Servius Tullius

Legendary sixth king of Rome

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Lived -600–-535, aged 65Italy

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52 languages
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Era
-600–-535
Aged 65

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

The sixth king of Rome who rose from slave origins — or maybe Etruscan mercenary, depending on which ancient source you trust — and remade the city's political order so thoroughly that his murder cleared the path for the Republic itself.

Biography

About

Servius Tullius reigned from 578 to 535 BC, the second king of Rome's Etruscan dynasty, though how he actually took power remains murky: some sources say he bypassed the Senate entirely with popular support after Lucius Tarquinius Priscus was assassinated in 579 BC, others that the Senate elected him alone. His backstory splits just as cleanly — Livy gives him a enslaved Latin mother and a divine father, a ring of fire appearing around the infant's head; the Emperor Claudius centuries later claimed he was really Mastarna, an Etruscan mercenary. What's clearer is what he did: fought Veii and th…

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