BRUTUS2. Lucius Junius Brutus, founder of the Roman republic, was consul in 509 B.C. In that year he expelled the Tarquins after Sextus Tarquinius, son of Superbus, raped Lucretia (Cicero, De officiis III).
The illustrious Romans, Brutus and Cato, have not survived their fame, Bo II, Metr 7. Brutus swears to drive out the Tarquins after Lucrece's death, LGW 1862. Chaucer's sources are Livy, Ab urbe condita liber I.57-129, and Ovid, Fasti II.685-852, mentioned in LGW 1683. [Colatyn: Lucrece: Tarquinius: Tarquinius Superbus]