Tarpeia

[ tahr-pee-uh ]

/ tɑrˈpi ə /

noun Classical Mythology.

a vestal virgin who betrayed Rome to the Sabines and was crushed under their shields when she claimed a reward.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tarpeia

His praise had always been like the warriors' shields clanging over poor Tarpeia,—precious, but too crushing.
Rose MacLeod|Alice Brown
Shall we be buried under them like Tarpeia under the Sabine shields?
On Books and the Housing of Them|William Ewart Gladstone
The palace of the Princess Tarpeia was the most celebrated in Rome, one of the most ancient, and certainly the most beautiful.
Lothair|Benjamin Disraeli
Tarpeia meant it in the former sense; Tatius chose to understand it in the latter.
Selections from Viri Romae|Charles Franois L'Homond

Quibus dolose promissis, Tarpeia Sabinos in arcem perduxit, ubi Tatius scutis eam obrui iussit; nam et ea in laevis habuerant.
Selections from Viri Romae|Charles Franois L'Homond

British Dictionary definitions for tarpeia

Tarpeia

/ (tɑːˈpiːə) /

noun

(in Roman legend) a vestal virgin, who betrayed Rome to the Sabines and was killed by them when she requested a reward

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012