In Titus Livius’ The Early History of Rome, Livy recollects infamous incidents throughout Rome’s history that helped develop the political and social values for the citizens in Rome. Livy was able to accomplish a didactic function of story-telling by craftily introducing two essential female heroines from Roman history. These two women were incredibly influential because they were able to help formulate and embodied many of the fundamental values in Rome. Some of the core Roman principles included: courageously facing death to uphold honour and valour, piety and chastity among its people, and banding together against tyrannical kings or individuals of immoral ethics; all deeply revered elements of an individual’s character that were praised by the Romans. In both of Livy’s tale about the female heroics of Lucretia and Verginia, the similar story elements and circumstances found in both heroines stories are astounding. The rape, and subsequent deaths of both Lucretia and Verginia ultimately helped unite the common people of Rome, created social and moral expectations of all women living in Rome, and represented the romanticized Roman idea of bravely facing death to retain or restore an individuals honour and reputation in Roman society. Without the significant sacrifices from both of these noble, heroic women, many of the traditional Roman values during this period in history, and even in today’s society, would be unfounded.
In Livy’s retelling of Roman history, both the accounts of Lucretia and Verginia’s tales are exceedingly similar. Both unfortunate women are forced to faced and endure similar adversaries in their short lives. Despite the many years in history that separate the two women from one another, the death of Lucreti...
... middle of paper ...
...ughters. Both women become a representation of the ideal women in Roman society. Both Lucretia and Verginia placed the value of their own reputation in Roman society and honour of their family before their own lives. They symbolized the tragedy that can befallen good individuals when immoral men who placed their own desires above those of their fellow citizens or duty to their city. Without the heroics of Lucretia and Verginia many of the principle traditional values of Romans would be not possible. These contributions prove that even the smallest actions of a single individual can have some of most drastic and the largest repercussions and influence in changing and forming the function and traditional of an entire empire as great as Rome.
Works Cited
Livius, Titus. The Early History of Rome. Trans. Aubrey De Sélincourt. London: Penguin Group, 2002. N. pag. Print.
In contrast to the publicity spin of today’s tabloids, ‘losers attract notoriety,’ (Fear, 2008, p, 6) Roman society was no different with one’s reputation of paramount importance and continually defended. Antony and Cleopatra’s union was ammunition for Octavian and propaganda used against the couple in their pursuing battle of Actium. (Fear, 2008, p.7.)
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
Lucretia and Dido are both viewed as ideal Roman women. The story of Lucretia is found in Livy’s Early History of Rome, while Dido is written about in The Aeneid by Virgil. By looking at Roman values, the story of Lucretia, the story of Dido, their similarities and differences, a background of Livy and Virgil, as well as the similarities and differences of Virgil and Livy’s views toward them, Dido and Lucretia can be seen as exemplary Roman women.
The book then talks about viewpoints of women, both real and those who face tragedy. Women during this time were very secluded and silent, but the heroines contradicted that. This chapter talks about the images of women in the classical literature in Athens, and the role they had in society. Many tragedies were ones that formed by mythes during the Bronze Age. It showed the separation in what made women heroic, rather than average. While viewing other Scholarly sourcese, Pomerory writes her own theory, she used others
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.
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.
Lefkowitz, Mary R., and Maureen B. Fant. Women's Life in Greece and Rome. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 2005.
Livius, Titus. The Early History of Rome. Trans. Aubrey De Sélincourt. London: Penguin Group, 2002. N. pag. Print.
Lefkowitz, Mary F. and Fant, Maureen. Women in Greece & Rome. Toronto/Sarasota: Samuel-Stevens. 1977. Print
In general, there are many characteristics that could represent the image of an ideal woman. According to Livy, the qualities or behavior that make Lucretia an ideal Roman woman are being young and vigorous. She behaves quite differently from the daughter-in-law of the King (Livy). For example, “even though it was night, Lucretia was still working on her spinning, with her servants, in the middle of her house” (Livy). This shows that, she is a hard working person and does not like to rely on others to do the work for her.
