509 BC

Events in 509 BC 2

• 534 BC – 509 BC Tarquinius Superbus — the last king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud), seventh and final king of Rome, rules by terror. He murders his father-in-law Servius Tullius, abolishes the Senate's power, and rules as a tyrant in the Greek mould. His son Sextus rapes the noblewoman Lucretia, who kills herself after naming her assailants. Her kinsman Lucius Junius Brutus leads the aristocratic revolt that expels the Tarquins in 509 BC, ending the monarchy forever.
• 509 BC Foundation of the Roman Republic The expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus in 509 BC establishes the Roman Republic. Power is divided between two annually elected consuls — neither can accumulate the tyrannical power of a king. The Senate, composed of former magistrates, guides foreign policy and controls the treasury. The system of checks and balances — collegiality, annual terms, the veto — becomes the constitutional model Rome will follow for nearly five centuries.