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2 - Sex in Rome in the First Century bce and the First Century ce

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 April 2024

Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Mathew Kuefler
Affiliation:
San Diego State University
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Summary

This chapter describes the current scholarly view of the dominant ideologies surrounding sexuality in the Roman world of the late Republic and early Empire (c. 100 BCE to 100 CE) and also outlines the fragmentary glimpses we have of the lived experiences of people of the time, including those from marginalized or oppressed groups. It covers the normative expectations of sexual practice, the ‘penetrative’ model and its problems, labels, and terminology used at the time and by modern scholars including the debate around the use of ‘homosexuality’ and ‘heterosexuality’ to describe the ancient world, the place of sexuality in the private and public realms, the relation between sex and gender, legal, moral, and social constraints on sex and sexual violence, and the intersection of status and sexuality. The chapter draws on Latin poetry, legal and historical texts, art, and material remains to provide evidence and examples of Roman sexual practices and attitudes towards sex.

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Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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References

Further Reading

Blondell, Ruby, and Ormand, Kirk, eds. Ancient Sex. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2015.Google Scholar
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Flemming, Rebecca. ‘Fertility Control in Ancient Rome’. Women’s History Review 30, no. 6 (2021): 896914.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Golden, Mark, and Toohey, Peter, eds. Sex and Difference in Ancient Greece and Rome. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003.Google Scholar
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Kamen, Deborah, and Marshall, C. W., eds. Slavery and Sexuality in Classical Antiquity. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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Young, Elizabeth Marie.The Touch of the “Cinaedus”: Unmanly Sensations in the “Carmina Priapea”’, Classical Antiquity 34, no. 1 (2015): 183208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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