Imagine living in ancient Italy. There, the king was all-powerful. Life might be fine if the king was a wise and good person.
But what if a selfish and greedy man became king? What if the king simply didn’t know how to rule well? If the king didn’t treat people fairly, what could you do?
According to Roman historians, the third Etruscan king, Tarquinius Superbus, was not a good ruler. In this way, he was not like the earlier kings. He did not listen to the Senate. (The Senate was the group of men who were supposed to give the king advice.) Tarquinius and his sons treated the Roman people very badly. The people suffered under his rule for 25 years. Then they were ready to rise up.
