Download Tragic Women of the Ancient World Virginia Verginius, 5th Century

Tragic Women of the Ancient World
Virginia Verginius, 5th Century BC
In 451 BC the Roman Assembly selected 10 men, the decemviri, to run the
government under the leadership of Appius Claudius. There was a distinguished
centurion, a man with an excellent military and civilian record, named Verginius,
who had a wife and family who were all people of high principles. The daughter of
this family, Virginia, had been betrothed to an ex-tribune named Lucius Icilius, a
populist politician.
Appius Claudius had set the goal for himself of debauching this beautiful
young girl, but all attempts, including the offer of money, had failed. Taking
advantage of the father’s absence with the army, he arranged for a relative, Marcus
Claudius, to make a legal claim that the girl was his slave. Thus one morning as
Virginia was entering the Forum to attend a school held there, functionaries of
Marcus accosted her, declared that she and her mother before her had been his
slaves and ordered her to follow him, under threat of force. The young girl was
speechless, of course, and a number of persons who knew her family, as well as
Icilius, gathered around preventing Marcus from taking her. Marcus now declared
that what he was doing was legal and asked the girl to accompany him to the court
and her friends advised her to go.
Before the judge, who was none other than Appius Claudius, Marcus again
made his assertion that Virginia had been his slave and that she was required to
return to her master. Those speaking on behalf of Virginia pointed out that it was
unfair to present a lawsuit against the girl while her father was out of town in
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national service. They suggested that the father could be back in two days and
requested a postponement. The judge agreed to the postponement, but also ruled
that for the next two days Virginia should be in the custody of Marcus.
At this point Virginia’s uncle, Numitorius, and her betrothed lover, Icilius,
arrived. The crowd made way for them, hoping they could intervene in thwarting
Appius’s evil design. Appius tried to shove Icilius aside, saying the court’s decision
had been made. Icilius answered that only the sword could make him stand aside
and further,
I am to marry this girl, and I mean to have a virgin for my bride...I
refuse to let my promised wife pass tonight away from her father’s house.
You have made slaves of us all -- you have robbed the people of their right to
appeal and of the protection of their tribunes; but that does not mean you
have the lordship of your lusts over our wives and children. Fulfill your
savage pleasure on our backs and necks; at least our chastity shall be safe
from you; assault that, and I will call upon every man in Rome to defend my
bride -- Verginius will raise an army on behalf of his only daughter -- all of
us will move heaven and earth to help her, and never shall you get away with
the infamous judgment you have given unless you kill us.
Appius Claudius, now sensing the hostility of the crowd, allowed Virginia to
go free until the following day. A brother of Icilius was sent to ride at full speed to
bring Verginius back to Rome. Appius Claudius, as soon as he was able, sent his
representatives with orders to the army not to let the father leave, but they arrived
too late.
The next day there was great excitement as Verginius entered the Forum
with his daughter. Verginius spoke to the crowd, reminding them of his service to
the country and asking them what was the price of patriotism, if their children were
subjected to the worst horrors of a captured enemy. Icilius made similar appeals
and Virginia simply stood weeping.
In spite of the obvious signs of public support for Verginius, the judge,
Appius Claudius, gave judgment for the plaintiff and declared Virginia to be his
slave. The crowd was speechless, stunned by this monstrous decision. Women burst
into tears, as Verginius shook his fist at Appius and said,
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I betrothed my daughter to Icilius, not to you -- I meant her for a
marriage-bed, not for a brothel.... Whether others will endure this, I do not
know, but I know very well that no man will who has a sword!
Now as the crowd began to press forward to protect the young girl, Appius
Claudius had his trumpeter signal for silence. He indicated that he suspected an
armed interference and thus had come with his own troops, which he now ordered
to take possession of the young girl. The crowd now shrank back and poor Virginia
was left standing alone. The father, crying, said to his daughter, “There is only one
way, my child, to make you free.” Thereupon, taking a knife he stabbed her to the
heart.
Octavia, 40 – 62 AD, Wife of Nero, Emperor of the Roman Empire
When Agrippina married the Emperor Claudius, she convinced him to adopt
her son, Nero, and to marry the 16 year-old boy to his daughter, Octavia, aged 13.
She was a flawless young woman and maintained her own character, while her
husband, Nero, one of the most evil persons who ever lived, went his own way.
