The Pleading of Women

When I read the Abduction then Intervention of the Sabine Women, summarized as follows...

After Rome achieved a population of "adequate numbers," such that "it was a match for any of the neighbouring nations in war," and after organizing the commoners and the 100 senators, Romulus ran into another problem when it was found that, in spite of the population spike, there weren't enough women for the city to sustain herself.

The record says that it was on the advice of the Fathers that Romulus sent out invitations to the neighboring cities to intermarry with the men of Rome. I associate family history with a certain education and family solidarity, and find it interesting to wonder about the family connections the Fathers had left in order to join Rome, as part of a group which Livy describes as "[fleeing] from the neighbouring states, without distinction whether freemen or slaves, crowds of all sorts, desirous of change." But all neighboring cities declined with a certain enthusiam, they did not trust the growing power of Rome (as power and ambition were common causes for war), populated with their former fugitives.

So, Romulus sent out new invitations to the neighboring cities, this time for them to come to Rome to participate in a grand festival to Neptune which Rome would be sponsoring. Families attended from all the neighboring cities  -- Cænina, Crustuminum, Antemæ, and especially Latium (the city of the Sabines, and historically the most powerful city in the region). During the celebration, on Romulus's signal, the men of Rome kidnapped for their wives ((and for the Fathers' wives) the daughters of the visiting families, then drove the families out. This is the instance famously referred to as the Abduction of the Sabine Women (since the Sabines were the most represented in the incident).

Romulus declared that the pride of the families of the neighboring cities had prompted this action, but declared that all of the marriages would be proper and lawful ones beyond that, and that as the families grew, the injuries would heal. The husbands were generally able to comfort their kidnapped wives with pronouncements of love for their motivation.

Nevertheless the parents were pissed (not surprising). The most pissed were those from Cænina, the next most pissed from Crustuminum and Antemæ, and then also those from Latium. All wanted revenge, but not all were equally quick to go to war with Rome. They all initially went to the king of Latium, Titus Tatius, to lobby him to lead an army of the four wronged cities against Rome; but neither Tatius nor his people (the Sabines) were thus eager to go to war. So a series of smaller wars were launched in succession by the smaller neighboring cities, with Rome victorious and the neighboring city conquered in each case.

First Cænina attacked in small parties, was pushed back, and their city conquered. Antemæ then attempted an attack on Rome during Rome's counter-campaign against Cænina, but was cut off by a Roman legion, then easily pushed back, an their city conquered. Crustuminum surrendered with battle, "as their spirits were sunk by the defeat of their neighbours." With each victory, Rome annexed their lands, and many people from those cities moved to Rome. 

Others joined Titus Tatius, who by this time was ready to fight, and the Sabine army combined with the remnants of the other fallen cities met the Roman army outside of Rome herself. In the middle of battle, the abducted wives intervened, pleading with their husbands (the Romans) on the one side and their fathers (the Sabines, et al.) on the other to stop fighting and unite now that they were all family by marriage. The fighting did stop, and the two kings worked out a treaty where Latium and Rome would combine under Roman sovereignty, with Romulus and Titus Tatius becoming co-monarchs, "[holding] the regal power not only in common, but in concord also." and the Roman population doubling as a result. 

Romulus organized the people (I presume everyone including the original Romans, the Sabines, Cæninenses, Crustumini, and Antemnates) into 30 curiæ, a division whose definition and social significance are unclear to me at this time. In honor of the Sabine women, credited with facilitating the end of the war and thereby the combining of the people, each curiæ was named after one of the kidnapped women. Livy points out that there were undoubtedly more than 30 women kidnapped, and it is unclear how which names were decided. I point out also that a list of the names, either those of the kidnapped women or those of the curiæ which bear their names (or variations on their names), is not provided.


...It made me think of a story from the Book of Mormon, where the wicked and exiled priests of King Noah kidnap the Lamanite daughters. There are multiple instances of the pleading of women in this episode of Book-of-Mormon history. It is summarized as follows... (in The Pleading of Women, Pt.2)