Zachary Matteson

Professor Robert McEachnie

LBST 2101
October 19, 2015
Response paper 2
By reading the story of Lucretia, we can understand a lot about the role of gender in
Roman society. From how women were expected to act, to the little power women had in the
legal system. We can also understand how the women is supposed to be pure for her husband
through sexual chastity and that a women that is not pure is essentially worthless. Women in
Rome had to live by certain standards in order to have a decent life.
When the men are at the house of Sextus Tarquinius after supper, the men started to brag
about their wives and how their wives had chaste honor or they refrained from doing anything
but what they were supposed to do (57). It was common among roman men to brag about their
wife but this shows us how women had little freedom to do what they want. It also shows how
women were used by men as a boasting piece when the men would talk to other men (57).
Women were supposed to be the submissive ones, so when women were doing what the men said
at the house, the women were said to have brought honor for themselves. Women during this
time period would strive to receive honor from their husband and the rest of the town.
When a pure women is raped by a man, she is seen as impure and is essentially worthless
to the man as it was thought that a pure woman would give birth to the best babies possible.
When a women was impure, it was thought that she would give birth children that would be sick
or impure and a women that was impure had no honor. When Lucretia was raped by Sextus, he
took her honor with him as he raped her and made her essentially worthless (58). He also

threatened to kill her and to make it look like a slave did it so that she would die with no honor
(58). The fact that Lucretia allows Sextus to rape her so that everyone would think she had no
honor, shows that roman women valued their honor very highly as it was one of the only things
they had for themselves (58).
After the rape, Lucretia calls for her husband and her father to come back immediately
with a good friend so that she may tell them what had happened to her (58). She tells them that
Sextus had raped her and that her body is greatly soiled but her heart is still pure (58). Again
she shows that in roman times a women that was not physically pure was seen as impure or
soiled. After Lucretia tells her husband and father what had happened, she made them promise to
pursue Sextus for the crime he committed of raping a pure women (58). After they promise, she
says I will absolve myself of blame and kills herself with a knife (58). This shows that even
though Lucretia did nothing wrong, the fact that she is the women would make it so that no one
would believe her. Prince Sextus could also sway the thoughts of the jury as he was the monarch
at the time and pretty much controlled the legal system. Lucretia knew that with the little legal
standing that women had, Sextus would never be charged with rape if it was her word vs his.
Lucretia killed herself so that Sextus would answer to his crimes when brought up by her
husband or father instead of fabricating his own testimony and falsifying her testimony.
This story shows us that not only did women value their honor most in roman society, but
that if the women had no honor they were impure and like a slave. It also shows that the prince
of Rome viewed himself as above everyone else and thought he could do whatever he wanted
and have anyone he wanted even if it meant rape. This angered roman citizens and led to the
citizens of Rome going against the idea of a monarch in government and ultimately to its decline.

Works cited
"Ancient History Sourcebook: Livy: The Rape of Lucretia, from the History of Rome." Internet
History Sourcebooks. Web. 19 Oct.2015.<http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/livyrape.asp>.