Pudicitia

The word is derived from the more general pudor, the sense of shame that regulated an individual's behavior as socially acceptable.

[citation needed] Romans, both men and women, were expected to uphold the virtue of pudicitia, a complex ideal that was explored by many ancient writers, including Livy, Valerius Maximus, Cicero, Tacitus and Tertullian.

The way a man or woman presented him or herself in public, and the persons they interacted with caused others to pass judgment on their pudicitia.

In Cicero's oration against Verres, he discusses many of the governor's transgressions including sexual misconduct with both men and women.

Livy states that the plebeian shrine of Pudicitia eventually fell into disuse after its sacred character had been abused.

Statue of a woman, perhaps the empress Vibia Sabina , dressed as Pudicitia
Bust of a Modest Roman Woman of the Severan Period 193-211 CE at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
Pudicitia depicted on the reverse of an antoninianus of Herennia Etruscilla