Lucretia

Lucretia was a Roman matron whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius, the son of the last king, and her suicide began the revolt that ended the Roman monarchy and led to the Republic. Her story is told as early Roman history rather than Greek myth, and its fullest ancient account is in Livy’s History of Rome (Livy 1.57–60). She is also called Lucrece in English.

Who Was Lucretia?

Lucretia was the daughter of Spurius Lucretius, whom Livy later calls Tricipitinus and who held the office of prefect of the city under the last king (Livy 1.58.6, 1.59.8, 1.59.12). Her husband was Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, the son of Egerius, a nephew of King Tarquinius Priscus who had been left in charge of the captured town of Collatia (Livy 1.38.1, 1.57.6, 1.60.3).

The Wager at Ardea

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome, was besieging the Rutulian city of Ardea (Livy 1.57.1–3). During the long siege the king’s sons and their relatives sometimes feasted together. At a dinner given by Sextus Tarquinius, the conversation turned to their wives, and each man praised his own. Collatinus said that a few hours would show how far his Lucretia surpassed the rest, and the young men rode off to see (Livy 1.57.6–8).

In Rome they found the king’s daughters-in-law at a banquet with their friends. At Collatia, late at night, they found Lucretia sitting in the hall at her wool-work with her maids around her. The prize went to Lucretia, who welcomed her husband and his guests (Livy 1.57.9–10). Sextus Tarquinius, struck by her beauty and her virtue, formed the plan to dishonour her.

The Rape of Lucretia

A few days later Sextus went to Collatia without Collatinus knowing, with a single attendant. Lucretia, suspecting nothing, received him as a guest, and after dinner he was shown to a guest room. When the house was asleep he came to her bed with a drawn sword and told her to be silent or die. He declared his love and pleaded with her, then threatened her. When she would not give way even to fear of death, he said that he would kill her and lay the body of a slave beside hers, so that she would be said to have been killed in adultery. Fear of this disgrace overcame her, and Sextus left (Livy 1.58.1–5).

Her Death

Lucretia sent a messenger to her father at Rome and to her husband at Ardea, asking each to come quickly with one trusted friend. Spurius Lucretius came with Publius Valerius, and Collatinus with Lucius Junius Brutus (Livy 1.58.5–6). She told them what had happened, named Sextus Tarquinius, and asked them to swear that the man would not go unpunished. They swore and tried to comfort her, saying that the mind sins and not the body and that there is no guilt where there was no consent. She answered that she freed herself from guilt but not from punishment, and that no unchaste woman should live and plead Lucretia as her example. She then drew a knife hidden in her dress, plunged it into her heart and died (Livy 1.58.7–11). Ovid tells the same story in the Fasti, under the festival of the Regifugium, the flight of the king (Ovid, Fasti 2.685–852).

The Fall of the Tarquins

While the others wept, Brutus drew the knife from the wound and swore by her blood to drive out Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, his wife and all their children, and never to allow anyone to be king in Rome. He handed the knife to Collatinus, Lucretius and Valerius, and they swore the same oath (Livy 1.59.1–2).

They carried Lucretia’s body to the forum at Collatia, where a crowd gathered, and left a garrison there. Brutus then led an armed force to Rome. As tribune of the Celeres he called the people to the forum, spoke of the rape and of the king’s tyranny, and the people voted to take away the king’s power and to banish Tarquinius with his wife and children. Brutus went on to the army at Ardea, leaving Lucretius in command at Rome (Livy 1.59.3–12). When the king hurried to Rome he found the gates shut against him and the decree of banishment passed, while the army at Ardea welcomed Brutus and drove out the king’s sons. Sextus went to Gabii and was killed there, in revenge for his earlier crimes (Livy 1.60.1–2).

The First Consuls

Livy counts 244 years from the foundation of the city to its liberation, with Tarquinius Superbus reigning for 25 years. The first two consuls were Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, the husband of Lucretia (Livy 1.60.3). Collatinus held office for only a short time. Because of his name and his family, the people mistrusted him, and Brutus asked him to give up the consulship and leave Rome; he resigned and went to Lanuvium. Publius Valerius was elected consul in his place (Livy 2.2.3–11).

Lucretia Sources

Livy, History of Rome 1.38, 1.57–60 and 2.2; Ovid, Fasti 2.685–852.

See Also: Romulus, Janus, Venus