Freshman Seminar
College is all about learning, and being open to new ideas and experiences. My freshman year I took the oddest class of my college career, a seminar with about 12 students called “Sex and the Ancient City.” This class was literally an academic study of Greek and Roman sexuality. It could have been extremely awkward if the professor had not handled the material so well. The first class he told us that we were going to examine the gory details, and proceeding to list every taboo word and act he could think, because we were going to cover it all. The class was extremely fascinating, and I have never had a class since that shocked me. Below is the culmination of that course, a research paper comparing the content of popular TV series Rome to actual Roman sexual practices. Be warned, it is detailed and graphic, even though academic. Read at your own risk.
HBO’s Rome: “The Romans really did that?”
Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times wrote that HBO’s popular series ‘Rome’ “…does excellent work with…severed limbs, pagan rituals, and barbaric sexual acts.”[i] This drama takes place during the fall of the Roman Republic and covers the years 58 B.C. to roughly 31 B.C. “Rome” has it all: war, politics, love, death, treachery, and of course copious amounts of (somewhat startling) sex. When viewing the show, once cannot help but wonder if the producers were sensationalizing Roman sexuality for the purpose of boosting ratings. This line of thought leads to a very involved and fascinating question: how historically accurate is the series “Rome” in its representations of Roman sexuality? If the series is not historically accurate, what are the possible reasons for the incorrect representation? In an attempt to discover how correct or incorrect HBO’s “Rome” is in regards to sex, this paper examines several specific examples from the series including prostitution, same-sex relationships, and rape as a form of punishment and then compares and contrasts it to what ancient Greek and Roman sources have to tell scholars about these topics. Both Greek and Roman sources are helpful and logical sources of information because, as Marilyn B. Skinner wrote, “from its origins Rome has always known Greek influence in one form or another.”[ii]
HBO’s “Rome” offers two historically accurate examples of very different types of prostitution establishments. The first is a porneion, or common brothel, located near the Venereal temples. It is important to note that the brothel is located near a temple of Venus, for during the first century B.C. temple prostitution was still popular. This was true for several reasons. As Johnson and Ryan described it, “in purchasing one of the temple slaves, the client is presumably making a donation to the goddess and experiencing a religious act, as opposed to paying for a girl from downtown Athens or Pompeii”[iii]. In addition to being a legitimate form of business, prostitutes were desirable because performed a very different sexual role from that of a wife or hetaera. The wife’s primary purpose is to bear children, while the hetaera is used for sexual pleasure. The common prostitute off the street was used for “fucking;” sex with no strings attached, except a small fee. Nicarchus offers a poem describing one such situation:
Hermogenes, Cleoboulus and I once upon a time brought in Aristodike, the one woman, for group sex. By lot I got to dwell in the depths of her grey sea; for we divided her up, one to one, all of us not getting all of her. But lot Hermogenes got the dreaded dark haven, the last haven, Hermogenes going down into the place of darkness, along which are the banks of the dead, and wind blown ‘figs’ are rotated by the blast of roaring gusts. Put Cleoboulus down as Zeus; by lot he got to rise up to heaven, holding in his hand blazing fire. The earth stayed common to us all, for spreading over it a mat of rushes, thus we divided the old woman.[iv]
This is just one example of a sexual act not acceptable to perform with one’s wife.
It is in the second episode of “Rome” that legionary Titus Pullo (a common, enlisted soldier) is shown walking down an alley filled with half dressed prostitutes. The walls have graffiti written on them, advertisements very similar to those found written on the walls of the city Pompeii. Pompeii is a wonderful source of knowledge concerning Ancient Rome because it was so well preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. In ancient Rome these bits of graffiti described sexual services, prices, slander and praise about specific prostitutes, and even sexual advice. A few examples of graffiti actually discovered in Pompeii include the advertisement “Euplia sucks for five asses”[v], the advice “thrust slowly”[vi], and the insult “Sabina, you suck- you do not do it well”[vii]. On this street Pullo enters a building that contains several small cells just large enough to contain a prostitute and a mattress on the floor. This setting is very similar to Pompeii’s Lupanar. The Lupanar was the city’s largest brothel before the eruption of Vesuvius buried it all. It contained similar small chambers, where archaeologists discovered stone bed in each separate chamber[viii]. At the end of this scene Pullo is shown violently penetrating a female prostitute from behind. It is uncertain whether he is engaging in vaginal or anal sex, but either is just as likely because the client could purchase whatever they liked. For example, Gallus wrote of the prostitute Lyde who said ‘“I let in arse-lover, cunt-lover, mouth-lover.”’[ix] Prostitutes were used for the more deviant sexual acts, those which were looked down upon by Roman society. For example, it was considered shameful for a man to orally pleasure a woman. “Maritimus licks your vulva for 4 As. He is ready to serve virgins as well”[x]. The clitoris was considered a malformed penis, and by sucking on it the man was allowing himself to be penetrated and dominated by the women, an odious act in a society where manliness was directly linked to prestige and honor.
