According to tradition, the Roman people drove out the last king, the arrogant Tarquinius Superbus, in 509 BC after the rape of Lucretia by his son, and replaced the monarchy with two annually elected magistrates, the consuls, led by Lucius Junius Brutus. Real power rested with the Senate and the aristocrats, the patricians, until the plebeians, the common citizens, won rights in the Conflict of the Orders. The Republic's system of checks, laws and civic duty influenced later thinkers including Machiavelli and the authors of the American Constitution. It lasted nearly five centuries.
Before and after
- 525 BCEBirth of Aeschylus
- from 525 BCE to 404 BCETwenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt
- c. 520 BCECarving of the Behistun inscription
- from c. 510 BCE to 323 BCEClassical Greece
- c. 510 BCEThe Roman Republic is founded
- from 509 BCE to 27 BCERoman Republic
- 509 BCEOrigins of Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus
- c. 509 BCECleisthenes lays the foundations of Athenian democracy
- 6th century BCEConstruction of Parthenon
More in Wars, politics & history
- 587 BCENebuchadnezzar destroys Jerusalem and the First Temple
- from 218 BCE to 201 BCESecond Punic War
- 203 BCEScipio defeats Hannibal at Zama
- 43 CERome invades Britain
- 293 CEDiocletian establishes the Tetrarchy
- 17 January 395 CEThe Roman Empire is permanently divided
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 6th century BCE.