by Laura Dowers
Lucius’s heart lightened when he saw his wife alive and unharmed. He kissed Lolly fervently, scarcely allowing her to draw breath, and gave thanks to all the gods he could name for protecting her on her journey. He asked Lolly for news but she could tell him nothing he didn’t already know. Sextus greeted his mother enthusiastically, knowing she would be on his side and pleased he now had an ally against his father.
Lolly, Lucius quickly realised, was angry with him. He wanted her to stay with him, eat, drink, talk through a strategy to get the throne back, but Lolly declared she was exhausted from the journey, a journey that would not have been necessary had Lucius kept a closer eye on Sextus. As far as Lolly saw it, Sextus had been misled by Lucius’s crude, low-born soldiers and Lucius should have been more careful about who their son associated with. Sextus protested to his mother that Lucretia had led him on and she believed him. That stupid girl Lucretia had obviously given herself to Sextus and then changed her mind. What woman would kill herself if she was the victim of rape? Lolly took Lucius’s cot bed for herself and refused to speak another word to him.
A messenger from the senate arrived an hour or two after Lolly. The messenger, who didn’t bow when he was brought before Lucius, who didn’t call Lucius lord, told him that the senate had decreed Lucius was King of Rome no longer. What was more, if Lucius tried to get back into the city, he would be opposed by armed men; if captured, he would be executed. News spread swiftly through the camp of the senate’s message, and even as Lucius watched, men deserted, shouting that they were returning to Rome to take up the cry of ‘Down with the tyrant!’
EPILOGUE
The Sibyl’s prophecy had come true. Lucius had been wrong to think the gods had favoured him and his family all this time, he realised that now. They had just been biding their time, waiting until he was at his highest to make the fall harder to bear. The curse had been upon the Tarquins the whole time. He had been deposed, exiled from his own kingdom, left in possession of only whatever riches were in the camp and which hadn’t been taken by the deserters. He and his family could sink no lower.
But this sparked a thought, an idea of hope in Lucius. Maybe the curse was now broken. He had been driven out of Rome, he had suffered. Maybe that would be the end of it. Yes, Lucius thought, his heart swelling with this new idea, we shall go where we will be welcome, perhaps Veii or Tarquinii, muster an army of loyal men, an army to break down the gates of Rome and we will subdue the ungrateful, rebellious populace.
Bursting out of his tent, Lucius shouted into the darkness, ‘What do I care of gods and prophecies? What more can you do to hurt me?’
He thrust his arms wide, and as the storm-clouds above him burst, lifted his face to the pelting rain and cried, ‘I have ruled Rome for twenty-five years and I make this promise, you gods. I, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, will return to be King of Rome again.’
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Rome’s regal period, or Archaic Period, as it’s sometimes known, is shrouded in mystery, so much so that there isn’t a consensus among historians that Rome even had kings in the centuries before the Republic was created. One theory put forward is that Romans during the Republic created their kings (who were mostly tyrannical) to show how better a governing system a republic was. The kings believed to have ruled Rome may therefore be as fictional as King Arthur or Robin Hood.
Researching this book, I relied heavily on the writings of Livy (Titus Livius) to provide ‘facts’ about both the Tarquin kings and King Servius Tullius. However, because this is a work of fiction and its primary objective is to entertain, I had to make some choices about how I presented this story. In some histories, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus is the son of Lucius (Lucomo) Tarquinius Priscus, but this makes little sense of the accepted chronology, i.e. the second Lucius would have been extremely old (perhaps impossibly old) by the time of his deposition and expulsion from Rome. For this reason, I chose to accept another theory and depict the second Lucius as the grandson of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus.
Romans were very unoriginal when it came to the bestowing of names to children, especially to daughters. For example, the two daughters of Servius Tullius and Tarquinia were named Tullia Prima and Tullia Secunda (literally, Tullia One and Tullia Two) and not only was Tarquinia the wife of Servius, but a Tarquinia was also the sister of Lucius and Arruns, as well as a daughter of Lucius and Tullia Secunda. To avoid confusing the reader, I have changed the names of some of the players in this drama. Therefore, Tullia Secunda I have called Lolly, sister Tarquinia became Lucilla and daughter Tarquinia is Cassia. The Dramatis Personae at the beginning of this book reflects these choices, but should you want to see a (reasonably) correct family tree of the Tarquins and a full list of sources used, please visit my website: www.lauradowers.com.
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ALSO BY LAURA DOWERS
THE TUDOR COURT
The Queen’s Favourite (Book I)
The Queen’s Rebel (Book II)
The Queen’s Spymaster (Book III)
The Poet Knight and His Muse: A Short Story (Book IV) (Exclusive to subscribers)
The Queen’s Rival: A Short Story (Book V)
The Tudor Court: Books I—III (Boxset Edition)
STANDALONE NOVELS
When the Siren Sings
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I’d like to thank my Advance Reader Team for taking the time to read this book and provide feedback. Your comments were very useful and greatly appreciated.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
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Contents
Dramatis Personae
Epigraph
I. 579 BC–574 BC
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
II. 574 BC–539 BC
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
III. 538 BC–525 BC
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
IV. 511 BC–509 BC
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Author’s Note
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Also by Laura Dowers
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