The second example of prostitution occurs when Titus Pullo takes young Gaius Octavian (later to become Augustus Caesar) to an upscale brothel where the prostitutes are slaves owned by a pimp. Octavian had been sent here by his mother to gain experience in the ways of men. As it was illegal to sleep with somebody else’s wife, the other option was to pay for a prostitute. One of the greatest arguments for prostitution in ancient Rome was that it decreased the likelihood of adultery. During the first century B.C. Cato the Elder openly supported prostitution for this reason. The lyric poet Horace writes in his Satires “when a certain well-known person was exiting a brothel, ‘Well done! Keep it up!’ was the inspired utterance of Cato, ‘for as soon as lust swells the veins it is right for young men to go down to such a place, and not to be grinding away at the wives of others!”’[xi]. By Roman social standards it did not matter, in fact it was encouraged for a young man to have multiple partners, as long as they were not someone’s wife or child, because then it was considered an insult to the husband or father in question. When Octavian enters the brothel a line of scantily clad and alluring looking men and women are marched in front of him. In the following, Athenaeus writes of how prostitutes were adorned and prepared to be paraded in front of a client:
“At once they refashion these girls, so neither their behavior nor their appearance remains the same as before. One girl happens to be small? Cork is stitched to the sole of her delicate shoes. One girl happens to be tall? She wears a flat slipper, and goes out drooping her head on her shoulders, thus taking away some of her height. One girl doesn’t have hips? She puts on a girdle with padded hips under her clothes so that as a result men, on seeing her beautiful derriere, call out to her. . . One girl is too white-skinned? She smears on rouge. One part of her body is beautiful? She shows it naked”[xii]
Octavian soon makes his selection (a tall and attractive young woman) and is led back to an ornately decorated room where they have privacy. Before engaging in intercourse, Octavian (because he is nervous) talks to the girl. She speaks very little Latin and with a strange, foreign accent. She explains to Octavian how her family was murdered and taken as a slave. Most prostitutes in ancient Rome were slaves, either bought or born into slavery and raised to perform. During the trial of the courtesan Neaera, Demosthenes gives a speech that details her past:
There were seven young girls who were purchased when they were small children by Nicarete, the freedwoman of Charusius of Elis, and the wife of his cook, Hippias. She had the talent to recognize the potential beauty of little girls and knew how to raise them and educate them with expertise—for it was from this that she had made a profession and from this came her livelihood. She called them daughters so that, by displaying them as freeborn, she could obtain the highest prices from the men wishing to have intercourse with them. [xiii]
Indeed, these portions of “Rome” dealing with prostitution are very historically accurate in all of their gory details.
“Rome” also broaches the subject of same-sex relationships. In episode four Julius Caesar is struck with an epileptic seizure quite suddenly. In an attempt to hide his illness his nephew (Octavian) and slave (Posca) hide him in a closet until the seizure subsides. Outside the door a slave hears Caesar gasping and struggling while in the throes of the seizure, and then sees both he and Octavian leave the closet. The slave jumps to the conclusion they had sex and informers her mistress Atia, Octavian’s mother. Atia’s reaction to the prospect is “you seduced him, you sly little fox. I’m not sure it is decent him being your uncle, but who is to say what is decent in times like these? I’m any case, well done.”[xiv] Octavian denies it most vehemently, and with good cause. By this period of Roman history pederasty is looked down upon and even considered a punishable crime. Plautus wrote in his play Curculio “…Nobody forbids anyone to walk on the public street; as long as you don’t cut a path through a fenced area, as long as you keep away from the bride, the widow, the virgin, the young man, and freeborn boys, love whom you please”[xv]. Atia’s reaction to the idea of her son being part of a pederastic relationship does not make sense, and her opinion on the matter certainly does not reflect the opinion of ancient Rome in general. Not only is pederasty condemned for moral reasons, but Ovid offers his personal opinion in his Ars Amatoria and goes so far at to say that intercourse with a boy is nowhere near as good as intercourse with a woman: “I hate sex that doesn’t provide equal release for each partner. This is why I am touched less by the love of a boy”[xvi]. This is referring to the pederastic practices of the Greeks, where the young boy in question was not supposed to enjoy the sexual contact.
