In the Roman civilization, which lasted for more than 1000 years, such situations forced women to do things they did not want, and unfortunately, the laws were not on their side. On top of that, women often had to deal with punishments they did not deserve.
So, how were Ancient Roman women affected by these events?
Let’s start with the Sabine women first.
Some historians see the abuse of Sabine women as a turning point in the development of Roman imperialism. Author Titus Livius, generally known by the nickname Livy, is one of the prominent history writers of the period, and we witness what happened to the Sabine women thanks to the works he wrote.
Rome was populated only by men during the reign of Romulus, and Livy states that this ruler wanted to bring women from a neighboring tribe to Rome to live with the men.
However, the tribes were not keen on this idea, and Romulus invited all neighboring nations to the games he organized in honor of Neptune. During this event, Roman men launched a sexual assault against the Sabine women, and the Sabine women’s fathers intervened to prevent bloodshed among the men for the sake of the women.
Another writer of the period, named Ovid, aimed to guide young men on how to approach love in one of his works.
Various methods of flirting with women in public settings were explained in this book. According to the author’s statements, women participating in festivals were easy targets. In this book, Ovid advised his male readers to choose their targets from afar as if they were an eagle.
The author did not stop there and narrated the abduction of the Sabine women by the first Romans, in parallel with his own thoughts. In short, in this way, Roman men’s behavior towards women became supported for them to pursue their sexual desires.
Again, according to the sources cited by the writer Livy, the rape of Lucretia was not much different from the story of the Sabine women.
A group of young soldiers, including Sextus Tarquinius, the son of the Etruscan ruler, decided one evening to compare who had a more morally upright wife. Lucretia’s husband also claimed that his wife would triumph in this race.
Hearing this claim, the young soldiers went home to see what their wives were doing while they were away. The men who went to their homes saw their wives with other men, but Lucretia was spinning with her slave girls.
However, Tarquinius, the son of the Etruscan ruler, was passionate about Lucretia and sneaked into this young woman’s room, threatening her with a dagger. Lucretia would either be with Tarquinius or die. Unable to bear this humiliation any longer, Lucretia committed suicide.
What happened in Ancient Rome was not limited to these.
At the beginning of the Republican era, an aristocrat named Appius Claudius tried to sexually assault a young woman named Virginia. Virginia managed to escape Appius’ first attack, but with some cunning, Appius managed to get what he wanted by making Virginia guilty before the judge.
Many people who were aware of Virginia’s situation were quite angry, and many reforms made after this event through Virginia contributed greatly to the expansion of the freedoms of the common people. In this way, Virginia became a symbol of independence for the Romans, just like Lucretia.
Of course, sexual assault laws were not absent during this period.
Stupidum rules were introduced by the first emperor Augustus to punish illegal sexual behavior and assault. Under these rules, sexual activity between a man and a prostitute was legal, but sex between a man and a widow or virgin noblewoman was not.
Additionally, the perpetrator of rape could be considered guilty under the law of violence or crime. Women who were sexually assaulted could not file a complaint for themselves, instead the responsibility fell on the women’s husbands and fathers. Additionally, the punishment of those convicted of rape varied depending on the level of the crime.
Emperor Constantine, who reigned between 306 and 337 AD, made changes in the law that would negatively affect virgins regarding rape.
The laws made a distinction between those who were uncomfortable with being raped and those who supported sexual intercourse with anyone. If a virgin woman was found having sexual intercourse with someone, she would be burned to death. If this person was disturbed and in a situation beyond his control, he would be sentenced to lighter punishment.
Fortunately, about 200 years later, during the reign of Justinian, such cruel approaches ended and new laws were enacted. One of these laws; It was stated that women who were raped would not be held responsible for this incident.
In summary, it is possible to see that the society was doomed to a great deal of inequality in the sexual attacks against women in Ancient Rome. At that time, the complaints of the women in question were rarely taken into account and justice was very difficult to achieve.
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