Any examination of women in Livy’s writing demands not only a literal interpretation of their character development and values, but also must account for their symbolic importance—thus creating a much more complex representation. Livy, an ancient historian, authored The Early History of Rome to be an exploration of Rome from its foundation, focusing on historical events and societal organization. In it, he examines the patriarchal society that stabilized Rome throughout its dominance. However, as a result of this explicitly defined hierarchy in Rome, women were seen as secondary figures in society. Most were viewed as submissive and passive, and it was well within the rights of men to assert their dominance—many women even agreed with these values. This can be seen in Livy’s portrayals of such women as the Sabine women, Horatia, and Lucretia. Yet Lucretia provides an interesting complexity to the exempla of women. On a symbolic level, Lucretia is an important catalyst in affecting the political organization of Rome. This representation is furthered with Livy’s descriptions of Lavinia, Rhea Silvia, and Verginia. Despite the work of Livy to create an accurate portrayal of women in ancient Rome, other authors showed women to actively defy this patriarchal society he describes. However, Livy’s effort to create the most accurate explanation of early Rome through a historical representation drives this discrepancy in characterization through genre. Therefore, Livy’s work serves as both an accurate and complex examination of the role of women in ancient Rome. According to Livy, a woman’s role was defined by her sacrifice; culturally, women were to be subordinate to men in the patriarchal structure of society, but also served as important...
Marcel Le Glay, Jean-Louis Voisin, Yann Le Bohec. A History of Rome. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.
The ancient Roman tale known as the “Rape (or seizure) of Sabine Women” depicts women, taken against their will by Roman captures and married to Roman men. These women later, intervene in a battle between their new husbands and their angry brothers and fathers. The ancient tale depicts Roman ideology and practices of marriage. It shows how a bride was transferred from living under her father’s jurisdiction to being ruled by her husband. The capture of the Sabine women, the war that follows, and the final truce brought upon the Sabine women themselves are direct relation to the separation of a young bride from her maternal family, the transfer of authority, and her beginning in her new family. The tale is told by two philosophical figures of Roman history. Livy, whom writes about the events in 30 B.C.E and Ovid whom rights about them nearly a generation later1. Both have different views on the event, its meaning, and its relevance. The two men also share the same thoughts in regards to their view masculinity and power.
Perhaps the most shocking part of the story was when Lucretia felt so overwhelmed with guilt, that she took her own life (58). This event is particularly shocking due to the fact that her guilt arose from being raped. Lucretia felt as though she should be chastised for being raped. This brings to light the fact that women in Roman society were consumed with the thought that their self-worth depended solely upon being virtuous to their husbands. Lucretia questioned how she would live the rest of her life as a woman who “lost her honor” (58). She didn’t feel as though her life was worth living anymore, now that her body was “greatly soiled” (58.) Without her virtue, she saw herself as no longer valuable. In today’s society, one of the first things that is made clear to rape victims is the fact that they are in no way, shape, or form to blame for what happened to them. This goes to show the change in the role of women throughout
From the expansion days of Ancient Rome to the fall of the Roman Empire, women have always succumbed to living subjacent to the status of their omnipotent and dominant male figures. After leaving her childhood home and the rule of her father, a young Roman girl would then be coerced into the dominion of her husband, often taking a plethora of roles, ranging from lover, caretaker, and best friend. It is often lightheartedly stated that, “Behind every great man is an even greater woman,” and William Shakespeare exemplifies this concept beautifully in Julius Caesar, in which he effectively used the spouses of the two main characters to add more depth, drama, and literary elements to the play, bringing it to life. Although the only two female characters in Julius Caesar, Portia and Calpurnia do not play a pivotal role in the overall plot of the story, their presence is vital in illuminating and developing the characters of their husbands, Brutus and Caesar. What they reveal about their husbands leads the reader to infer that Portia is the more admirable and redeeming character.