When Did the Roman Republic Begin?

Around 509 BC, Roman aristocrats led a revolt against Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud), the seventh and last king of Rome, reportedly provoked by the king tyrannical behaviour and the assault on Lucretia by his son. The monarchy was abolished and replaced with a republic governed by two annually elected consuls and a Senate of patrician elders. The Republic endured for nearly five centuries, expanding from a city-state to dominate the Mediterranean. It ended with the rise of Julius Caesar as dictator perpetuo (44 BC) and the transition to the Roman Empire under Augustus in 27 BC. The Republic ideals of elected governance deeply influenced later democratic systems.