Women in ancient Rome it more praiseworthy to be a good husband than a good senator." A man of status during the Roman Republic was expected to behave moderately toward his wife and to define himself as a good husband. Wife beating was sufficient grounds for divorce or other legal action against the husband. Domestic abuse enters the historical record mainly when it involves the egregious excesses of the elite. The Emperor Nero was alleged to have had his first wife (and stepsister) Claudia Octavia murdered, after subjecting her to torture and imprisonment. Nero then married his pregnant mistress Poppaea Sabina, whom he kicked
Sabina K. refuses to get. Her life grows progressively worse until she's left homeless and jobless. Sabina K. is inspired by a true story set in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The "Sabina" of the title plans to marry Saša (with whom she served during the Bosnian War), but there is a problem. Sabina is Muslim and Saša a Catholic, and their respective families disapprove of the marriage. Their only ally is an older woman, Ankica, whose son - killed in the war - had been their close friend. "Aunt" Ankica thinks of Sabina and Saša as her own children and invites them to