Constitution of The Roman Kingdom - The End of The Monarchy

The End of The Monarchy

The first Etruscan King of Rome, Tarquinius Priscus, succeeded king Ancus Marcius. It has been suggested that Rome had been conquered by the Etruscans, but this is unlikely. The city was located in an easily defensible position, and its rapid growth attracted people from all over the region. The city's liberal policy of extending citizenship probably created an opportunity for a skillful leader to gain the throne. The reign of the first four kings was distinct from that of the last three. The first kings were elected. Between the reigns of the final three kings, however, the monarchy became hereditary, and thus the Senate became subordinated to the king. The fact that the monarchy became hereditary is obvious from the kinship among those three kings, as well as from the lack of interregna. The fact that the auspices did not revert to the Senate upon the deaths of those kings constituted a serious erosion of the Senate's authority, because it prevented the Senate from electing a monarch of its choosing. This violation of the Senate's sovereignty, rather than an intolerable tyranny, was probably what led the patricians in the Senate to overthrow the last king. The king may have sought the support of the plebeians, but the plebeians were no doubt exhausted from their continued military service and from their forced labor in the construction of public works, and were probably also embittered by their lack of political power. Therefore they did not come to the aide of either the king or the Senate.