Sextus Tarquinius
Encyclopedia
Sextus Tarquinius was a Roman
prince, the third and youngest son of the last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
(Tarquin the Proud). He is primarily known for his rape
of Lucretia
, daughter of Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus
, wife of Collatinus.
, a city of the Rutulians. The place could not be taken by force, and the Roman army lay encamped beneath the walls. Here as 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. As nothing was doing in the field, they mounted their horses to visit their homes by surprise. They first went to Rome, where they surprised the king's daughters at a splendid banquet. 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. The beauty and virtue of Lucretia had fired the evil passions of Sextus. A few days he returned to Collatia, where he was hospitably received by Lucretia as her husband's kinsman. In the dead of night he entered the chamber with a drawn sword ; by threatening to lay a slave with his throat cut beside her, whom he would pretend to have killed in order to avenge her husband's honour, he forced her to yield to his wishes.
Soon after, Lucretia sent a message to her father and her husband, telling them everything, then killed herself. The revolt which followed, led by her husband's friend Lucius Junius Brutus
, brought to an end the kingship of Tarquin the Proud and brought about the beginning of the Roman Republic
, Brutus becoming the first consul together with Collatinus. Sextus Tarquinius fled to Gabii
, to seek to make himself king, but he was killed in revenge for his past actions.
, Cranach
, Dürer
and Tintoretto
.
's great poem The Rape of Lucrece
, a work as long as many full-length plays, taking about two hours to recite or perform. It has sometimes been dramatized and performed in a Reader's Theatre
format. Lucretia's rape is also the subject of Benjamin Britten
's 1946 opera The Rape of Lucretia.
Tarquinius is also referred to in Shakespeare
's Cymbeline
, Act II Scene 2. Iachimo, having slipped into the sleeping Imogen's bedchamber, speaks:
[...] Our Tarquin thus
Did softly press the rushes, ere he waken'd
The chastity he wounded [...]
Sextus Tarquinius was referenced by William Shakespeare in the play Macbeth. In Act 2 Scene 1 Macbeth says in a soliloquy;
'With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design moves like a ghost'
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
prince, the third and youngest son of the last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was the legendary seventh and final King of Rome, reigning from 535 BC until the popular uprising in 509 BC that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic. He is more commonly known by his cognomen Tarquinius Superbus and was a member of the so-called Etruscan...
(Tarquin the Proud). He is primarily known for his rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
of Lucretia
Lucretia
Lucretia is a legendary figure in the history of the Roman Republic. According to the story, told mainly by the Roman historian Livy and the Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus , her rape by the king's son and consequent suicide were the immediate cause of the revolution that overthrew the...
, daughter of Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus
Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus
Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus is a semi-legendary figure in early Roman history. He was the first Suffect Consul of Rome and was also the father of Lucretia, whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius, followed by her suicide, resulted in the dethronement of King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, therefore...
, wife of Collatinus.
Rape of Lucretia
Tarquinius was besieging ArdeaArdea (RM)
Ardea is an ancient town and comune in the province of Rome, 35 km south of Rome and about 4 km from today's Mediterranean coast....
, a city of the Rutulians. The place could not be taken by force, and the Roman army lay encamped beneath the walls. Here as 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. As nothing was doing in the field, they mounted their horses to visit their homes by surprise. They first went to Rome, where they surprised the king's daughters at a splendid banquet. They then hastened to Collatia
Collatia
Collatia was an ancient town of central Italy, c. 15 km northeast of Rome by the Via Collatina.It appears in the legendary history of Rome as captured by Tarquinius Priscus. Virgil speaks of it as a Latin colony of Alba Longa...
, and there, though it was late in the night, they found Lucretia, the wife of Collatinus, spinning amid her handmaids. The beauty and virtue of Lucretia had fired the evil passions of Sextus. A few days he returned to Collatia, where he was hospitably received by Lucretia as her husband's kinsman. In the dead of night he entered the chamber with a drawn sword ; by threatening to lay a slave with his throat cut beside her, whom he would pretend to have killed in order to avenge her husband's honour, he forced her to yield to his wishes.
Soon after, Lucretia sent a message to her father and her husband, telling them everything, then killed herself. The revolt which followed, led by her husband's friend Lucius Junius Brutus
Lucius Junius Brutus
Lucius Junius Brutus was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first consuls in 509 BC. He was claimed as an ancestor of the Roman gens Junia, including Marcus Junius Brutus, the most famous of Caesar's assassins.- Background :...
, brought to an end the kingship of Tarquin the Proud and brought about the beginning of the Roman Republic
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
, Brutus becoming the first consul together with Collatinus. Sextus Tarquinius fled to Gabii
Gabii
Gabii was an ancient city of Latium, located due east of Rome along the Via Praenestina, which was in early times known as the Via Gabina....
, to seek to make himself king, but he was killed in revenge for his past actions.
Art
Lucretia and Tarquinius have been the subject of many paintings, including those by great artists such as TitianTitian
Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1488/1490 – 27 August 1576 better known as Titian was an Italian painter, the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near...
, Cranach
Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder , was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving...
, Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
and Tintoretto
Tintoretto
Tintoretto , real name Jacopo Comin, was a Venetian painter and a notable exponent of the Renaissance school. For his phenomenal energy in painting he was termed Il Furioso...
.
Literature
The story of Lucretia's rape is the subject of William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's great poem The Rape of Lucrece
The Rape of Lucrece
The Rape of Lucrece is a narrative poem by William Shakespeare about the legendary Lucretia. In his previous narrative poem, Venus and Adonis , Shakespeare had included a dedicatory letter to his patron, the Earl of Southampton, in which he promised to write a "graver work"...
, a work as long as many full-length plays, taking about two hours to recite or perform. It has sometimes been dramatized and performed in a Reader's Theatre
Reader's Theatre
Reader's theatre is a style of theatre in which the actors do not memorize their lines. Rather, they either go through their blocking holding scripts and reading off their lines, or else sit/stand together on a stage and read through the script together...
format. Lucretia's rape is also the subject of Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's 1946 opera The Rape of Lucretia.
Tarquinius is also referred to in Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Cymbeline
Cymbeline
Cymbeline , also known as Cymbeline, King of Britain or The Tragedy of Cymbeline, is a play by William Shakespeare, based on legends concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobelinus. Although listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance...
, Act II Scene 2. Iachimo, having slipped into the sleeping Imogen's bedchamber, speaks:
[...] Our Tarquin thus
Did softly press the rushes, ere he waken'd
The chastity he wounded [...]
Sextus Tarquinius was referenced by William Shakespeare in the play Macbeth. In Act 2 Scene 1 Macbeth says in a soliloquy;
'With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design moves like a ghost'