Romanino, The murder of Verginia

Verginia was the subject of an almost certainly apocryphal^{[citation needed]} story of Ancient Rome, related in Livy's Ab Urbe Condita[1], designed to show the evil character of the decemvir Appius Claudius. Verginia is in this case a variant spelling of Virginia. Normally Verginia is the usual orthography found in Latin manuscripts and English uses Virginia. Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... A portrait of Titus Livius made long after his death. ... Ab urbe condita (related with Anno urbis conditae: AUC or a. ... Decemviri (singular decemvir) is a Latin term meaning Ten Men which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic (cf. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

The people of Rome were already angry with the decemviri for not calling the proper elections, taking bribes, and other abuses. It seemed that they were returning to the rule of the Kings of Rome who had been overthrown only a few decades before. In 451 BC, Claudius began to lust after Verginia, a beautiful plebeian girl and the daughter of Lucius Verginius, a respected centurion. Verginia was betrothed to Lucius Icilius, a former tribune of the plebs, and when she rejected Claudius, Claudius had one of his clients, Marcus Claudius, claim that she was actually his slave. Marcus Claudius then abducted her while she was on her way to school. The crowd in the Forum objected to this, as both Verginius and Icilius were well-respected men, and they forced Marcus Claudius to bring the case before the decemvirs, led by Appius Claudius himself. Verginius was recalled from the field to defend his daughter, and Icilius, after threats of violence, succeeded in having Verginia returned to her house while the court waited for her father to appear. Claudius tried to have his own supporters intercept the messengers sent to summon Verginius, but they arrived too late to delay Verginius' arrival. For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... Decemviri (singular decemvir) is a Latin term meaning Ten Men which designates any such commission in the Roman Republic (cf. ... There were seven traditional Kings of Rome before the establishment of the Roman Republic. ... Centuries: 6th century BC - 5th century BC - 4th century BC Decades: 500s BC 490s BC 480s BC 470s BC 460s BC - 450s BC - 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC Years: 456 BC 455 BC 454 BC 453 BC 452 BC - 451 BC - 450 BC 449 BC... In Ancient Rome, the plebs was the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians. ... Lucius Icilius was a Tribune of the Plebs in 456 BC. On his proposal the public land on the Aventine Hill was parcelled out to provide dwellings for the plebs. ... Ordinary Magistrates Extraordinary Magistrates Titles and Honors Emperor Politics and Law Tribune (from the Latin: tribunus; Greek form tribounos) was a title shared by 2-3 elected magistracies and other governmental and/or (para)military offices of the Roman Republic and Empire. ... In Ancient Rome, the plebs were the general body of Roman citizens, distinct from the privileged class of the patricians. ... Part of the Roman Forum. ...

When Verginius arrived two days later he gathered his supporters in the Forum. Claudius, however, would not let him speak, and declared that Verginia was indeed Marcus Claudius' slave. Appius Claudius had brought an armed escort with him and accused the citizens of sedition. The supporters of Verginius left the Forum rather than cause any violence, and Verginius begged to question his daughter himself. Claudius agreed to this, but Verginius grabbed a knife and stabbed Verginia, the only way he felt he could uphold her freedom. Verginius and Icilius were arrested, and their supporters returned to attack the lictors and destroy their fasces. This led to the overthrow of the decemviri and the re-establishment of the Roman Republic. Sedition is a term of law which refers to covert conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority as tending toward insurrection against the established order. ... The lictor, derived from the Latin ligare (to bind), was a member of a special class of Roman civil servant, with special tasks of attending magistrates of the Roman Republic and Empire who held imperium. ... Roman fasces. ... This article is about the state which existed from the 6th century BC to the 1st century BC. For the state which existed in the 18th century, see Roman Republic (18th century). ...

Livy compared to this to the rape of Lucretia and the overthrow of the monarchy in 509 BC.^[1] Death of Lucretia by Sandro Botticelli Lucretia is a legendary figure in the history of the Roman Republic. ... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC - 450s BC Events and Trends 509 BC - Foundation of the Roman Republic 508 BC - Office of pontifex maximus created...

The tale is retold, with varying fidelity, in several works of Western literature, including Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Physician's Tale" in his Canterbury Tales, and in the play Appius and Virginia by John Webster and Thomas Heywood, which includes the following lines: Chaucer redirects here. ... The Physicians Tale is one of the Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. ... Canterbury Tales Woodcut 1484 The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in prose, the rest in verse). ... Appius and Virginia is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a tragedy by John Webster (and perhaps Thomas Heywood). ... John Webster (c. ... Thomas Heywood (died approx. ...

Two ladies fair, but most unfortunate

Have in their ruins rais'd declining Rome,

Lucretia and Virginia, both renowned

For chastity.

Verginia is also mentioned in Titus Andronicus. Death of Lucretia by Sandro Botticelli Lucretia is a legendary figure in the history of the Roman Republic. ... Title page of the first quarto edition (1594) The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus may be Shakespeares earliest tragedy. ...

References

• Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology page 1267
• History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita) by Livy Book III Chapter 44 The Story of Virginia (450 BC)

Footnotes