Rome- The rape of Lucretia

 Lilly Ciurca

Assignment 4

Rome

The story of the rape of Lucretia is a depressing story about a pure woman who was wrongfully treated, causing her to believe she was at fault. She took her life because of the way a man treated her, while she hadn’t done anything wrong. She had felt as if she had done something wrong, and couldn’t stand to face the consequences. She knew that nobody would believe her and take her seriously and that there was no point in even trying. It’s sad that she felt as if nobody would believe her and would look at her differently because of what had happened. I think this story is trying to communicate. The man who raped Lucretia, Sextus Tarquinious, went against the moral laws of Rome and caused pain for many people. Sextus Tarquinious was the son of the king and held a lot of power. Because of this, he abused his power by doing bad things, knowing nobody would believe Lucretia over him. Symbolizing the abuse of power, this story shows the need for social equality. Sextus should not have held power over Lucretia because of his father, and she should have felt confident that he could not get away with the rape.