Before long Nero fell under the charms of a young daughter of a wealthy
Roman family, Poppaea Sabina, and the lovers soon set about trying to eliminate
Octavia. According to Suetonius, Nero tried several times to strangle Octavia, but
failed. Tacitus writes that next Poppaea spread the rumor that Octavia had been
discovered in an affair with a slave. Octavia’s servant girls were put to torture in an
attempt to gain such a confession, but they all refused to say anything bad of their
mistress. Finally, Nero divorced Octavia in the year 62, charging barrenness, and a
week later married Poppaea. The Roman public, which had long recognized the
quality of Octavia, reacted by turning over statues of Poppaea, which Nero had
caused to be made, while draping statues of Octavia with flowers.
Poppaea, reacting in anger and panic at the public’s reaction, suggested to
Nero that Octavia’s popularity was such that she might remarry and overthrow
him. Nero exiled Octavia to Pandateria and shortly after her arrival his agents
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murdered her. She died at age 22 when she was bound and all of her veins cut. Her
severed head was returned to Rome as a gift to Poppaea.
Arria, 1st Century AD
Arria was the wife of the consul, Cæcina Pætus. When her son died of a
serious illness she could not bear to tell her husband, for fear that he might die of
grief. She had a secret funeral conducted and for some time upheld the pretense
that the boy was alive. When the father would ask of him, she would respond, “He’s
ill and cannot come to dinner,” etc.
Shortly after, her husband was accused of being involved in a conspiracy and
was put on a prison ship to be sent to Rome. Arria begged the soldiers to allow her
to accompany him, pointing out that a man of consular rank was entitled to a few
slaves and that she would fulfill their duties. When the soldiers refused, she rented
a fishing boat and followed her husband’s prison ship across the Adriatic.
In Rome, when it became apparent that her husband would be condemned,
she informed her family that she intended to kill herself as well. Her son-in-law, the
senator, Thrasea, begged her to give up this idea, asking her, “If I were condemned
to die, would you want your daughter to kill herself also?” Arria responded, “If you
had been married as long as we, and were as happy as we, yes!” Thereafter her
family began to guard her, to prevent her suicide. “You are wasting your time,” she
observed, “you cannot prevent me from dying, you can only force me to die a more
painful death.” As an apparent demonstration of her meaning, she dashed her
head into a wall with such force that she knocked herself out. Sometime after this
incident, when her husband was present, she gave herself a fatal wound with a small
sword. Before expiring, she handed the sword to her husband, saying, “Pætus, it
gives no pain.”
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Plautilla, wife of the Roman Emperor Caracalla, c. 188 – 217 AD
Plautilla was the daughter of Plautianus the prefect, a powerful relative of
the Emperor Severus. Plautianus, being an ambitious man, sought to have his
daughter marry the young Prince Caracalla against his will. The extravagance of
this subsequent wedding was unusual, even for Roman aristocracy. It was said
Plautilla’s dowry was equal to that of 50 kings’ daughters. Plautianus also had 100
freeborn Roman citizens, many of them fathers and husbands of families, castrated
in order that Plautilla could be attended by a retinue of eunuchs in the style of
oriental potentates.
Plautianus, for some reason, began to plot against Caracalla and his mother,
the empress, even subjecting other aristocratic women to torture in an attempt to
find some evidence against the empress. Caracalla accused Plautianus of treason,
brought him before the Emperor Severus and killed him on the spot, before he
could defend himself. Immediately thereafter, Caracalla exiled his wife, Plautilla, to
Lipari and when he became emperor had her killed.
Honoria, 5th Century AD
Honoria was the daughter of the Roman Emperor, Constantius III, and his
wife Placidia. In hopes of protecting her daughter, Placidia gave her the title,
Augusta, the purpose of which was to place her above the aspirations of any Roman
male. By the age of 16, however, Honoria was becoming increasingly despondent by
this social isolation. Taking matters into her own hand she had an affair with a
domestic officer of the court. When she appeared pregnant, her mother banished
her to Constantinople where she lived under house arrest.
One can imagine the shock to the relatives of Honoria in Rome, when none
other than Attila the Hun announced that he intended to marry Honoria. It turned
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out that Honoria herself had corresponded with Attila, requesting that he marry her
as a means of achieving her escape. Placidia quickly arranged to have Honoria
married to a common man and then had her locked in a prison for the rest of her
life. Perhaps, in the end, Honoria was lucky, for Attila was not only a polygamist,
but entertained himself by such sport as watching the death agonies of 200 young
women, as they were torn limb from limb by wild horses and crushed under the
wheels of heavy wagons.
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