father-in-law. And his rule was at best a muddle, and his act against the daughter of Brutus manifestly
unjust. Not god nor man could complain at his downfall.
But what followed was a travesty. Instead of replacing Tarquin with Brutus, or any other man of
worth and blood, instead they overthrew the principle of monarchy and unity, replacing it with
division, yearly contention, endless arcane gabbling about this man's authority and that man's
imperium, ever placing the needs of the state under their own wish to display a momentary,
incremental superiority over others of their rank. It is a dullness beyond measure, even for me.
It is simple, really. A republic is supposed to exist for liberty. Yet a republic is a means of ruling
over others, which denies liberty. Hence a republic is absurd.
Yet this is not all. For the Senators knew, knew in their bones the error of their choice. They
knew that their system of Senates and Assemblies and magistracies would be ultimately insufficient to
protect the state. They knew that true government, government that survives, does so on the principle
of singularity, of unity. Hence the existence of dictators.
An emergency clause, of course. In time of need, of course. Yet the admission of it! When a king
faces an emergency, he does not cease to be king. He may appoint new officers and grant them duties
to please his will, but the crown remains his. A king who handed off power when the state most
needed his direction would deserve to be overthrown and fed to pigs. How can a mere Senate hand
this power off and then demand it's return?
No, the Famous Founders of the Famous Families knew that this Republic of fear was too weak
to defend itself. Sooner or later, the need for monarchy - for one man to take upon himself the
godhood of the state, if you will - asserts itself. Before, this assertion, there is the illusion of liberty.
After this assertion the order of monarchy. But during the assertion, chaos and absurdity.
The comedies of my reign are the fruit of this absurdity. I have related the affairs of the
unfortunate Potitius and Secundus - men who sought to be rewarded for not doing what they vowed