Abstract
This chapter examines how one exceptional Roman woman was able to exert extraordinary power through an uncharacteristic sexual act and how her story was repeatedly appropriated and adapted by Roman writers (and many beyond the classical period) to satisfy and reinforce their individual agendas, agendas which focused on questions relating to rape, chastity, adultery and reputation. The history of women in ancient Rome illuminates any number of admirable, exciting, evil, slatternly and dangerous women fighting to be heard and seen against overwhelming odds in a world run by men for men. Lays of Ancient Rome was an enduring classic though it is read much less nowadays; its apogee started in the Victorian age when it was useful in introducing countless schoolchildren to history, poetry and the moral values of courage, self-sacrifice and patriotism that Macaulay extolled. Macaulay’s Verginia is a picture of childhood innocence; nothing could prepare her for what was to come.
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