Collatinus and Brutus led the overthrow of Sextus’s father and exiled the Tarquins from Rome.
Lucretia’s rape was also the impetus of political revolution in Rome.
It is evident she herself prefers to die before being seen as a role model to unchaste women. Just before committing suicide, she urged the men to decide Sextus’ fate. Lucretia reveals a knife she hid under her dress and thrusts it into her chest out of shame as Collatinus, her father, and their companion named Junius Brutus bear witness.
#Collatinus and lucretia free#
She admits that although her heart does not hold any guilt, and that she absolves herself of blame from the rape, she still cannot free herself from punishment. In the end though, Lucretia deeply fears that her virtue has been “ruined” by Sextus and does not wish to be an “impure” example to Roman wives. They reassure her that “it is the mind that sins, not the body.” 3 This part of the story is particularly interesting as it challenges the norms in Roman society by unexpectedly diverting blame onto the perpetrator rather than the victim who was raped. All of the men are enraged by Sextus’ actions. Sextus then rapes her.Īfterwards, Lucretia, frightened and upset, sends a message to her father and Collatinus to return home with trusted companions so that she can recount all of this. A knife in one hand, Sextus holds her down while clasping onto her breast with the other, and threatens her to comply with his wishes, otherwise he would lay the dead naked body of a male slave next to her corpse and frame her for adulterous acts. Late into the night, he enters Lucretia’s room while she is asleep. His motives unsuspected, Sextus is welcomed to dinner in their home and is provided guest chambers for his seemingly innocuous visit. Sextus, intrigued by her beauty, is “seized by wicked desire” 2 to conquer her modesty.Ī few days later, he returns to Collatia again, this time without Collatinus. Lucretia wins “the prize of this contest in womanly virtues” 1 for her devotion to her husband and home. This alone is meant to portray her legacy as a woman of the utmost chastity and virtue. Upon entering, Lucretia is seen weaving wool by herself by the lamplight with only the company of slave girls, unlike the other wives who had spent their night mingling and drinking with each other. They mount their horses and head to Collatia, a Roman town governed by Collatinus, and into the quarters where Lucretia resides. The men drunkenly argue on the subject of wives, each man praising his own, and Collatinus decides that the mere sight of his wife at such late hours would put an end to the debate altogether. The story begins with Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, Lucretia’s husband, and his companions drinking at the house of Sextus Tarquinius, son of the king Tarquinius Superbus, one night. Livy narrates the events leading up to the climax of her rape, as well as the aftermath and her impact on the founding of the republic. In Book 1 of Ab Urbe Condita, “From the Founding of the City,” Titus Livius, or Livy, a Roman historian whose works are largely viewed as reliable historical sources, recounts Lucretia’s story. Subsequently, Roman society encouraged women, and especially young girls, to view her as a matron for model behavior.Īs the victim of the story, the glorification of Lucretia’s story after her death reveals deeper insight into the sexist roles women were expected to conform to in ancient Rome. Gaining popularity immediately after her death, Lucretia became a legendary symbol of beauty, virtue, and chastity. It was narrated and criticized in several different versions of works by prolific Roman writers such as Livy, Ovid, and Dionysius. The story of Lucretia is a mythological and historical tale that has survived since the early origins of Roman history, over two thousand years since its believed origins in 509 BCE. Roman myths, passed down for generations, outlived their society and continue to echo off the tongues of modern storytellers. It’s no secret the Romans were excellent storytellers the proof is longevity. The birth of the Roman Republic, which would soon transform into a vast empire with a monumental legacy, has brutal origins all beginning with a rape victim.