Comparison Of Tarquinius Superbus And Servius Tullius

Seven kings ruled Rome’s early monarchy. The last two were Servius Tullius and Tarquinius Superbus. They were both part of the Tarquin family and the Etruscan dynasty. Although Servius Tullius and Tarquinius Superbus come from the same family, their reigns were very different. They both also rose to power in nontraditional ways. Servius Tullius and Tarquinius Superbus’ stories reveal that power was more important than a clean conscience to the Romans.
Servius Tullius was the sixth king of Rome. He was born to a woman named Ocrisia. She was held captive after the town she lived in, Corniculum, was taken over by Tarquinius Priscus. When Tarquinius Priscus’ wife discovered Ocrisia was pregnant, she brought her into the Tarquin household so the baby could be raised there. It is unknown who …show more content…
Earlier on in his reign, Servius Tullius married his two daughters off to Tarquinius Priscus’ two sons. Tarquinius Superbus was one of Tarquinius Priscus’ sons and hated Servius Tullius very much. Because Tullia and Tarquinius Superbus were not married to each other, they decided to kill their spouses and get married. Together, they came up with a plan to kill Servius Tullius. First, Tarquinius Superbus won over the support of the noble families using gifts. Then, he went to the senate and sat on the king’s throne. Superbus spoke to the senators about how Tullius should not be king because he was born a slave. Servius Tullius showed up at the senate while Tarquinius Superbus was saying this, and they began to argue. Tarquinius Superbus picked up Servius Tullius and threw him down the stairs outside of the senate. Tullius began to run, but Superbus’ men killed him. While Tullia was in her carriage on her way home that night, she saw her dead father and ran over his body. Once again, this event shows that power was more important than family and morality to the ancient