Roman and Etruscan women AncientSites >Rome > Groups >Etruria New Vines "Products Contest" with $500 in Prizes! Places To Go!Today's PostsRomeAthensEgyptBabylonTaraMachuPicchuNewYorkAncientSitesSite MapAncientVine Rome Board Index | Rome Daily Posts Board: Etruria Topic: Women in Etruria Topic Editor: Nesnut Hatshepsut Topic Description: Etruscan women enjoyed a gr... Email this post to a friend! Message: Roman and Etruscan women Author: - Tuscus Sempronius, Patron Date: Apr 3, 1999 11:45 The Etruscans ruled in Rome in her early days, giving their once barbaric, down-country neighbors an alphabet; governmental symbols such as curule chair, the triumph (an Etruscan ceremony of power), and the fasces, which has had such a varied history -- its name continues in the word fascist; works of public architecture and engineering such as the Forum and the Cloaca Maxima, the Roman sewer still in use today; religious iconongraphy and temple design; gladiatorial games; and a love-hate affair with kings and dictators. Shakespeare's long poem, "The Rape of Lucrece," (Latin Lucretia) commemorates one of the dark days in Etruscan relations between the sexes, and with Rome. As the story goes, a group of young Etruscan and Roman noblemen (probably after a night of drinking) fell to boasting about the many virtues of their wives. While some speculated ruefully that in their own absence their wives might not be altogether faithful or sober [or no more so than their husbands!], one young Roman held out for the industry and chastity of his wife Lucretia who, even as they spoke, would likely be spinning, as good Roman wives were supposed to do as a matter of course, and also in their "free" time. The Etruscan prince Tarquin insisted on meeting this paragon of domestic propriety, and at their encounter he became so enflamed by her beauty that he later stole into her chamber and raped her, threatening to kill her if she revealed him. Her shame and anger soon overcame her fear, and she denounced him to her husband and family, then stabbed herself to death. The ensuing grief and rage of her family was the force that eventually drove the Etruscan kings from Rome and launched the Republic. Apart from the violence, the cultural underpinnings of the story point to large differences between the socially restricted lives of Roman women, and the comparatively free ones of their Etruscan cousins to the north. Etruscan women could inherit and own property, and are routinely shown in paintings, vases and sarcophagi in the company of men, enjoying parties and socializing freely, something which shocked the more patriarchal Romans and Greeks who chaperoned and sheltered their women, and which may account for the bad press which the Etruscan with their different social mores and behaviors have received from their foreign historians. Next: The etruscan couple ( - Melisa Alexandros ) Previous: Contemporary views of Etruscan women ( - Cornellia Cornelius )