Women of legend in Rome: the Sabine women, Tarpeia and Lucretia - OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (Women in the Ancient World) Exam Questions

Practise 34 exam-style questions on Women of legend in Rome: the Sabine women, Tarpeia and Lucretia for OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (Women in the Ancient World). Write your answer as you would in the exam and get it marked in seconds against the mark scheme, point by point, with an AI tutor on hand if you get stuck.

34 questions
1–8 marks each
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20 questions, marked as you go

Sample questions with model answers

Here are 4 of the questions in this topic, each with a model answer, an explanation of why it earns the marks and the mark scheme an examiner would use.

Question 1

1 mark

Which Sabine king bribed Tarpeia to let his soldiers into the Roman citadel?

Model answer

Titus Tatius, king of the Sabines.

Explanation

After the peace brought about by the Sabine women, Titus Tatius shared the kingship of the united state with Romulus. The Sabines' capture of the citadel through Tarpeia's treachery led to the battle in the valley below the Capitol.

Mark scheme

1 mark
Titus Tatius
Accept Tatius. Do not accept Mettius Curtius (the Sabine champion in the battle) or Acron.

Question 2

2 marks

Source A: a Roman silver denarius minted in 89 BC by a moneyer called Lucius Titurius Sabinus

One side shows a bearded head of the Sabine king Titus Tatius. The other side shows two Roman soldiers, each carrying a struggling young woman in his arms.

Give two reasons why this moneyer might have chosen these designs for his coin.

Model answer

The moneyer's name, Sabinus, suggests his family claimed Sabine ancestry, so showing the Sabine king and the famous seizure advertised his family's link with Rome's earliest history. The scene also celebrated the union of Romans and Sabines into one people, a suitable message in 89 BC when Rome was at war with its Italian allies.

Explanation

Republican moneyers often chose designs that glorified their own families, and Roman legends were a popular source. The coin shows how well known the Sabine story was centuries before Livy wrote, and how it could be used for political messages.

Mark scheme

1 mark
Any one valid reason: his family name Sabinus suggests that his family claimed descent from the Sabines, so he advertised his ancestry (with Titus Tatius on the other side); the seizure of the Sabine women was a famous story of Rome's foundation; it celebrated the union of Romans and Sabines into one people; in 89 BC (during the Social War with Rome's Italian allies) a story of Rome uniting with its neighbours had a political message; moneyers used coins to promote their families' reputation.
Credit any sensible reason linked to the coin or its date.
1 mark
A second, different reason (as above).

Question 3

3 marks

Livy and the poet Propertius give different reasons for Tarpeia's betrayal of the citadel. In Livy she is bribed with gold by the Sabine king Titus Tatius. In Propertius, Tarpeia, a Vestal Virgin, falls in love with Tatius when she sees him, and betrays the citadel to win him.

Explain how the two versions present Tarpeia differently. Make three points.

Model answer

In Livy Tarpeia betrays Rome for gold, so she appears greedy and corrupt, while in Propertius she betrays it for love of Tatius, which makes her a more tragic figure whose passion overcomes her duty. Because Propertius makes her a Vestal Virgin, her love for the enemy is also a betrayal of her sacred vow of chastity. In both versions, though, a woman's desire leads her to betray her father and her city, and she is killed by the very enemy she helped.

Explanation

Different Roman writers reshaped the legend for their own purposes: Livy's history emphasises greed and treachery, while Propertius' love elegy explores passion. Either way, Tarpeia is the opposite of the loyal Roman woman and is punished horribly.

Mark scheme

1 mark
First valid point.
Three different points from, e.g.: in Livy she is motivated by greed for gold / jewellery, in Propertius by love / passion; Livy's Tarpeia seems mercenary and corrupt, Propertius' more tragic and perhaps pitiable; in Propertius she is a Vestal, sworn to chastity, so her desire for the enemy king is also a religious crime; in both versions a woman's desire (for wealth or for a man) leads her to betray her father and her city; both end with her punished by the enemy she helped, so both warn against disloyalty; Livy also reports a version where she tried to trick the Sabines out of their shields, which could make her a patriot. Max 3.
1 mark
Second, different valid point.
As above.
1 mark
Third, different valid point.
As above.

Question 4

8 marks

Source A: Ovid, The Art of Love (Ars Amatoria) 1 (Ovid tells the story of the Sabine women as an example of how to find a girlfriend at the theatre)

'In the middle of the applause the king gave the people the signal to seize their prey. At once they leap up, revealing their intentions by their shouts, and lay eager hands on the girls. As doves, the most timid of flocks, flee from eagles, and as a new-born lamb flees from the wolves it sees, so the girls feared the men rushing at them wildly... Some tear their hair, some sit senseless; one is silent in grief, another calls in vain for her mother. The captured girls are led away, a prize for the marriage-bed, and fear itself made many of them look more beautiful. If any fought back too hard and refused her partner, the man lifted her up himself in his eager arms and said: "Why spoil your tender eyes with tears? What your father is to your mother, I will be to you." Romulus, you alone knew how to give your soldiers rewards: give me rewards like these, and I will be a soldier.'

