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women of legend - rome, Livy - HISTROY OF ROME, however, Livy offers and…
women of legend - rome
the sabine women
however, the fathers did not want. to give their girls away when the future of Rome was so uncertain. so Romulus devised a plan.
there was a shortage of women and the. first generation was at risk of being the last. he went to neighbouring kingdoms to arrange marriages between citizens and theirs
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tarpeia
rome was protected by city walls and there would have blocked the sabine warriors, if it was not for a young roman girl called tarpeia
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he made one final plan to get the women back, by entering the city in secret to launch a surprise attack
whilst she was collecting water for a religious ritual, king Statius bribed her to give him entry to the city. she said she would let them in for exchange for what they had on their left hands.
although the sabine women were content, and romulus granted their parents roman citizenship too, the sabine king tatius was still angry
the men agreed, but rather than give her their jewellery, they crushed her to death with their shields
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despite the alternative reason, the romans called tarpeia a traitor and she was thrown to her death from the tarpeian rock
Lucretia
whilst the other wives were selfishly enjoying themselves, lucretia was weaving on her loom long into the night. this was as sign of obedience and hardworking, so they labelled her as the most virtuous. tired from their night of drinking, the men ate at the house of collations and lucretia
Livy first mentions that when some leading roman men were having a drinking party in her and collations' home and discussing their wives, each man said that their wife was the most virtuous. to settle this, they made a surprise visit to each wife
SEXTUS TARQUINIUS SUPERBUS was impressed by Lucretius beauty and virtue that he resolved to sleep with her
lucretia is a good example of female virtue and her story is told by Livy, THE HISTORY OF ROME
whilst collations was away, he returned to her house and after dinner, was shown to a guest bedroom.
she was married to collations, the son of a respected general and a distant relative of the current king Tarquinius Priscus
when she was asleep, he went into her room and held a knife against her and said if you don't stay silent he will not only kill her, but tell everyone that she had sex with a servant (very shameful) and then also kill the servant to make it look like he killed them because he caught them
despite the initial threats to her life, she still refused to have sex with him. this shows her pudicitia
many generations after romulus founded rome, there was a patrician woman called Lucretia.
the only way. he was able to make her give in was when he threatened her reputation. it would have been very shameful to have se with a slave
lucretia sent messages to her husband and father immediately after sextus Tarquinius had left telling them to come straight away
when they arrived, each with a trusted friend (so they could defend her in court), she told them she cannot live with the fact that her reputation would suffer even though she was innocent and couldn't bear the thought of being an excuse for future unchaste women to live despite their lack of. pudicitia, so she killed herself. the men then swore an oath to get revenge and raised an army against the king which sent him and his family into exile
Livy - HISTROY OF ROME
when the formal part if the festival was about to being, romulus gave a signal and the roman men seized and carried off lots of sabine women.
when the sabine women got back to their new roman 'husbands' homes, they were very angry and said the men had broken the bond of hospitality between the romans and sabines
romulus sent invitations to neighbouring towns to attend a festival. a large number of sabines attended the celebration.
to calm the women, he said they could now all enjoy the privileges of a roman citizenship, and so would their children.
the men also spoke loving words to their wives to soothe them (Livy suggests that to win women over, they will be swayed by flattery, not logic and reason)
however, Livy offers and alternative
in this version, tarpeia can be seen as a heroine instead of a traitor because she knew she had no way of stopping them from invading, so instead tries to make them weaker by taking away they shields
he says that others say when she asked for what was in their left hands, she was asking for their shields so they wouldn't have any defence
after the sabines entered the city, a fierce battle started
said that they were the cause of war and it would be better to die than to live as widows or orphans
they put an end to the fighting which is very important be cause is shows women had an impact on government by influencing they male relatives and also shows the vital role women played in politics through marriage :!:
arrived to the battlefield in 'torn clothes and streaming hair' - burial ritual which suggests that they would have to mourn for either their husbands or fathers
however, the sabine women intervened and made their way to the centre of the battlefield and pleaded with their husbands and fathers to stop their fighting
manly?
although lucretia is seen as an example of great womanly vine, she shows some manly qualities - her suicide would have been seen as manly to a roman audience because women would kill themselves with poison of by hanging, and using a sword or a knife and dying a bloody death was something a man would do.
pudicitia - the roman idea of sexual modesty shown through a woman chastity to her husband, but also by how she behaved in public and by dressing modestly