Lucius Brutus

Lucius Junius Brutus — the founder of the Roman Republic — who led the uprising against Tarquinius Superbus after the rape of Lucretia, drove out the kings, and established the consulship, becoming Rome's first consul — and who later executed his own sons when they conspired to restore the monarchy.

Represents the extreme of republican virtue — Lucius Brutus executed his own sons for treason against the Republic — demonstrating that the founding act of republican politics requires the subordination of personal bonds to political principle, a sacrifice that haunts the later history of Roman republicanism.