Rape – the rape or rather abduction of the Sabine women – is one of the most famous and popular tales of Roman history. It belongs among the rich stock of founding myths with which Roman historians embellished the distant origins of their city and explained the character of its social institutions. After Romulus had founded the city and killed his impudent brother, his band of male herders was in need of women to create a durable society. But the neighboring polities all refused to grant them conubium, the right of intermarriage. Not one to take no for an answer, Romulus instead resourcefully lured them into visiting the new city for a religious celebration. During the festivities, his warriors, in blatant violation of the laws of hospitality, broke in on the party and abducted the young women of the visitors. An outrageous act of betrayal, this theft called for immediate revenge; the communities which had been wronged were all up in arms. Soon the Romans had to take to the field to defend their newly won possessions and prove the worth of their young state in the test of war.

Triumph was immediate, the story goes. The first army of avenging foes to face the Roman soldiers was roundly beaten and their commanding king killed in the heat of battle by Romulus himself. Sporting the armor of his slain opponent, Romulus returned to the city in triumph and dedicated this precious booty to Jupiter Feretrius, “the striker,” and a temple to house it on the Capitol. Taking the spolia opima by killing the enemy leader on the battle field came in the Roman tradition to signify the ultimate act of heroism and military prowess; and the Romans did not blush to attach to this rare feat an explanatory legend of how might so conspicuously had made right. “Anger without strength was vain,” as Livy advised the reader of his history. Roman society had prospered at the cost of neighbors and subjects. Empire was a question of military power which prised open other communities and made their resources available to the victors. The Romans were under few illusions in this respect; their society was built on predation.