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The Role of Women in Ancient Rome
Political roles for women in ancient Rome
Political roles for women in ancient Rome
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The time is the sixth century, the place is Rome and the person is Lucretia, a woman who contributed to one of the biggest parts of Roman history: the creation of the Roman republic. The rape of the virtuous Lucretia by Sextus Tarquinius, the son of Tarquinius Superbus' (an Etruscan king) was the final straw for the Roman people and pushed them to want to change from a monarchy to a republic. From the accounts of the rape of Lucretia from ancient historians like Livy, Cicero and Dionysius, it is clear that Lucretias rape not only spurred the roman people to want to get rid of the Etruscan King and his family, but also revealed the important role of virtue in women in roman society. There is no doubt that Lucretia, the wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus who was the son of Arruns Tarquinius, was a virtuous woman. This is evident through Cicero who describes her as a 'noble and chaste woman' (Cicero 100), Dionysius who describes her as a woman who 'excelled all the women in beauty as well as in virtue' (Dionysius, Book IV 64) and finally through Livy who explains how she 'won the contest of womanly virtue' (Livy, Book 1, 100). It was this contest that 'kindled in Sextus Tarquinius the flame of lust' (Livy 101) and it was started by Lucretias own husband, Collatinus, during a drunken dinner party in the quarters of Sextus. The contest was between all of the men present at the party and its purpose was to discover who had the most virtuous wife out of all of them. Collatinus, who was very drunk and therefore overly confident, declared that none of the other men's wives could beat the 'incomparable superiority of my Lucretia' (Livy 100). The men decided to participate in Collatinus' contest and so all of them went back to Ro... ... middle of paper ... ...ublic. Works Cited 1) Langlands, Rebecca. Sexual Morality in Ancient Rome. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006. Print. 2) MacLachlan, Bonnie. Women in Ancient Rome: A Sourcebook. London: Bloomsbury, 2013. Print. 3)Gwynn, David M. The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. Print. 4)Rosenstein, Nathan Stewart., and Robert Morstein-Marx. A Companion to the Roman Republic. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2006. Print. 1)De, Selincourt Aubrey. Livy, the Early History of Rome: Book I - V of the History of Rome from Its Foundation. London: Penguin, 1960. Print. 2)Cicero, Marcus Tullius., George William Featherstonhaugh, and Anthony Imbert. The Republic of Cicero,. New-York:: Published by G. & C. Carvill, 108 Broadway., 1829. Print. 3)Dionysius, Earnest Cary, and Edward Spelman. The Roman Antiquities. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard UP, 1937. Print.
T.J. Cornell, The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome from the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (c. 1000-264 BC), London and New York: Routledge, 1995
Livy’s The Rise of Rome serves as the ultimate catalogue of Roman history, elaborating on the accomplishments of each king and set of consuls through the ages of its vast empire. In the first five books, Livy lays the groundwork for the history of Rome and sets forth a model for all of Rome to follow. For him, the “special and salutary benefit of the study of history is to behold evidence of every sort of behaviour set forth as on a splendid memorial; from it you may select for yourself and for your country what to emulate, from it what to avoid, whether basely begun or basely concluded.” (Livy 4). Livy, however, denies the general populace the right to make the same sort of conclusions that he made in constructing his histories. His biased representation of Romulus and Tarquin Superbus, two icons of Roman history, give the readers a definite model of what a Roman should be, instead of allowing them to come to their own conclusion.
Sherk, R. K., ‘Rome and the Greek East to the Age of Augustus. Translated documents of Greece and Rome 4’, A companion to Ancient History. UK: Blackwell Publishing, 1984. Print
Morey, William C. "Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 19." Forum Romanum. 1901. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. .
Livy. The Rise of Rome: Books One to Five. Trans. T. J. Luce. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
414-443. Antony Kamm The Romans: An Introduction Second Edition, Published in 2008, pages 47, 93. Dio Cassius Roman History (as presented in Antiquity 2). Augustus (Octavian) Res Gestae Divi Augusti (as presented in Antiquity 2). Eck, The Age of Augustus, p.45 (as presented in Antiquity 2).
Stone, Marla, ‘A Flexible Rome: Fascism and the cult of romanità.’ In Catharine Edwards (ed.) Roman Presences: Receptions of Rome in European Culture, 1789-1945 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), pp.205-220.
In Rape of Lucretia, Lucretia integrity is at risk, due to her being forced into unchastity by Sextus Tarquinius(58). During this time, having one unclean act carried out by a woman, could attach the reputation of performing such acts to her, and she herself can be used to represent shame. In Rape of Lucretia, Lucretia states that no women will use her as a dishonored example(58). She then commits suicide by stabbing herself (58). Here, Lucretia is trying to erase the corruption that her name may carry in Roman society. This will result in the Roman society not being able to use her as an example of a woman being unchaste. This in turn will keep the expectations of women, which is to not be unchaste with anyone besides her
... Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997. Hopkins, Keith. A. A. Death and Renewal: Sociological Studies in Roman History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983 Johnston, Harold Whetstone. The Private Life of the Romans.
Livy. The Early History of Rome: Books I-V of The History of Rome from its
Kleiner, Fred S. A History of Roman Art. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.
5. Lesley Adkins, Roy A Adkins, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, Oxford University Press, 1998. (pg. 304)
Grant, Michael the fall of the roman empire: a reappraisal, Radnor pa, Annenberg school of
Heather, Peter J. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. New York: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.
In Rape of Lucretia, Lucretia integrity is at risk, due to her being forced into unchastity by Sextus Tarquinius(58). During this time, having one unclean act carried out by a woman, could attach the reputation of performing such acts to her, and she herself can be used to represent shame. In Rape of Lucretia, Lucretia states that no women will use her as a dishonored example(58). She then commits suicide by stabbing herself (58). Here, Lucretia is trying to erase the corruption that her name may carry in Roman society. This will result in the Roman society not being able to use her as an example of a woman being unchaste. This in turn will keep the expectations of women, which is to not be unchaste with anyone besides her