Demaratus the Corinthian

Demaratus the Corinthian

Demaratus the Corinthian was the father of Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth King of Rome and the grandfather (or great grandfather) of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king.

Life

He was a Corinthian nobleman of the House of Bacchis who fled charges of sedition in Corinth, to Italy in 655 B.C. Demaratus settled in the Etruscan city of Tarquinii and married an Etruscan noblewoman from Tarquinii. They had two sons, Lucumo and Aruns. Aruns died before his father, Demaratus, and left a pregnant wife. Demaratus (who died soon afterwards and not knowing he had a future grandchild) left nothing for him in his inheritance. His name was Egerius ("The Needy One"), on account of his poverty since he inherited nothing. Egerius was the father to Tarquinius Collatinus, the husband to Lucretia. Demaratus' son, Lucumo, inherited his entire fortune.

When Demaratus migrated to Western mainland Italy, he took all of his wealth and introduced Greek culture[citation needed] and Greek pottery. He supposedly brought potters with him from Corinth. These potters were responsible for the development of Greek pottery in Western mainland Italy.[citation needed] There were Greek potters in Tarquinii and in the Greek trading post of Gravisca. According to the Greek traveller Pausanias, it was either his son or grandson who was the first foreigner to visit Olympia and make a dedication.

According to Tacitus, he taught the Etruscans literacy.

External links

Bibliography

A Blakeway, "Demaratos" Journal of Hellenic Studies 1939, pp. 129ff.

Sources

  • Pausanias, Guide to Greece, tr. P. Levi, Penguin, 1979.
  • Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome, tr. M. Grant, Penguin, 1996.
  • Morkot, R., The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece, Penguin, 1996.
  • Livy, Ab urbe condita, 1:34

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