Rape of Sabine Women. The Rape of the Sabine Women was an incident in Roman mythology in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other cities in the region.
It has been a frequent subject of artists, particularly during the Renaissance and post-Renaissance eras. The word rape is the conventional translation of the Latin word raptio used in the ancient accounts of the incident.
Modern scholars tend to interpret the word as abduction or kidnapping as opposed to a sexual assault. Controversy remains, however, as to how the acts committed against the women should be judged.
In the myth, the Rape takes place in the early history of Rome, shortly after its founding by Romulus and his mostly male followers. Seeking wives in order to establish families, the Romans negotiated unsuccessfully with the Sabines, who populated the surrounding area.
The Sabines feared the emergence of a rival society and refused to allow their women to marry the Romans. Consequently, the Romans planned to abduct Sabine women during a festival of Neptune Equester. They planned and announced a marvelous festival to attract people from all nearby towns. According to Livy, many people from Rome's neighboring towns attended, including folk from the Caeninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates, and many of the Sabines. At the festival, Romulus gave a signal, at which the Romans grabbed the Sabine women and fo