On the origins of Roman hatred of Etruscan and foreign kings

Stern, Gaius (2025) On the origins of Roman hatred of Etruscan and foreign kings. ACTA ANTIQUA ACADEMIAE SCIENTIARUM HUNGARICAE, 65 (3-4). pp. 417-439. ISSN 0044-5975

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Abstract

The Romans held several fantastic ideas about their distant past under the monarchy. Livy’s authority has canonized several of these improbable traditions into history (i.e., universally accepted truth). They explain – true or not – why Romans thought or acted the way they did – often by collective instinct. Hence these unrealistic traditions often germinated certain Roman policies as the origin of Roman hatred of monarchy (i.e., tyranny) at home, and a distrust of monarchy abroad. In a very real sense, these imaginary elements from archaic history made the Romans who they were. One such claim is that Rome had only seven kings over 243 years, which is clearly impossible. Several of Rome’s kings have been erased from history entirely and all their evil deeds were transferred to the super villain, the possibly-invented Tarquin II Superbus. A related problem is the fall of the monarchy, both how and when. Some scholars have moved the founding of the Republic later, between 500 and 475 BC. A third feature, which I find highly credible, was how often assassination often ended one reign and started another. Assassination supposedly took the deaths of Romulus, Titus Tatius, and Tarquin I, and murder claimed several more, including Remus and Servius Tullius. The fact that the next king need not avenge his predecessor (father?) in a non-hereditary system favors this prospect. These factors heavily influenced Roman political thought. Romans decided that monarchy was inherently corrupt and divisive, pitting the monarchy against the Senate whenever a bad ruler took power. This principle guided Roman policy for centuries and played an obvious role in Roman identity and politics. The accusation of regnum (the thirst for regal power) destroyed not just Tiberius Gracchus but also Spurius Cassius, SpuriusMaelius, and the Divine Julius. It seems likely that many others also suffered from this consequence, while the rejection of absolute power by Cincinnatus and Curius Dentatus earned them eternal heroic status as for their republicanism

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