Rape Room in Sicily Villa?!

[Onasander]

I'm at 7:32 on a video called Mezzogiorno Sicily: About Greeks, Romans, and a Carthagenian General.

 

It's doing a guided tour of the island, showing the viewer around the mosaics and guest rooms, then it shows.... I'm not making this up, the "Rape Room".

 

"This bedroom was used for raping of women captured in wars. The reason of this barbaric practice was that the population was depleted by men and by this act they were trying to procreate future fighters for the empire".

 

It's available in amazon prime for free if you have a kindle.

 

The guy has a creepy italian accent. I can't imagine the reaction of women being walked through this tour, showed all the pretty ruins, then told this.... then continuing the tour like nothing odd was said.

 

So.... did Roman architecture regularly include a "rape room" for the procreation of new armies? Am I missing something?

 

Was it in a set location? If I was stepping into a Senators house, would it be generally ahead of me, to my left, or rightdown the hall?

 

How did Roman daughters react to hearing the screams arising from the rape room at night? Many little girls have a hard time with monsters under the bed or in the closet, I can't imagine one growing up in a house with a rape room.

 

I can't imagine how the archeologists decided on this one.

 

It's like Borat is giving a tour of this place.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Onasander

[GhostOfClayton]

I wonder what their evidence was for associating that room with that purpose?  Tour Guides are a funny lot.  Even those like me who prie themselves on veracity always like to be more colorful with the way they relate that truth.  Our clients are asked to fill in feedback forms, after all.

Edited November 26, 2014 by GhostOfClayton

[Onasander]

It offered no explanation. It's from the 21st century, as he mentions flooding that occurs in the 90s. Just has a old 80s feel to the video, BetaMax almost.

 

I want to start making clips of all the horrid scenes from history movies from hollywood, and documentaries like this, and send it on a 100,000 year elliptical orbit of the sun, and when it returns, future historians can have verifiable knowledge of their ancient world, and was like.... I figure by then all knowledge of the past would of been lost a few times over.... they wouldn't know any better.

[caldrail]

There's a space mission planned to land on the Moon and deposit time capsules from the public. Get on board.

 

(the mission I mean, not the capsule... Sorry... Erm...)

Edited November 27, 2014 by caldrail

[Onasander]

[indianasmith]

I've never heard any reference to such a thing.  I believe the tour guide was pulling someone's leg!

[Onasander]

I was thinking this tourguide was pulling everyone's leg too, but found a East Roman history that may suggest just such a tradition:

 

Elmantatum is the key word, perhaps the designated Free Rape Zone? I dunno, came from a Monastic's History of the World:

 

 

http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/nikiu2_chronicle.htm

 

CHAPTER, LVI. 1. And in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah there were two brothers whose names were Romulus and Remus.72 2. And these built a great city near a small city Valentia in Italy, a city of Latinus where previously there had been a royal palace named Pallantium. And this they rebuilt. 3. Moreover they built a temple for their God named Zeus, and they named it in their own language the Capitol.73 And the appearance of one of the buildings, the royal palace, was very wonderful. And in the Latin language they named the Capitol 'Head of the city'. 4. And in those days they called themselves 'Romans' and the name of their city 'Rome'. And the two brothers ruled together in it. But afterwards a cause of enmity intervened, and Romulus slew Remus his brother and reserved the throne for himself alone. |44 5. And thereupon the city was shaken with earthquake and all the people were panic-stricken together because of the great quakings in their midst. And Romulus also was terrified and became heavy of heart by means of his great terror, and he learnt from the diviners and the unclean spirits that his throne should not be established in Rome without his brother Remus. 6. Then he had recourse to many a device in order to raise his brother and he was not able. But a great quaking ensued and in the midst of that quaking he saw an image of his brother, a perfect likeness from his head to his breast. 7. And he made an image of his brother in the likeness of the apparition which he had before seen, a golden statue representing his brother from the head to the breast, and he placed it on his throne and he adorned it with all manner of ornaments. 8. And in his prescripts he wrote after this manner, saying : '(In) the prescripts emanating from me and my brother so we declare, and so we command, so we execute', and so on. 9. And this custom derived from the Romans has prevailed to the present. Their kings and their magistrates have preserved this formula in the courts which are called 'praetorian', that is, in their places of justice.

10. And Romulus also was the first to ride on horseback in Rome and to rush to the encounter at full speed and to be ardent to be victorious. And he devised these diabolical practices and source of evils and vices, in order that his horse soldiers should be the strongest in the world. 11. And he appointed also a place of conflict for women called Elmantatum that the soldiers might resort (thither) in order to be with them (the women). For previously they had violated all the women, whether married, virgin, or widowed.

12. And by reason of his fear and discouragement Romulus instituted this order of female cavalry and made them alone without the men into one force. 13. And he divided them moreover into two parts, the virgins on one side and the married women on the other. And he assembled from all the cities far and near a great assemblage of women cavalry without number. 14. And |45 they kept watch over the foreign women in their midst who did not belong to Rome, in order to accomplish (their) desire. And (Romulus ordered them) to lay hands on all they found. 15. Now the young girls of the city of the Sabines which is near to Rome were beautiful women. And he summoned and assembled them (masc.) to him. And when Romulus had ended assembling the women, he gave them to the soldiers who had no wives. And he named those soldiers stratiw&taj, that is, warriors. 16. And the rest he ordered to carry them (the women) off as best they could. And subsequently to this ordinance they chose their wives according to their individual tastes without violence.

Edited December 3, 2014 by Onasander

[Onasander]

It also just occurred to me, the Romans used to exile female adulterers to Islands..... a territorial space concept, right hemisphere thinking, for a kind of sexual indulgence that transgressed the sexual discipline and social law expected (of noble women alone) of the early princips.

 

If they organized one form of sexuality in terms of space, perhaps they listed other sexual indulgences via space too? A rape room would qualify in this scheme, as it's not too far off from adultery island (perhaps the ancient origins of the impulse for Caribbean cruises?)