The Female Experience
- Jan Augustine Josef
- Nov 5, 2017
- 4 min read
What I enjoyed most about the lectures presented by Professor Zissos is the presentation and examination of women in Roman history and literature. From examining Lavinia’s blush to examining the feminist theory, I fashioned the experiences of Roman women as being a parallel to the experiences women face today. Roman literature, such as The Aeneid by Virgil, portrays women as nothing more than objects, or as the renowned anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss calls it the alliance theory in means of cementing alliances.
The rich history of Rome can be told through various paintings, literary pieces and historical accounts by important Roman figures. However, what seems to be missing from Roman history is detail on the lives of a typical Roman woman. The reason for this is because of the limitation of women’s rights and involvement in Roman politics that gave reason to not write about their roles in the development in society. What we do know is that women were seen nothing more as wives and mothers to the fostering of the Roman Empire. With this in mind, this reveals the patriarchal relationship that was enforced within Roman society. Michael R. Hill of the Encyclopedia of Gender and Society defines patriarchy as an organization, institution or society in which power, special control, material wealth and high social status accrue predominantly to males rather than females. In short, what women experienced back then seem to reflect what women face today, but not as severe.

From the picture, Romulus (red) is position as the punctim of the painting, depicted as overseeing the abduction of thousands of women from other regions of Rome.
Before looking into the reflections of past and present experiences of a woman, lets look at one incident that highlighted the first known experience of a Roman woman being exploited and objectified, also known as “The Rape of the Sabine Women.” Roman historian Livy had written about the foundation Rome was founded upon, noting its strength and power in defending itself from intruding tribes on the outskirts of the new empire. Romulus, the founding father of Rome, had conjured up a fellowship composed mainly of men. Of course, the population of the city continued to grow exponentially; however there had been a shortage of women within the new settlement. Livy writes, “…a shortage of women meant that its greatness was fated to last for a single generation, since there was no prospect of offspring at home nor any prospect of marriage with their neighbours” (Livy.1.9). At the orders of Romulus, he sends his men and troops to the neighboring regions of his new city to find women to “marry.” The painting shown above, by Nicolas Poussin, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art , ultimately suggests how tragic the event was as the local townspeople refused to marry off the women of the town. The man in the red cloak is Romulus himself and shows him overseeing operations of the abductions. Poussin depicts the women as helpless and vulnerable to the strength of the intruding men. This in part would suggest that Roman discourse on the submissiveness of women was vital to keeping the patriarchal hierarchy in check with its societal values. With little to no regard to their truths, women of Ancient Rome had no voice in standing against the values that are prized today: freedom.
"…a shortage of women meant that its greatness was fated to last for a single generation, since there was no prospect of offspring at home nor any prospect of marriage with their neighbours" -Livy (1.9)
“The Rape of the Sabine Women” is an excellent example of the misogyny and exploitive experiences a woman would have faced, given that they lived in the city of Rome. This incident parallels to the recent news that has graced magazine covers and television screens concerning numerous sexual harassment accusations against Harvey Weinstein. Yohana Desta and Hillary Busis of Vanity Fair write that Weinstein’s victims, including Angelina Jolie and Cara Delevigne, have all experienced the same incident in which he “…invited them to a private room, where he either asked for a naked massage or sexually assaulted them” (Desta, Busis 1). Note, the times of each woman’s encounter with Weinstein differ, but had taken time to surface because of “…his powerful title to cushion against any blowback” (1). These women were pressured to keep quiet or ruin their lives and careers, sound familiar? Just as Roman woman had no voice to speak their truths, so do woman today and it truly is an issue that needs to be discussed! Furthering this claim, Vivian Folkenflik, an emeritus lecturer of the Humanities Core program at UCI states, "These women are being taken to increase the power of Rome. Their twisted limbs, their signals to their husbands, their forced abandonment of their children and parents at the signal from the red-clad ruler on the pillar – that’s rape to me." In truth, women who played a powerful role in the development of the great city were seen as objects to assure its future success as an empire.
Though I am relatively new to the feminist movement and know little about important aspects of women’s rights, I believe a great starting point to learning more would be to look at the history of the exploitation of women. What do the past experiences of women say and or show about the hierarchal relationship we face in our society? How can we learn from them and improve or move past such inequality? I see this topic relates greatly to the mission of Humanites Core, that is to interpret what past experiences say about present and forthcoming experiences in our world today.
Works Cited
Cortona, Pietro De. Rape of the Sabine Woman. 1627-1629. N.p.
Desta, Yohana, and Hillary Busis. "These Are the Women Who Have Accused Harvey Weinstein of Sexual Harassment and Assault." HWD. Vanity Fair, 30 Oct. 2017. Web.
Ogilvie, Robert Maxwell. "Livy." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Jan. 2016. Web.
Hill, Michael R. 2009. "Patriarchy." Pp. 628-633 in Encyclopedia of Gender and Society, edited by Jodi O'Brien. Vol. 2. Los Angeles: Sage.
The rape of the Sabine women. Rome, traditionally 8th cent. B.C. (Livy, History of Rome 1.9. Late 1st cent. B.C.-early 1st cent. A.D. L)
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