Tarpeia and the Early Days of Rome

This article is for readers of my novel Tarpeia, which is the second book in The First Vestals of Rome Trilogy, a series about the founding Vestal priestesses of ancient Rome. Many of the characters and legends that you’ll read about in my books are depicted on ancient Roman coinage, so I thought readers would be interested in seeing these. And just a heads up, there are SPOILERS ahead, so you’ll want to finish the novel before you read this article. You’ll find it more enjoyable that way, too, since you’ll be able to see how certain elements of this enduring legend have been dramatized. *Also, if you’re following the trilogy, you may wish to read the article for Rhea Silvia (book one) before this one, and the article for Amata (book three) after this one.

Obviously, the main character in the novel is Tarpeia, but another main character is a man by the name of Titus Tatius – he is, in the founding mythology of Rome, a Sabine king who lived during the time of Romulus and Tarpeia (the Sabines were a people who lived near Rome, and who predated Rome’s founding). Tarpeia, herself, is also a Sabine. The obverse of the below coin, a denarius minted in 39 BCE - so the time of the later Republic - shows the face of King Tatius.

You can see his head and his beard, and to the left you can see the letters SABIN for the word Sabine (most words on coins are shortened or abbreviated).

Now, according to legend, Rome in its earliest days is a city of men. Needing women and mothers to secure the city’s future, King Romulus invites some neighboring tribes, including the Sabines, to visit Rome under the pretense of a festival, but really, it’s a set up—and he and his men end up essentially kidnapping the young women visiting their city.

The Abduction of the Sabine Women, Nicolas Poussin, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

This legend is typically referred to as the Abduction of the Sabine Women, and it’s a theme found in various works of art, from paintings to sculpture. It’s also found on ancient Roman coinage. For if we flip over the coin of Tatius, we this infamous event depicted on the reverse.

There are two Roman soldiers here, and each one is carrying off one of these Sabine women. This impression does have a certain visceral quality to it...the soldier on the right looks like he’s really struggling to hold this woman. And on the left, you can actually see the one woman’s arms kind of reaching out, presumably trying to fight off her abductor.

This is obviously a bold representation of a crime and it elicits an unpleasant emotional response, perhaps not unlike the Judea Capta coins or the other conquest coins where you see captives. But moving on…and moving on specifically to the legend of Tarpeia, which is intertwined with the abduction of the Sabine women.

The classical or typical telling of the legend is that Tarpeia was a Vestal priestess who opened the gates of Rome to the Sabine army so they could rescue their women, and she did this in exchange for what they wore on their arms.

Tarpeia. Helene Guerber, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Tarpeia assumed this would be their gold cuffs or rings or jewelry, but the Sabine soldiers thought differently. They saw her as a traitor, as did Rome, and they threw their shields—which they carried on their arms—down on top of her, crushing her to death. 

Tarpeia (Tarpea). B. Pinelli inv., N. Mellini dis., A. Lanzani inc., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

And we see this story depicted on the reverse of the below 89 BCE coin.

We can see Tarpeia in the middle of the action, her arms out, her hair kind of wild, as she struggles to fight off two soldiers who are about to throw their shields at her and kill her. Like the coin of the Sabines, it’s a very emotional coin. The legend of Tarpeia was certainly well-known to the ancient Romans, and the story is actually depicted on the reverse of a second coin.

The below coin is a denarius of Augustus that was minted around 19 BCE, so about a decade into the Empire (the emperor is on the obverse). On the reverse, we can see poor Tarpeia buried to the waist in shields, arms up to protect herself or beg for mercy. Her dress and veil are visible, and it’s all very intense.

What’s very interesting to me about this coin in particular is the fact that it is holed. Some coins were holed in antiquity to nail to things, like maybe a temple as an offering to a god, but to me this looks like it was worn as a pendant, which was also a common practice. Considering the subject matter—treason, punishment—it makes one wonder who wore this, and why. Did a Vestal wear it as a sign of her loyalty? Or maybe a soldier? Or maybe it was nailed somewhere, perhaps on one of the gates of Rome, as a reminder of what happens when you open them when you shouldn’t. Even when I first saw this coin I was curious about that, and I still am. So - some fairly intense images on these coins, but they are nonetheless fascinating and offer a glimpse into how the ancients regarded these legends.

Thank you for reading. And again, if you’re reading the entire trilogy, I hope you will visit the articles for Rhea Silvia (book one) and Amata (book three) to see the coins that reflect those stories, too.