Autocrat- A Roman History Podcast
Sep 27, 2026 · 22 min · 10 segments
Murder! Patricide! Carriage-based violence and political coups! It's all happening on Autocrat today. Lucius Tarquinius, eldest son of king Priscus, finally decides he's had enough of living in the…
Servius had a good grip on power late in his rule, but wanted to make it stronger.
Right.
I'm guessing his family's involved in some way with this.
Potentially.
They've grown up by this time, fairly obviously, since more than, you know, four decades have passed.
Yeah, they'd be like, what, in their late 50s now? Roughly.
There were two of these sons.
The elder was Lucius, although he may also have been a grandson.
Yeah.
The younger was called Arens.
Now, Lucius was spreading gossip about Servius Tullius never having been voted in, and so his kingship being invalid.
Oh dear.
So he held a vote and won overwhelmingly.
This did not daunt Lucius.
I mean, that's quite nice, seeing as...
I mean, my wording is a little unclear there, it turns out.
This means that Servius held a vote and then won overwhelmingly, essentially going, oh yeah, I'll show you, Lucius.
In fact, Lucius' ambition only swelled.
Uh-oh.
Dio says that the younger brother, Arens by name, was angry but took it on the chin.
The elder brother Lucius did not.
Lucius felt backed up by the fact that Servius redistributing land had not been approved of or popular with the Senate, something Lucius could use to his advantage.
I imagine Lucius with long blonde hair, I'm not sure why.
Servius had a good grip on power late in his rule, but wanted to make it stronger.
Right.
I'm guessing his family's involved in some way with this.
Potentially.
They've grown up by this time, fairly obviously, since more than, you know, four decades have passed.
Yeah, they'd be like, what, in their late 50s now? Roughly.
There were two of these sons.
The elder was Lucius, although he may also have been a grandson.
Yeah.
The younger was called Arens.
Now, Lucius was spreading gossip about Servius Tullius never having been voted in, and so his kingship being invalid.
Oh dear.
So he held a vote and won overwhelmingly.
This did not daunt Lucius.
I mean, that's quite nice, seeing as...
I mean, my wording is a little unclear there, it turns out.
This means that Servius held a vote and then won overwhelmingly, essentially going, oh yeah, I'll show you, Lucius.
In fact, Lucius' ambition only swelled.
Uh-oh.
Dio says that the younger brother, Arens by name, was angry but took it on the chin.
The elder brother Lucius did not.
Lucius felt backed up by the fact that Servius redistributing land had not been approved of or popular with the Senate, something Lucius could use to his advantage.
I imagine Lucius with long blonde hair, I'm not sure why.
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