![]() He forced her to yield to his sexual advances by telling her the alternative was that he would kill her and one of her slaves, place their bodies together, and claim he had defended her husband's honour when he caught her having adulterous sex. ![]() In the dead of night, he stealthily entered her chamber with a drawn sword. A few days later he returned to Collatia, where he was hospitably received by Lucretia as her husband's kinsman. The beauty and virtue of Lucretia had fired the evil passions of Sextus Tarquinius. They then hastened to Collatia, and there, though it was late in the night, they found Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus, spinning amid her handmaids. They first went to Rome, where they caught the king's daughters unaware at a splendid banquet. As nothing was happening in the field, they mounted their horses to pay a surprise visit to their homes. While the king's sons, and their cousin, Tarquinius Collatinus, the son of Egerius, were feasting together, a dispute arose about the virtue of their wives. The place could not be taken by force, and the Roman army lay encamped beneath the walls. Tarquinius Superbus was besieging Ardea, a city of the Rutulians. Sextus became a general in their army before betraying them and allowing his father to capture the town. According to Livy, Tarquinius Superbus was having problems capturing the town of Gabii, so he sent Sextus to trick them into thinking he was defecting. Sextus and his family were of Etruscan descent. It is possible he was the youngest of the family as the name “ Sextus” translates to sixth in English, implying he was a sixth son, with two living brothers and three who were either stillborn or died in infancy. Not much is known about Sextus Tarquinius' personal life as details about him are overshadowed by his actions. ![]() ![]() According to Roman tradition, his rape of Lucretia was the precipitating event in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the Roman Republic. However, according to Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, he was either the third or first son, respectively. In the original account of the Tarquin dynasty presented by Fabius Pictor, he is the second son, between Titus and Arruns. Sextus Tarquinius was one of the sons of the last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus. Tarquinius and Lucretia (1610), by Rubens ( Hermitage Museum) ![]()
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