Life of a roman Soldier

[Gaius Sempronius Gracchus]

Are you actually impling that you want to join the army so you can rape people?


I don't think sexual assaults by soldiers would have been any less prevalent back then than today, the reason Boudicca treatment caused so much outrage was because she was a queen and leader of a whole tribe, if she had been a peasent women the reaction wouldn't have been anything like as big.

Also just because a society has strict laws for such crimes doesn't mean they happen less, many countries carry the death penalty for rape yet have worse rates because of other factors (extreme sexism etc)

Very good points, and to your last point.. it can be argued that the act that the laws are so strict, and carry such a heavy punishment, probably reveals that such crimes were prevalent..

Though I have to say that I agree with Andy1984 's point - that any local governer worth his salt would attempt to keep peaceful relations with what could be a very volatile populace.