ABSTRACT
These words may be the earliest allusion to Julia and the disgrace imposed upon her by her angry father. Here Ovid is actually retelling Livy’s story of the wicked daughter of a much earlier ruler, Rome’s second king, Servius Tullius. Livy reports in his extended narrative of the conspiracy against Servius (1.46-8), and Ovid implies that this Tullia was originally married to the more virtuous son of Tarquinius Priscus, whereas her virtuous sister was wife of the wicked son, Lucius Tarquinius. Livy’s wicked Tullia takes the initiative in instigating the murders of her husband and sister so that she can marry Lucius, and Ovid begins his account after the murders, quoting Tullia’s words as she drives him to seize power by murdering Servius: ‘Crime is royal business. Seize power by killing your father-in-law and dip our hands in my father’s blood’ (Fasti 6.595-6).