To what extent do Roman writers present the seizure of the Sabine women as justified? Use Source A as a starting point and your own knowledge.

Model answer

Roman writers generally present the seizure of the Sabine women as justified, or at least excusable, but their accounts also reveal how violent it was. Livy offers the fullest justification. Rome had a shortage of women and its greatness would last only one generation; the neighbours refused intermarriage with insults, so Romulus' plan at the games for Neptune Equester seems a necessity. Romulus blames the fathers' pride and promises the women lawful marriage, a share in property and citizenship, and children, and the story ends in peace and the union of two peoples, with the curiae named after the women. The wedding cry 'Talassio' links every Roman marriage to this founding story. In Source A, Ovid's Roman also promises a resisting girl 'What your father is to your mother, I will be to you', suggesting marriage, not mere violence.

Yet both writers show the crime clearly. Livy lets the parents accuse the Romans of breaking the bond of hospitality and deceiving them with religion. Ovid's similes are even more revealing: the men are eagles and wolves, the girls timid doves and a new-born lamb, and the women tear their hair, sit senseless or call 'in vain' for their mothers. The men seize their 'prey' with 'eager hands', and fear is said to make the girls 'more beautiful'. Ovid's tone is joking: he ends by saying he would gladly be a soldier for 'rewards like these'. This makes the women's terror into entertainment; it may be callous, or it may be ironic, mocking the solemn version of Rome's origins that Augustus promoted.

Overall, Livy works hard to justify the seizure as necessary and beneficial, while Ovid treats it as a light-hearted example for lovers; but neither hides the violence, and Ovid's images in particular allow readers to see the women as victims of a crime that the story's happy ending cannot fully excuse.

Explanation

The best answers compare Livy's justifying narrative with Ovid's playful tone and analyse Ovid's language (prey, eagles, wolves, 'more beautiful') to show the violence beneath the humour. A judgement that distinguishes the writers' purposes is a strong substantiated conclusion.

Mark scheme

8 marks
Levels of response (8 marks). AO1 (4) and AO2 (4) are equally weighted.
Level 4 (7-8 marks): consistently accurate and detailed knowledge of the story of the Sabine women in Ovid and Livy, using both Source A and own wider knowledge; very good understanding of the cultural context and possible interpretations (including tone and purpose); a well-argued response with a clear, substantiated judgement on how far the seizure is presented as justified, supported by a range of well-selected evidence, including critical analysis.
Level 3 (5-6 marks): accurate knowledge, using both the source and own knowledge; a focused response with relevant analysis and a judgement.
Level 2 (3-4 marks): sound, mostly accurate knowledge; engages with the general topic of the Sabine women, with a limited range of evidence and some analysis.
Level 1 (1-2 marks): limited knowledge, may only use the source given; isolated analysis.
0 marks: no response or no response worthy of credit.
A mainly descriptive answer with little analysis or judgement cannot go above Level 2.
Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): AO1: Source A - the signal to seize their 'prey'; 'eager hands'; similes of doves and eagles, lamb and wolves; the girls' different reactions of fear; 'a prize for the marriage-bed'; fear made them 'more beautiful'; the man lifting a resisting girl and promising to be a husband to her; the joke 'give me rewards like these, and I will be a soldier'. Own knowledge (Livy 1.9-13) - Rome's shortage of women; the neighbours' refusal of intermarriage, with insults; the games for Neptune Equester (Consualia) as a planned trap; the girl seized for Thalassius and the wedding cry; the parents' charge of broken hospitality and religion; Romulus blames the fathers' pride and promises full marriage, property, citizenship and children; 'affection often grows out of injury'; the women's intervention in the battle; peace, one state, curiae named after the women. AO2: Justified - Livy presents it as a necessity for Rome's survival, provoked by the neighbours' arrogance; the outcome is lawful marriage, peace and the Roman people; it explains Roman wedding customs; Ovid's husband promises to be a true husband. Not justified - force and deceit, a breach of hospitality and religion, which Livy admits through the parents' complaint; Ovid's similes make the men predators and the girls helpless prey; Ovid's joking tone treats the women's terror as entertainment - either callous or ironic, undercutting the 'heroic' version Augustus' Rome liked; modern readers see mass rape. Judgement: e.g. Livy works hard to justify it, Ovid treats it as a joke, and neither fully hides its violence.

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