[Note: This is the introduction to a 95-minute lecture that can only be viewed on YouTube directly due to age restrictions. The link to the full video is here.]
seangabb
Published 13 Dec 2022This lecture is concerned with the customs and institutions of paid sex in the Roman World. The main focus is on the market for paid sex between the founding of the Empire in the last decades before the birth of Christ, down to the establishment of Christianity as the faith of the Empire, with a brief overview of the shifting views of paid sex by the authorities in the Christian Empire. It involves extensive quotation from legal and literary and other contemporary sources, plus modern research and the archaeology, to provide an overview of a subject that if often harrowing and even disgusting, but that is, or should be, a core unit in any history of the Roman World. Subjects covered include:
Sex slaves
“Free” Prostitutes
Forced prostitution
Foundlings as prostitutes
The age of consent in ancient times
The legal status of prostitutes
Violence against prostitutes
Male prostitution
Castration of male sex slaves
The price of sexual services
Brothels
Erotic art
Sexually transmitted diseases
Christianity and prostitutionThere is a full bibliography at the end of both ancient and modern sources.
Note: This lecture deals in an explicit manner with themes that are very controversial and that may give considerable offence. If you believe that you may be offended by any of the images and readings, please do not watch.
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