Lucretia and her servants invited the young man in and gave him supper and conducted him to the guest chamber. Two days later, Sextus Tarquinius returned to the house of Collatinus, accompanied by just one servant. Unfortunately, Sextus, the youngest son of King Tarquin became obsessed with Lucretia and overwhelmed by lust for her. Lucretia invited her husband and his companions in and prepared supper for them. All were forced to concede that Lucretia was, by far, the most virtuous among their wives. Home they found Lucretia working her wool with her maid servants. They rode off to visit each of the wives in turn and found that each of the wives was engaged in feasting and lavish entertainments. Collatinus claimed that none of the other wives could possibly surpass in virtue his own wife Lucretia, and that if they wanted to be sure of the matter they could go in a group and visit each of the wives in turn and see what each was doing in the absence of her husband.
Each claimed that his own wife was the most worthy and virtuous. The young men fell to boasting about their wives. The sons and their companions were feasting and drinking one afternoon in the tent of the youngest son Sextus during the siege of Ardea, A cousin, Collatinus Tarquinius had been invited to the feast. Tarquin and his wife had three sons, Lucius, Aruns and Sextus. The war effort had gotten bogged down in siege and the soldiers had little with which to occupy themselves.
He hoped that the wealth gained by conquering Ardea would replenish his treasury and appease his restive subjects. He had depleted his treasury by sponsoring numerous public works, including a number of temples and the Cloaca Maximus-the great sewer system of ancient Rome. Toward the end of his reign he decided to take the city of Ardea, possessed by the very wealthy Rutilians. Tarquin was fairly successful in the wars he undertook with the Volci and other local tribes. His sister’s younger son, Junius Brutus escaped a similar fate by pretending to be a fool and declining to amass any wealth. He killed the son of his own sister Tarquinia. He abandoned the traditional practice of consulting the senate in matters of state, and, indeed, killed a number of the senators and other influential Romans and confiscated their wealth. Tarquin then ruled Rome for the next twenty-five years with an iron fist. Tullia gained lasting opprobrium among the Romans by driving her chariot over her own father’s body. Tarquin had the old king thrown down the steps of his palace and then sent thugs to murder him.
LUCIUS TARQUINIUS COLLATINUS STOLEN WOMEN MAC
She might be said to have been the original prototype for Lady Mac Beth. Tarquin’s wife, Tullia, had prodded him in this endeavor. In the year 534 B.C, he usurped the throne of his father-in-law Servilius Tullius who had ruled well and wisely for twenty-four years. Tarquin the Proud, also known as Lucius Tarquinius, the last king of Rome, won his throne by foul means. Quotations are from Ab Urbe Condita, by Titus Livius. This present blog will tell the story of Lucretia. I propose, in this blog, to tell the stories of women who were influential in the history of the Roman republic, starting with Lucretia and ending with Livia, the wife of Caesar Augustus. The Greeks produced but few female celebrities, but we still may read of Penelope, Helen, Electra, Briseis, Antigone, Aspacia the wife of Pericles, Sappho, the poetess queen of Lesbos, and Thais, the courtesan of Ptolemy. The ancient Israelites tell of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Naomi, Ruth, Esther, Deborah and others whom they celebrated. (A rare exception to this last item was Fulvia, the second wife of Marc Antony, and she would eventually pay dearly for the privilege.) There were a few instances in the ancient world of female monarchs, such as Dido of Carthage and Tueta of Illyria, but it is unlikely that the presence of a female monarch affected the general condition of women in these societies.Īncient societies that have recorded their histories have, however, left accounts of influential woman who were matriarchs or heroines. In no society was a woman routinely allowed to vote, hold public office, plead law cases or lead military forces.
LUCIUS TARQUINIUS COLLATINUS STOLEN WOMEN SERIES
This is the first in a series of blogs about women of ancient Rome.Īll of the societies of the ancient world were male dominated.
Lucretia, the wife of Tarquinius Collatinus