Lucretia in the World of Sophistopolis: A Rhetorical Reading of Aug. civ. I. 19

In chapter I. 19 of the City of God, Augustine submits the tale of Lucretia to a radical reinterpretation, explicitly questioning the value of one of the most important exempla virtutis of Roman tradition. By using the rules and conventions of declamatory practice, the Bishop of Hippo performs a controversia in miniature on the chastity of the heroine (utrum Lucretia adultera an casta iudicanda sit), in order to show that Lucretia’s suicide cannot be accepted either from a Christian or a pagan perspective. In doing so, Augustine tries to challenge and beat his pagan opponents at their own game and introduces Lucretia into the complex and fanciful world of Sophistopolis.