from the tyranny of the king.

When they arrived, after they had done their father's command, they were seized by a desire to find out the fate of their kingdom. Then, from a cave deep in the ground, it is said that a voice was heard. Titus and Arruns, that Sextus (who had been left in Rome) might not know of the response, and that he might not inherit the kingdom, made sure the words were quieted; they themselves hastened to Rome, and entrusted to fate which one of them might first give their mother a kiss. Brutus however, thinking the voice meant something else, pretended to fall over accidentally, and touched the earth with a kiss, for of course the earth is the universal mother of all mortals. He then returned to Rome, where war was being prepared against the Rutuli with all of their resources.

SibylCumae

The Sibyl of Cumae, who sold him the Sibylline Books

One day, Tarquin was visited by the Cumaean Sibyl who offered nine books containing prophecies. Seeing that the price would cause the kingdom to go bankrupt, Tarquin simply sent her away. The Sybil burned three of the books then came back to the Senate room to offer them for the same price. Tarquin tried not to laugh, but the Sybil said that knowledge is expensive and that less is worth more. She told him that the books would help their kingdom in the future to avert disasters and summon help from the gods. Tarquin said that as the high priest as well, only he can appease the gods. Before he could finish talking, she threw three more books into the nearest brazier burning them, then offered the same price. All around Tarquin, senators shifted and whispered uneasily, guards' faces went pale with fear, and the enslaved women did their best to hide behind the dais. Tarquin knew that the Romans were superstitious, as the high priest he couldn't make the gods angry. If the last three books were burned, the guards may impale him instead. So he reluctantly agreed to the sibyl's terms and had the payment brought to the Pomerian Line. Tarquin would consult these Sibylline books in times when Rome is in need.[1]

In 509 BCE, the kingdom had finally had enough of King Tarquin's tyranny when Sextus Tarquinius raped a noblewoman named Lucretia who then stabbed herself to death with a dagger in indignity. It was that along with the weariness of taxes and forced labor that caused his subjects to rebel. The revolt was led by Lucius Junius Brutus, who, upon Lucretia's suicide, made a vow upon her blood and the gods that no other king would rule the Roman people: "I swear upon this blood, chastest ere the royal crime, and I make you, gods, witnesses that I will hereafter pursue Tarquin the Proud, his sinful wife, and the whole line of his offspring with steel and fire and whatsoever power wherewith I am able; Nor will I suffer them, nor any other man to reign in Rome." The king, abandoning his war against the Rutuli, fled in exile, and Rome became a republic. Tullia Minor fled the city fearing for her life. Sextus went back to Gabii for protection but was assassinated on the spot for his actions there.

Brutus was elected one of the first Roman consuls. In a subsequent conflict, Brutus was killed by Arruns, who was killed simultaneously. After his death, the women of Rome mourned him for a year. Two years after the kings had been driven out, Tarquin, that he might again hold power into Rome, waged war against the Romans with an ally Porsenna, the king of Etruria, who brought help to him. Although he almost captured the city, he was defeated. In the third year after he had been expelled, since Porsenna had made peace with Rome and would no longer bring aid to him, Tarquin retired to Tusculum, which was not far from Rome, and for fourteen years he grew old with his wife in a private estate. Six years later, after Tarquin's son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius, had gathered a great army to avenge the wrong done to his father-in-law, they made a final attempt to regain their power at the battle of Lake Regillus, in which Mamilius was slain. The attempt proved unsuccessful, and thus Tarquin went to the court of Aristodemus at Cumae where he died in 495 BCE, or 254 AUC (Ab urbe conditā, "from the founding of the city"). His tomb was never discovered.

Despite his death, Tarquin somehow managed to return in an undead state. After seeing him, Apollo suggests that his sheer hatred and ambition kept Tarquin going for centuries after he was supposed to have died.

The Trials of Apollo[]

The Burning Maze[]

Tarquin was first mentioned by Apollo when he, Meg McCaffrey, and Grover Underwood were solving puzzles sent by Herophile, the Oracle of Erythaea, in Burning Maze. The clue is a quote from Book 2 of Ovid's Fasti in Latin, Now must I tell of the flight of the king. The last to reign over the Roman people Was a man unjust yet puissant in arms. Tarquin brought Apollo back some bad memories even though the Roman Kingdom was a little hazy, he even had trouble remembering his name but he did know that it started with Ta like taco. A prophecy they made stated that Apollo will die in the tomb of Tarquin unless Reyna Ramírez-Arellano opens the door to the soundless god.

The Tyrant's Tomb[]

Tyrant's Tomb Quest

Tarquin in his tomb.

Tarquin speaks with Hazel Levesque through a Eurynomos, taunting the daughter of Pluto before she kills it. When Lupa speaks with Apollo during Jason's funeral, she warns him to be careful in his tomb and that the emperors were foolish to call him forth. Later, Apollo dreams of a younger, still human Tarquin being confronted by the Cumaean Sibyl and eventually agreeing to the purchasing of her books.

A few days later Hazel, Apollo, Meg McCaffrey, and Lavinia Asimov sneak into his tomb, which moved to America like the gods, and learn he plans to join in on Caligula and Commodus’ attack before calling out to the four intruders. He triggers the poison in Apollo’s system from the scratch he received three days before. Hazel then collapses a wall on him, crushing him but not killing him.

During the second wave of the assault, he arrives at Camp Jupiter and interrogates Aristophanes on the location of the Sibylline Books. When he sees Apollo he forces him to reveal that the emperors are now dead, and demands the locations of the books. After Meg tells him the books aren't even books, a confused Tarquin forces Apollo to reveal that prophecies are tattooed on Tyson's skin. Thrilled with the idea of watching Ella do her work, he attempts to unleash his full force after Hazel threatens him. Nothing happens and he is attacked on cue by the cat. In the brief battle, Hazel manages to drive her spatha into the king's body, forcing him against the information desk seemingly injured. As he tells her that she cannot kill him, Diana arrives and finishes him off with an arrow to the head, leaving only his crown behind.

