Wartime rape in late antiquity: consecrated virgins and victim bias in the fifth‐century west

Abstract

Late antique clerics rarely discussed wartime rape but singled out consecrated women as victims when they did. This emphasis testifies to the prominence of consecrated women by the fifth century, while inadvertently creating a victim bias. This paper examines this bias and puts forth a wider consideration of victims, including laywomen, children, and men. However, studies on wartime rape have shown that the rape of virgins is often treated differently from the violation of others. These findings are extended to holy virgins in late antiquity to offer new considerations of the grim success of rape as a weapon of war.