Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was born into the Tarquin dynasty that ruled Rome. His father was either Tarquinius Priscus or Servius Tullius's predecessor. He would become the seventh and last king of Rome.

Young Tarquinius grew up in the Roman royal court during the reign of Servius Tullius. He witnessed the workings of monarchy and the tensions between kings and aristocratic families that would shape his ambitions.

Tarquinius married Tullia Minor, daughter of King Servius Tullius. According to tradition, they conspired to murder their original spouses to marry each other. Tullia would prove as ruthless as her husband.

Tarquinius and Tullia began plotting against her father King Servius Tullius. They cultivated support among disaffected senators and patricians who resented Servius's popular reforms favoring the common people.

Tarquinius entered the Senate House, threw the elderly Servius from his seat, and proclaimed himself king. When Servius attempted to rally support, Tarquinius had him murdered. Tullia drove her chariot over her father's body.

Tarquinius refused to confirm the laws of his predecessors and ruled by decree and terror. He executed or exiled leading senators, seized their property, and surrounded himself with armed bodyguards.

Tarquinius waged successful wars against the Volscians and other Latin tribes. He extended Roman influence through military conquest and forced alliances, making Rome the dominant power in Latium.

When Gabii resisted conquest, Tarquinius used his son Sextus to infiltrate the city. Sextus pretended to defect, gained the citizens' trust, then betrayed them. Gabii fell without a battle.

Tarquinius began construction of the great Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill. This massive project employed forced labor and would become Rome's most sacred temple.

Tarquinius expanded the great sewer system of Rome, the Cloaca Maxima. Though a remarkable engineering achievement, he used forced citizen labor, increasing resentment among the Roman people.

According to legend, an old woman offered Tarquinius nine prophetic books at an outrageous price. After she burned six when he refused, he purchased the remaining three Sibylline Books, which Rome consulted for centuries.

Tarquinius forced the cities of the Latin League to accept Roman hegemony. At a meeting at the grove of Ferentina, he executed a Latin leader who challenged him, demonstrating his ruthless authority.

Tarquinius besieged Ardea, capital of the Rutuli tribe. During this campaign, his son Sextus would commit the crime that ended the Roman monarchy. The siege dragged on inconclusively.

During the siege of Ardea, Sextus Tarquinius raped the noblewoman Lucretia, who then killed herself. This crime sparked outrage that would overthrow the monarchy. Lucius Junius Brutus vowed revenge.

Led by Brutus and Collatinus, the Roman people rose in revolt. Tarquinius was expelled from Rome, and the Republic was established. He fled to Caere in Etruria with his family and treasures.

Tarquinius enlisted the Etruscan cities of Veii and Tarquinii to restore him. The conspiracy involving his own sons-in-law was discovered; the young conspirators were executed, but Tarquinius escaped.

The Etruscan king Lars Porsenna of Clusium besieged Rome, ostensibly to restore Tarquinius. Though Porsenna made peace after Roman heroics like Horatius at the bridge, Tarquinius remained in exile.

After years of futile attempts to regain his throne, Tarquinius Superbus died in exile at Cumae in southern Italy. His death ended the Tarquin dynasty. Rome would never again have a king.