The producers of the show did a careless job of representing pederasty in ancient Rome. This could be because the producers acknowledge how sensitive a subject it is in terms of today’s morals and standards. What the Greeks and Romans considered pederasty modern day society considers pedophilia, statutory rape, and an extremely heinous and serious crime. Perhaps the creators of the series could not elaborate on pederasty in enough detail for this reason to be historically accurate. The sacrifice of historical accuracy for entertainment or decency is not an uncommon occurrence. Though, the producers did do a slightly better job with the same sex female love affair between Servilia and Octavia. Servilia, being the mother of Brutus, is much older than Octavia. Their relationship starts out as a mutually beneficial friendship. Servilia is alone now that her son has left her, while Octavia cannot stop grieving for her recently murdered husband. They comfort each other. Before long their relationship develops into a sexual one. What Servilia and Octavia have together sounds very like the couple Sappho writes about in her fragments on love and friendship:
I loved you a long time ago, Atthis, once…a small child, lacking in grace, to me you seemed to be. “To be dead is what I honestly want.” She, leaving me, was weeping many tears and said this to me: “what a terrible thing we suffer Sappho. Truly against my will do I leave you.” This is what I answered: “Rejoice, go, and remember me, for you know how much I cared for you.” But if not, I wish to remind you…and we experienced many beautiful things: many wreaths of violets and roses and…you put alongside me, and many garlands woven out of flowers you drew round your delicate kneck, and with much costly perfume, you anointed yourself, and on soothing bed tender…you would satisfy your longing.[xvii]
While it lasted, Octavia and Servilia kept their love affair an absolute secret, because same sex female relationships were always looked down upon by society. During the third century B.C. Asclepiades wrote of two females named Bitto and Nannion “who are unwilling to follow the pathway set by laws of Aphrodite, but desert to other courses, which are not beautiful. Mistress Cypris, look with hated upon these fugitives from your bed”[xviii]. This was hundreds of years before Martial (who lived in the first century A.D.) wrote his own short piece which ridiculed a woman names Philaenis for being active and passive during sex. In fact, so strong are his feelings on the matter that he essentially describes her as bisexual freak of nature. “Philaenis the tribad buggers boys and with her ‘erection’ more savagely than any husband, she shafts eleven girls every day…After that when she is in the grip of lust, she does not suck cock—she thinks this to be insufficiently manly—but solely guzzles on girls’ groins. May the gods grant you your wits, Philaenis, you who think it manly to lick a cunt.”[xix] So all in all, same sex relationships were considered taboo in Rome. Even though it was a noteworthy effort on the part of the producers of HBO’s “Rome” for including same-sex relationships (particularly concerning the portrayal of same-sex female relationships), there was not enough detail involved to truly explain why and how these relationships were looked upon by Roman citizens. Yet again, modern day morals have come into play here and affected the producers’ decisions. The producers were relying on the viewers’ sense of what is sexually right or wrong so they could form their own opinion concerning pederasty and bisexuality in ancient Rome in that they did not fully condemn either sexual situation.
