Claudia Quinta (fl. 220–206 BCE)

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Claudia Quinta (fl. 220–206 bce)

Roman woman. Flourished between 220–206 bce.

In 206 bce, the ship conveying the image of the goddess Cybele grounded in the shallows at the mouth of the Tiber River. In Roman legend, when the oracles announced that only a chaste woman could move the ship, Claudia Quinta cleared herself from an accusation of faithlessness by stepping forward from among the matrons who had accompanied Scipio to receive the image. The ship was tied to her girdle by a long rope, and she dragged it out of the shallows.

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