Lucretia Romana
Rome was still a fairly small town at the end of the seventh century. B.C. and its expansion began with the annexation of the neighboring cities, in the early sixth century BC It was conquered Collatia (in present-day town of length now outskirts of Rome) by Tarquinius Priscus who entrust the government to his cousin, and her sister's husband, Egerio. Here is stabled Egerio with his family and here the son Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus took his bride: the bride was the beautiful Lucretia, daughter of the noble politician and senator Spurius Lucretius Tricipitinus.
Lucretia’s story is emblematic for the entire history of Rome which is one of the first heroines and what happened to her was the cause of the expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus and the end of the monarchy.
The event of Lucretia was told by Livius, by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, but also by Virgil, who, in the first century AD, took the stories from earlier sources; modern historians are still inclined to believe that Lucrezia was a woman really lived and the events described are real.
The story happened during the long siege that Tarquinius Superbus posed at Ardea, capital of Rutuli. The Rutuli were a people rich while Rome, at the end of VI BC, had scarce resources and the people were unhappy. The king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, Titus Livius said, to build the Temple of Jupiter (Optimus Maximus) imposed the Roman people to work there the same way as slaves, fueling discontent; to regain the favor of the people Tarquinius Superbus decided to conquer the territories of Rutuli and their wealth.
But the siege takes time and so often the officers had licenses during which the youngsters spent their time drinking and talking to each other, it so happened that Sextus Tarquinius, son of Tarquinius Superbus, and Tarquinius Collatinus, son of Egerio began talking about their wives enhancing the quality and Collatinus, to prove that his was the best, proposed to ride up to their homes and get unexpected to see the virtues of wives.
The young officers rode up in Rome, where it was the Regia, and Collatia, where there was Collatinus house, to find out their wives how spent the time; secretly entered in the houses they found Lucretia spinning along with the maids and the wife of Sestio spent his time in banquets and entertainment. Since that time Sextius Tarquinus began to desire Lucretia, and if for Livius the cause would be a fit of desire, Virgil who picks up the story (where Sextius is called Arrunte that seems to be the real name of the son of the King) describes the intent of Sestius as sheer will to violate the chastity of Lucretia, as revenge to cancel her moral supremacy.
He returned after a few days in Collatia, without the knowledge to Collatino, and became host to Lucrezia who unaware welcomed Sextius as a friend of her husband and son of the king. Overnight Sextius crept into the room of Lucrezia; the intent of Sextius, libido or not, was to take advantage of Lucrezia and certainly did not speak of love when threatened with a knife to kill her if she did not consent to his wishes and, to make more explicit violence, he threatened to leave her on the bed near to a slave slaughtered as caught in the act of the vilest adultery.
Lucretia realized that no one can help her, and then sufferd violence Sextius until it was satisfied its trux libido (shameful lust) back to the camp ...
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by M.L. ©ALL RIGHTS RESERVED (Ed 1.0 - 25/10/2015)