According to legend, Rome was founded on April 13, 753 BC by the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, descendants of the legendary Trojan hero Aeneas. After killing his brother Remus, Romulus became the first king of Rome. In any case, Rome began along the Tiber River as one of the many small city-states dotting the coastal regions of the Mediterranean Sea.
Starting with Romulus, seven legendary kings ruled the city of Rome, gradually expanding it from an unimportant tradepost populated by unsavory people into a regional power famous for its disciplined military.
The seventh king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was a tyrant. He was overthrown after his son, Sextus Tarquinius, raped a Roman noblewoman named Lucretia. Rather than live with the shame, Lucretia killed herself. Upon learning this, Lucretia's husband, Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus (who was the king's second cousin) and another Roman named Lucius Junius Brutus swore an oath:
By this blood, most pure before the outrage wrought by the king's son, I swear,
and you, O gods, I call to witness that I will drive hence Lucius Tarquinius Superbus,
together with his cursed wife and his whole blood, with fire and sword and every means in my power,
and I will not suffer them or anyone else to reign in Rome.
Tarquinius Superbus and his family were driven out, and the Romans declared they would never again be ruled by a king.
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