Frequently Attested Cultural Issues

Oral sex: Romans and some Greek writers under the empire repeatedly express negative attitudes towards oral sex, especially in invective and jokes; others take less notice (Richlin 1992a: 26-9; H. Parker 1997).

Sex between husband and wife: This is, by comparison, a less-discussed concern except for rabbinic writers, for whom marital sex is important and positive, and for some Christian writers, for whom it is important and of debatable value (Boyarin 1993; Satlow 1998b; Brown 1988). For historicization of marital affection in the empire, see Cohen and Saller 1994: 44-55, correcting Foucault 1988.

Prostitution: Prostitution was legal everywhere in the empire at all times (see McGinn 1998: 343-5), although efforts were sometimes made to outlaw male prostitution and to curb the practice of castrating enslaved babies to make eunuchs. The sex objects in many erotic texts are probably imagined as prostitutes even where this is not specified, and prostitutes figure as well in texts and art of all kinds (Henry 1992; H. Parker 1992a; McGinn 1989; 1998). Sacred prostitution has been shown to be fictional (Beard and Henderson 1997).

Abstinence: A positive attitude towards abstinence from sex is present from the first century ce onwards and is by no means exclusively Christian, being an element in Stoic philosophy as well as in some medical systems (see Pinault 1992; Foucault 1988). Rabbinic Judaism, however, values sex between husband and wife so highly that it is not comfortable with the idea of abstinence (Boyarin 1993:134-66). Moral texts generally stress self-control, but this should be taken in the context of immoral texts. The whole issue grows in importance from about 200 ce onwards.

Rape: Rape was a crime throughout the period, but victims were often blamed, and Roman law is clear that there are those with whom rape ‘‘is not committed,’’ i. e. persons who could never press charges - not only prostitutes but waitresses and others in certain labor categories (Edwards 1997; Fantham 1991; Richlin 1993). The rape of slaves was treated as property damage. Yet the rape of women is a popular plotline in Greek and Latin literature (Richlin 1992c). For rabbinic attitudes towards rape, see Wegner 1988: 23-7, 300-1; Satlow 1995: 132-5.