Lucretia, The legend states that Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome, sent his son Sextus on a military errand for his father. While away from home he stayed with the Roman governor Lucius Tarquinius Collantinus, also son of the King’s nephew and his wife Lucretia, the daughter of a well-known perfect of Rome. After a night of drinking the two men Lucius and Sextus decided to check up on Lucretia to settle a debate. After the men fell asleep that night Sextus snuck into the bedroom of Lucretia and raped her. The next day, Lucretia put on clothes of morning and visited her father, with his audience she told him about the rape and then asked for a promise of vengeance, after which she stabbed herself in the heart. Her death sparked the revolution that took Rome from a kingdom to a republic because her father and husband were both politically powerful and their new attack on the king’s son was seen as an end of monarchy tyranny. Here Lucretia is seen just before she takes her life with her dagger. She is dressed in black, looking down in sadness.

Lucretia, The legend states that Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome, sent his son Sextus on a military errand for his father. While away from home he stayed with the Roman governor Lucius Tarquinius Collantinus, also son of the King’s nephew and his wife Lucretia, the daughter of a well-known perfect of Rome. After a night of drinking the two men Lucius and Sextus decided to check up on Lucretia to settle a debate. After the men fell asleep that night Sextus snuck into the bedroom of Lucretia and raped her. The next day, Lucretia put on clothes of morning and visited her father, with his audience she told him about the rape and then asked for a promise of vengeance, after which she stabbed herself in the heart. Her death sparked the revolution that took Rome from a kingdom to a republic because her father and husband were both politically powerful and their new attack on the king’s son was seen as an end of monarchy tyranny. Here Lucretia is seen just before she takes her life with her dagger. She is dressed in black, looking down in sadness., spc-mss0088-s22-i0601, Box: 226A. Contini-Volterra Photographic Archive, MSS.0088. Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives. https://collections.library.vanderbilt.edu//repositories/2/archival_objects/592332 Accessed July 31, 2026.