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【collation】
The census didn’t create equality or democracy. Rome remained a society governed by kings and nobles. Women had few rights. But it created a level of organization unheard of in the ancient world. No man did more for Rome than the Etruscan king Servius. His reforms laid the foundations for Rome’s greatest achievement: the creation of the republic. But like so many Roman rulers he was brought down by treachery and intrigue. The king’s own daughter wanted her husband Tarquin on the throne. Her henchmen knew how to get him there. And after they murdered the great king, power and paranoia went hand in hand in Rome. For almost 2 centuries Rome had been ruled by Etruscan kings and Etruscan nobility. Under Servius, things had gone well. Under Tarquin, his successor, brutality and decadence flourished. While he and his relatives devoted themselves to pleasure, their henchmen carried out campaigns of political murder to remove any and all opposition. Romans were beginning to hate everything the Etruscans stood for. Resentment smouldered. A woman called Lucretia was the spark that would set it on fire. She was well loved and highly regarded for her kindness, beauty and loyalty. She represented everything Romans felt they had and the Etruscans didn’t: honor, virtue, bravery. One day the king's son and some of his Etruscan nobles were on a journey away from Rome. Drunk, they decided to creep back into the city and spy on the most beautiful women to see what they were up to. They found their own wives as expected, partying. They found Lucretia hard at work.
Because this was an indication of good virtuous matronly behavior. Right, right...This is how Roman women should behave. They should not be sleeping with 300 members of the Senate, like Augustus’s daughter allegedly did. They are not supposed to be poisoning members of their family as Livia allegedly did. They are supposed to be producing cloth.
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