AGOSTINHO CONTRA TITO LÍVIO: PUDOR, ESTUPRO E SUICÍDIO FEMININO

In the inaugural book of The City of God, Augustine discusses sexual violence against women. Having lived during the 4th and 5th centuries, the philosopher analyses rape under three perspectives: moral, legal and social. He defends that rape does not maculate the moral dignity of the victims. Furthermore, he considers rape to be a crime and, therefore, the victim, besides must not be blamed nor punished, has the right to receive consolatio. In its social aspect, Augustine denounces the mentality of his epoch as based on a distorted conception of puductia, pudicity (derived from Livy's narrative about Lucrecia's rape and his subsequent suicide). According to Augustine, Roman pudicity aggravates the unjust punishment of rape victims with further violence. Eventually, Augustine demands an imperial public policy of protection and support for raped women. The study which is brought out in the present article is developed in four phases: a brief historical context, the imperial example of female modesty (Lucretia), the disastrous consequences of this example, and, finally, the position of Augustine.