Appearance[]

When he was still alive back in the days of the Roman Kingdom, Tarquin's face was like wet porcelain cut with a steak knife. A wide glistening mouth pulled into a lopsided scowl and his cheekbones were too pronounced. His nose was broken and healed in an ugly zig-zag, his eyes were heavy-lidded and suspicious and his long, stringy hair looked like drizzled clay. Over time, he'd grown hunched and thick, he wore the hide of a wolf for a cloak. His robes were mottled pink, it was impossible to tell if they'd once been red then splattered with bleach or had once been white then splattered with blood.

Several thousand years later, Tarquin was reduced to a blackened skeleton. His robes were described as hanging off him in moldering shreds, and patches of moss grew around his jawbone and cranium, giving the resemblance to a beard and hairdo. Tendrils of glowing purple gas were described as slithering through his rib cage and around his joints, coiling up his neck and lighting his eye sockets with a fiery violet.

In his final appearance in the Bookstore of Camp Jupiter, Tarquin wore a corroded set of armor with a moldy red cloak draped over, with gold rings on his fingers and a newly polished circlet crown of gold.

Abilities[]

  • Immortality (limited): Tarquin had some form of immortality, with his sheer ambition, hatred and refusal to give up holding him together in an undead state. He's shown as able to survive what other undead could not, surviving a tunnel collapsing on top of him and fatal attacks from Meg and Hazel. His immortality is limited, however, as Tarquin was killed by Diana with an arrow to the head.
  • Telekinesis: With a flick of his hand, Tarquin was able to send Meg flying backwards into a wall while in his tomb.
  • Necromancy: Tarquin is able to control a massive army of undead with ease and convince sentient undead to support him over Hades. He is even able to control those that are partially undead or dying to some extent, seeing how he was able to inflict nauseating pain on Apollo with his presence, as well as force him to speak.
  • Geokinesis: Tarquin's control of the earth was capable of confusing Hazel's earth-sense, to the point that she couldn't find her way out of his tomb. It is also likely Tarquin's powers were responsible for why many of the casualties of Caligula's Assault on Camp Jupiter disappeared below the ground after the battle.

Trivia[]

  • Some versions of the myth say that Tarquin's men killed Servius Tullius and that Tullia Minor only ran over her father's corpse.
  • The concept of tall poppy syndrome, where people of high status are cut down or at least resented by their superiors, derives its name from the episode in Livy with Tarquin.[2]

References[]

The Trials of Apollo
Core Series: The Hidden Oracle | The Dark Prophecy | The Burning Maze | The Tyrant's Tomb | The Tower of Nero
Main Characters: Apollo/Lester Papadopolous | Meg McCaffrey | Percy Jackson | Peaches | Leo Valdez | Calypso | Grover Underwood | Piper McLean | Jason Grace | Reyna Ramírez-Arellano | Frank Zhang | Hazel Levesque | Lavinia Asimov | Nico di Angelo | Will Solace | Rachel Elizabeth Dare
Secondary Characters: Chiron | Austin Lake | Kayla Knowles | Hemithea | Josephine | Georgina | Lityerses | Trophonius | Gleeson Hedge | Mellie | Chuck Hedge | Medea | Herophile | Crest | Don | Tyson | Ella | Tarquin | Luguselwa | Claudia | Janice | Blaise
Minor Characters: Sally Jackson | Thalia Grace | Mrs. O'Leary | Festus | Cade | Mikey | Harley | Connor Stoll | Miranda Gardiner | Cecil Markowitz | Ellis Wakefield | Sherman Yang | Damien White | Malcolm Pace | Paolo Montes | Valentina Diaz | Germani | Agamethus | Olujime | Phillip McCaffrey | Hunter Kowalski | Sssssarah | Prickly Pear | Aloe Vera | Joshua | Naevius Sutorius Macro | Incitatus | Tristan McLean | Bombilo | Aurum | Argentum | Julia | Jacob | Dakota | Poison Oak | Screech-Bling | Annabeth Chase | Elon | Mamurius Veturius | Mimi
Olympian Gods (Greek & Roman): Zeus/Jupiter | Hera/Juno | Poseidon/Neptune | Demeter/Ceres | Ares/Mars | Athena/Minerva | Apollo/Apollo (Roman) | Artemis/Diana | Hephaestus/Vulcan | Aphrodite/Venus | Hermes/Mercury | Dionysus/Bacchus | Hades/Pluto
Minor Gods: Nero | Commodus | Caligula | Iris | Britomartis | Styx | Terminus | Lupa | Terpsichore | Harpocrates | Cardea
Titans: Rhea | Leto | Mnemosyne | Helios
Monsters and Magical Creatures: Python | Nosoi | Karpos | Palikos | Myrmekes | Colossus Neronis | Blemmyae | Gryphon | Carthaginian Serpent | Scythian Dracaena | Cynocephali | Centaur | Cyclops | Yale | Satyr/Faun | Strix | Dryad | Dragon | Pandai | Eurynomos | Skeleton Warriors | Vrykolakai | Khromandae | Amphisbaena | Troglodyte | Tauri Sylvestres
Related Content: Rick Riordan | Percy Jackson and the Olympians | The Heroes of Olympus | Demigods & Magicians | Camp Half-Blood Confidential | Camp Jupiter Classified: A Probatio's Journal | Percy Jackson Demigod Collection | Un Natale Mezzosangue | The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure
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