ch. 591.59 [Note] Whilst they were absorbed in grief, Brutus
drew the knife from Lucretia's wound and holding it, dripping with blood, in front of him,
said, By this blood - most pure before the outrage wrought by the king's son—I swear,
and you, 0 gods, I call to witness that I will drive hence Lucius Tarquinius Superbus,
together with his cursed wife and his whole brood, with fire and sword and every means in
my power, and I will not suffer them or any one else to reign in Rome. Then he handed
the knife to Collatinus and then to Lucretius and Valerius, who were all astounded at the
marvel of the thing, wondering whence Brutus had acquired this new character. They
swore as they were directed; all their grief changed to wrath, and they followed the lead of
Brutus, who summoned them to abolish the monarchy forthwith. They carried the body of
Lucretia from her home down to the Forum, where, owing to the unheard-of atrocity of the
crime, they at once collected a crowd. Each had his own complaint to make of the
wickedness and violence of the royal house. Whilst all were moved by the father's deep
distress, Brutus bade them stop their tears and idle laments, and urged them to act as men
and Romans and take up arms against their insolent foes. All the high-spirited amongst the
younger
men came forward as armed volunteers, the rest followed their, example. A portion
of this body was left to hold Collatia, and guards were stationed at the gates to prevent any
news of the movement from reaching the king; the rest marched in arms to Rome with
Brutus in command. On their, arrival, the sight of so many men in arms spread panic and
confusion wherever they marched, but when again the people saw that the foremost men of
the State were leading the way, they realised that what-ever the movement was it was a
serious one. The terrible occurrence created no less excitement in Rome than it had done in
Collatia; there was a rush from all quarters of the City to the Forum. When they had
gathered there, the herald summoned them to attend the Tribune of the Celeres; this was
the office which Brutus happened at the time to be holding. He made a speech quite out of
keeping with the character and temper he had up to that day assumed. He dwelt upon the
brutality and licentiousness of Sextus Tarquin, the infamous outrage on Lucretia and her
pitiful death, the bereavement sustained by her, father, Tricipitinus, to whom the cause of
his daughter's death was more shameful and distressing than the actual death itself. Then
he dwelt on the tyranny of the king, the toils and sufferings of the plebeians kept
underground clearing out ditches and sewers—Roman men, conquerors of all the
surrounding nations , turned from warriors into artisans and stonemasons! He reminded
them of the shameful murder of Servius Tullius and his daughter driving in her accursed
chariot over her father's body, and solemnly invoked the gods as the avengers of murdered
parents. By enumerating these and, I believe, other still more atrocious incidents which his
keen sense of the present injustice suggested, but which it is not easy to give in detail, he
goaded on the incensed multitude to strip the king of his sovereignty and pronounce a
sentence of banishment against Tarquin with his wife and children. With a picked body of
the Juniors, who volunteered to follow him, he went off to the camp at Ardea to incite the
army against the king, leaving the command in the City to Lucretius, who had previously
been made Prefect of the City by the king. During the commotion Tullia fled from the
palace amidst the execrations of all whom she met, men and women alike invoking against
her father's avenging spirit.
