Raptus Semproniae? An analysis of the Martial’s Epigram XII, 52

Abstract

The Epigram XII, 52 written by Marcus Valerius Martialis is a description of a story of Sempronia – a woman, who was either abducted or seduced, but who later left her lover and returned to her lawful husband. The poet, by repeating the terminology associated with violence (raptus, rapina, raptor, rapta), puts emphasis on the motive of force (vis). This might suggest that the poem was composed as a speech in defence of Sempronia and Martial could have been trying to convince the general public that the woman was simply forced to leave her husband. The main aim of the paper is to assess to what extent this attempt could have been effective and credible in the eyes of an ancient reader. Moreover, describing the mutual relations between poetry, law and rhetoric will allow determining if Martial knew Roman law and wanted to make use of his knowledge or if he simply found linguistically attractive using the words that sounded similar but did not have the same meaning.

Keywords

• Raptus
• vis
• force
• Martial
• Roman Law