LUCRETIAThe tragic history of Lucretia ignited the end of the Roman kingdom. It all started with some soldiers around a campfire. During the lasting siege of the town of Ardea the officers of the Roman army were wondering what their wives were up to at home. That is why some of them including Sextus Tarquinius Superbus, the son of king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, decided to have a look for themselves back in Rome. To their surprise, Lucretia, the daughter of Titus Lucretius Tricipitinus and the wife of their fellow officer Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, was the only one who had remained faithfully at home. Suddenly attracted by her beauty, Sextus Tarquinius Superbus forced himself on her, threatening to tell lies about her conduct and thus definitely ruining her reputation and bringing shame to her family if she wouldn’t let him rape her. That left Lucretia with no choice. When weeks later, Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus and his friend Lucius Junius Brutus were at home with Lucretia and her father, she told them what had happened. Immediately after that, finally liberated from her dark secret, she took a knife and stabbed herself in her heart. Her honourable but tragic death ignited the fury against the on-going arrogance of the royals, their final downfall and ultimately the proclamation of Rome as a republic.
Other painters on the same subject (click to view painting):
