husband of Lucretia, Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, together with Tarquin the Proud's nephew, Lucius Junius Brutus, mustered support from the Senate and Roman army and forced the former monarch into exile to Etruria. After this incident, the Senate agreed to abolish kingship. In turn, most of the former functions of the king were transferred to two separate consuls. These consuls were elected to office for a term of one year; each was capable of acting as a "check" on his colleague (if necessary) through the power of veto that the former kings had held. Furthermore, if a consul were to abuse his powers in office, he could be prosecuted when his term expired. Lucius Junius Brutus and Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus became first consuls of the Roman Republic (despite Collatinus' role in the creation of the Republic, he belonged to the same family as the former king and thus was forced to abdicate his office and leave Rome. He thereafter was replaced as co-consul by Publius Valerius Publicola.) Most modern scholarship describes these events as the quasi-mythological detailing of an aristocratic coup within Tarquin's own family, not a popular revolution. They fit a narrative of a personal vengeance against a tyrant leading to his overthrow, which was common among Greek cities, and such a pattern of political vengeance was theorized by Aristotle. Rome in Latium Early campaigns According to Rome's traditional histories, Tarquin made several attempts to retake the throne, including the Tarquinian conspiracy, which involved Brutus' own sons, the war with Veii and Tarquinii and finally the war between Rome and Clusium; but none succeeded. The first Roman republican wars were wars of both expansion and defence, aimed at protecting Rome itself from neighbouring cities and nations and establishing its territory in the region. Initially, Rome's immediate neighbours were either Latin towns and villages, or else tribal Sabines from the Apennine hills beyond. One by one Rome defeated both the persistent Sabines and the local cities, both those under Etruscan control and those that had cast off their Etruscan rulers. Rome defeated its rival Latin cities in the Battle of Lake Regillus in 496 BC, the Battle of Ariccia in 495 BC, the Battle of Mount Algidus in 458 BC, and the Battle of Corbio in 446 BC. However it suffered a significant defeat at the Battle of the Cremera in 477 BC wherein it fought against the most important Etruscan