Lucius Tarquinius Superbus

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, called Tarquin the Proud, was said to be the son or grandson of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, Rome's fifth king. Ancient sources claim he killed his own wife and brother to clear his path, then assassinated his predecessor Servius Tullius to take the crown. He ruled for 25 years, and his reign became the textbook case for tyranny — arrogant, lofty, intolerable. A popular uprising finally drove him out in 495 BC, and Rome never took another king. The Republic rose from the ashes of his rule.