At the very beginning of Rome’s history, when the newly founded city was little more than a small settlement on the Palatine Hill, a refuge for rootless men, it was a town of warriors and fugitives with hardly any women to secure its future. And so was born one of the most famous myths of Antiquity: the Rape of the Sabine Women, a tale that blends cunning, violence and, surprisingly, reconciliation.
In short: according to legend, Rome solved its shortage of women by abducting the Sabine women during a festival organized by Romulus. The war that followed ended when the Sabine women themselves, now wives and mothers, stepped between the two armies and forced peace — the founding myth explaining the fusion of Romans and Sabines into a single people.
Romulus, the founder of Rome, first tried a diplomatic approach. He asked the neighbouring peoples, especially the Sabines, to accept marriage alliances.
The refusal was categorical: they distrusted this new city, built with such fervour.
Faced with this rejection, Romulus devised a stratagem. He announced a great festival in honour of Neptune Equester, with horse races, feasts and plenty of wine.
The Sabines came with their families, and when they least expected it, at a signal from the king, the Romans fell upon the young Sabine women and “abducted” them. Among them was Hersilia, destined to become the wife of Romulus.
Tarpeia’s betrayal
Sabine outrage was swift. King Titus Tatius rallied his men and marched on Rome to avenge the affront. It was then that the betrayal of Tarpeia took place — the daughter of a Roman commander who, blinded by greed or love, offered the Sabines access to the Capitoline in exchange for what their king wore on his left arm.
She expected a gold bracelet, but instead met her death: she was crushed beneath the Sabines’ shields (which they in fact carried on their right arm). Her name would remain forever linked to the Tarpeian Rock, the place of punishment for traitors.
The intervention of the Sabine women
The clash between Romans and Sabines was brutal, until the scene occurred that would grant the legend eternal fame. The abducted Sabine women themselves, made wives and mothers against their will, threw themselves between the combatants.
They embraced both sides, begging them to end the fighting: if the Sabines won, they would lose their husbands; if the Romans won, they would have to mourn the deaths of their fathers and brothers.
Their gesture moved both sides. They broke off the fighting and made peace. Romulus and Titus Tatius agreed to rule jointly, and so Rome was born not only from the strength of arms, but also from the union between two different peoples.
Today, historians see in this myth an echo of reality: mixed marriages and pacts between communities were common in early Italy.
The Rape of the Sabine Women, with all its drama, reflects Rome’s need to absorb and merge with neighbouring peoples in order to grow.
And so, what began with a betrayal and an abduction ended as one of the most powerful symbols of eternal Rome: a city that knew how to turn discord into alliance, and war into reconciliation.
The armies of ancient Rome are part of our collection of toy soldiers, with more than 100,000 pieces spanning from Antiquity to the 20th century.
If you’re interested in Rome at war, read about The Fall of Saguntum to Hannibal, the siege that triggered the Second Punic War.
That war ended in the famous Battle of Cannae, Rome’s greatest defeat in open battle.
You can see these scenes recreated in miniature at the Palacio de los Marqueses de Malferit, in the historic centre of Valencia.
About the author
Alejandro Noguera Borel — Director of Museo L’Iber and Fundación Libertas 7. In the world of toy soldiers since the 1970s.
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