In place of Superbus, the comitia centuriata resolved to elect Collatinus as the new king. They both ended up at the city of Gabii, where they both were soon assassinated. Both Tullia and Sextus Tarquinius soon fled the city, in fear of the mob. When he summoned the comitia, he recounted the various grievances of the people and by inflaming public sentiment with the tale of the rape of Lucretia, Brutus persuaded the comitia to revoke the king's imperium and send him into exile. Collatinus, together with his father-in-law, Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus, and his companions, Lucius Junius Brutus and Publius Valerius Poplicola, swore an oath to expel the king and his family from Rome.īrutus, Tribune of the Celeres, was the head of the king's personal bodyguard, and entitled to summon the Roman comitia, which he soon did. Despite the pleas of her family, Lucretia took her own life out of shame. But when Sextus had departed, she sent for her husband and father, revealing the whole affair, and accusing Sextus. He threatened to kill her, and claimed that he had discovered her in the act of adultery with a slave, if she did not yield to him.Īnd so, Lucretia, to spare her husband the shame, submitted to him. Soon Sextus returned to Lucretia's quarter, and after being refused to give herself to him. Lucretia received the princes graciously, though her beauty and virtue kindled the flame of desire of Sextus Tarquinius, the king's son and Collatinus' cousin. They discovered all of the wives enjoying themselves, except for Collatinus' wife, Lucretia, who was tending to the house. With his companions, they started secretly visiting each other's homes. A Nobleman named Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus rose, and claimed to have the most dedicated of spouses. Then the subject of the conversation turned towards the virtue of their wives. Soon, the young noblemen in the king's army fell to drinking and boasting. However, Tarquinius failed to take the Rutuli capital of Ardea by storming it, and so the king was forced to take the city by siege. It was the year 245, and the Rome was at war with the Rutuli, a very wealthy nation, whose wealth the Roman King, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, desired.