Sabine Women

[OnMyOwn]

Hey All,

I'd like to see a story about the Rape of the Sabine Women. Anyone who knows anything about ancient Rome should remember this.
Short synopsis:
Rome was first founded by a bunch of guys, and they tried to intermarry with surrounding people's women, but were not allowed to. So, they held a festival, invited the Sabines, then at a specific signal all the Roman men swooped down on a Sabine girl, carrying her off to rape her. The other Sabines ran away to regroup. Meanwhile, the raped girls were convinced that their attackers had done what they did out of love for the girls, so they got married. Then, when the Sabine men came back to fight the ROmans and free their women, all the girls stepped onto the field to intervene on behalf of their beloveds.

I think this could make a great Nonconsent, Erotic Coupling, or Romance story. Someone please give it a go!

 

[fogbank]

A few years ago, I was stuck in Constanza, Romania for a week or so, and it was well after the tourist season, so I ended up spending a lot of time reading, and since Ovid was exiled there, I found an english translation of some of his work, part of which deals with the founding of rome, and the Sabine story. Something I never would have read were it not for the specific circumstances that I found myself in, but which was really profound.

When the ravished women stood between husband and father,
Holding their infants, dear pledges of love, to their breasts
When, with streaming hair, they reached the centre of the field,
They knelt on the ground, their grandchildren, as if they understood,
With sweet cries, stretching out their little arms to their grandfathers:
Those who could, called to their grandfather, seen for the first time,
And those who could barely speak yet, were encouraged to try.
The arms and passions of the warriors fall: dropping their swords
Fathers and sons-in-law grasp each other’s hands,
They embrace the women, praising them, and the grandfather
Bears his grandchild on his shield: a sweeter use for it.

Just an amazing poem. Well, somewhat complicated, but with amazing passages. If anybody is interested in writing on this topic, I highly recommend reading a bit of Ovid, first. Third book of the Fasti, Kalendis. You can find free translations on the internet, since it's public domain. Ovid doesn't really talk about the rape in that poem, though I think it's vaguely alluded to. Definitely something that someone on here should take a proverbial stab at.