There are many possible reasons for this general lack of interest in the subject. Two of the main rationales behind scholars’ indifference are based on problematical assumptions made about the practice. Firstly, historians frequently refuse to elaborate on the topic based on its apparent ‘commonality’. But can the frequency of a practice really be accepted as a justifiable reason to disengage from a topic?
Furthermore, many scholars view martial rape to be a predictable and uncomplicated practice. They believe that sexual assaults against war victims took a universal pattern, regardless of factors such as period, nationality, gender, and ethnicity. This presumed pattern takes the following format: army conquers city, soldiers plunder city, the surviving men are killed and the surviving women are raped before being subjected to a lifetime of slavery. This belief is not completely unfounded as this exact sequence appears in several sources, such as The : “the men are slain and the city is wasted by fire, and their children and low-belted women are led to serve other men” ( 9.593-94). However, the recurrence of this sequence does not preclude the fact that other sources display a more complicated set of situations which allow us to challenge assumptions. Additionally, the sources which appear to set out a clear and simple picture of martial rape should not be taken at face value. Ancient authors frequently omit information or include literary tropes which makes it
