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A collection of essays seeking to establish Roman constructions of sexuality and gender difference as a distinct area of research, complementing work already done on Greece, in an attempt to present a fuller picture of ancient sexuality. By applying feminist critical tools to forms of public discourse, including literature, history, law, medicine, and political oratory, the essays explore the hierarchy of power reflected in most Roman sexual relations, where noblemen acted as the penetrators, and women, boys and slaves the penetrated. In many cases, the authors show how these roles could be inverted, in ways that revealed citizens' anxieties during the days of the early Empire, when traditional power structures seemed threatened.
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Edited by Skinner
PRINCETON
UNIVERSITY
PRINCETON,
PRESS
NEW JERSEY
Photograph of Lag)lJlos, Roman, late first-second century A.D. The Art Museum, Princeton University. Bequest of Professor Albert Mathias Friend, Jr. Photo O-edit: Bruce M. VVhite.
COPYRIGHT © 1997 BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PUBLISHED BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 41 WILLIAM STREET, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 08540 IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, CHICHESTER, WEST SUSSEX ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA ROMAN SEXUALITIES I EDITED BY JUDITH P. HALLETT AND MARlLYN B. SKINNER.
P.
CM.
INCLUDES BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES AND INDEX. ISBN 0-691-01179-6 (CL : ALK. PAPER) ISBN 0-691-01178-8 (PBK. : ALK. PAPER) 1. SEX CUSTOMS-ROME-HISTORY. 2. SEX IN LITERATURE.
3. ROME IN LITERATURE. 4. CLASSICAL LITERATURE. 5. FEMINIST CRITICISM. 6. ROME-HISTORY. 7. ROME-SOCIAL LIFE AND CUSTOMS. 1. HALLETT, JUDITH P., 1944-
HQ13.R65
1998
. II. SKINNER, MARlLYN B.
306.7'0945'63-DC21
97-12684 CIP
THIS BOOK HAS BEEN COMPOSED IN JANSON PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS BOOKS ARE PRINTED ON ACID-FREE PAPER AND MEET THE GUIDELINES FOR PERMANENCE AND DURABILITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON PRODUCTION GUIDELINES FOR BOOK LONGEVITY OF THE COUNCIL ON LIBRARY RESOURCES. HTTP://PUP.PRINCETON.EDU PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 (PBK)
IN MEMORY OF
John Patrick Sullivan WHOSE SCHOLARLY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STUDY OF ROMAN SEX AND GENDER SYSTEMS PAVED THE WAY FOR THIS COLLECTION
vitam quae faciant beatiorem, iucundissime Martialis, haec sunt ... prudens simplicitas, pares amici; convictus facilis, sine arte mensa ... quod sis, esse velis nihilque malis; summum nee metuas diem nee optes. (Martial 10.47)
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
IX
INTRODUCTION
Quod multo fit aliter in Graecia . ..
3
Marilyn B. Skinner
PART ONE: UNMARKED SEXUALITY ONE
Invading the Roman Body: Manliness and Impenetrability in Roman Thought 29 Jonathan Walters
PART TWO: WAYWARD SEXUALITIES TWO
The Teratogenic Grid
47
Holt N Parker THREE
Unspeakable Professions: Public Performance and Prostitution in Ancient Rome 66 Catharine Edwards
PART THREE: GENDER SLIPPAGE IN LITERARY CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE MASCULINE FOUR
Dining Deviants in Roman Political Invective
99
Anthony Corbeill FIVE
Ego mulier: The Construction of Male Sexuality in Catullus Marilyn B. Skinner SIX
The Erotics of amicitia: Readings in Tibullus, Propertius, and Horace 151 Ellen Oliensis
129
viii
CONTENTS
SEVEN
Reading Broken Skin: Violence in Roman Elegy David Fredrick
172
PART FOUR: MALE CONSTRUCTIONS OF "WOMAN" EIGHT
Pliny's Brassiere 197 Amy Richlin NINE
Female Desire and the Discourse of Empire: Tacitus's M