Being that Roman society is very focused on manhood and strength, the Romans were fond of using rape as a means of degradation, punishment, or torture. In the series there are only two example of this behavior, because the subject matter is extremely sensitive, violent, and disturbing. Sadly enough it was not an uncommon occurrence. In episode fifteen rape as punishment is used against a man named Carbo for defiling the young son of another man. To understand fully how degrading this was the basic aspects and beliefs of Roman society must be understood. Specifically, that Roman society was very phallocentric, (or in other words dominated by males who were driven by their penises and all that they represented) and one of the most degrading things that a man could do was to take on the passive (or female) role during sex. It was acceptable for a man to play the active role and anally penetrate another man, but it was looked down upon at all times for a man to allow himself to be penetrated. For breaking certain laws rape became an acceptable form of punishment, and was quite often used as a means of torture, as in this first instance of rape in the series Rome. In this Catullus poem he describes one instance where anal sex is used as punishment: “Just now I caught in the act the girl’s boy-pet rubbing (his prick); the boy—if it pleases Dione, in lieu of a weapon, I ‘slew’ him with my hard on.”[xx] Another man named Priapus warned what would happen should he catch anyone stealing from his garden: “I give fair warning: a boy—I’ll bugger, a girl—I’ll fuck: the third penalty remains for the bearded thief”[xxi]. In the second instance rape is used as punishment and/or form of torture on an upper class female citizen. For in the second season of “Rome” Atia kidnaps Servilia and has her tortured and raped. Even Jonathan Stamp, who worked as the Historical Consultant for the series “Rome” wrote on one “Inside the Episode” article that “there is something about the scene in which Servilia is tortured that would have disturbed even the Romans”[xxii]. Typically the Roman’s are not shy about torture at all. A fine example of this is the fact that before a slave could testify in court they had to be tortured. Even if the slave agreed to cooperate and tell the truth, they were still tortured first. But to torture and rape an aristocratic citizen was horrific because of the “loss of status” and “social standing” according to Jonathan Stamp[xxiii]. These examples of rape in ancient Rome are horribly accurate. For such a violent society (the building of the empire, the Coliseum and gladiatorial games, etc) it is no surprise that the violence carries over into their sexual practices.
Sex in ancient Rome was plentiful, varied, tender, violent, lustful, shameful, exalted, and inseparable from the Romans’ identity. Their sexual practices help to define their culture. HBO’s “Rome” offers viewers unfamiliar with ancient Rome a glimpse into an almost alien world of sexual practices, morals, beliefs, and standards. It certainly makes for exciting and dramatic television, but this show could also be considered a decent history lesson in Roman sexuality. The purpose of this research is to find ancient sources that either supported or challenge the historical accuracy of HBO’s series “Rome,” and by doing so assess whether or not the show was accurate or primetime fantasy. According the research, “Rome” is historically accurate enough to be worth noting. There are no major discrepancies, but simply a lack of detail concerning some of the topics. Though, prostitution, same-sex relationships, and rape as a form of punishment are the only sexual practices addressed in this paper, but are most certainly not the only practices addressed in the series. “Rome” also has examples of the sexual relations between husbands and wives, married men and respected Roman widows, sex with slaves, and incest. There is much more information to be examined, and more research to be done. Overall, the show may misrepresent a few facts or lack the detail that classicists would hope for, but is still an interesting and worthwhile series to view.
[i] Alessandra Stanley, “Television Review: Friend’s Romans, Countrymen, Lovers, Hater, Murderers, Barbarians,” New York Times, January 12, 2007.
[ii] Marilyn B. Skinner, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture (Mass.: Blackwell Publishing, 2005), 192
[iii] Marguerite Johnson and Terry Ryan, Sexuality in Greek and Roman Society and Literature (New York: Routledge, 2005), 88
[iv]Nicharchus Greek Anthology 11.328: Group Sex
[v] CIL IV 2310b
[vi] CIL IV 794
[vii] CIL IV 4185
[viii] Wikipedia, Lupanar, http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupanar
[ix] Gallus, Greek Anthology, 5.49
[x] CIL IV, 8940
[xi] Horace, Satires, 1.2.28-36
[xii] Athenaeus, 568a-d
[xiii] Demosthenes 59.18-19 [Against Neaere]: Training
[xiv] Rome. DVD. Directed by Allen Coulter (2006; HBO Home Video)
[xv] Plautus, Curculio, 35-8
[xvi] Ovid, Ars Amatoria, 2.683-84
[xvii] Sappho Fragments 94.1-23: Love and Friendship
[xviii] Asclepiades, Greek Anthology, 5.207
[xix] Martial 7.67 Philaenis the Tribad
[xx] Catullus, Poem, 56
[xxi] Priapea, 13
[xxii] Johnathan Stamp, The Man in the Blood Red Hat, Inside the Episode, http://www.hbo.com/rome/watch/season2/episode16.html
[xxiii] Johnathan Stamp, The Man in the Blood Red Hat, Inside the Episode, http://www.hbo.com/rome/watch/season2/episode16.html
Works Cited
Johnson, Marguerite, and Terry Ryan. Sexuality in Greek and Roman Society and Literature. New York: Routledge, 2005. 88.
“Lupanar.” Wikipedia. 10 Apr. 2007 <www.wikipedia.org>.
Rome. Dir. Allen Coulter. DVD. HBO Home Video, 2006.
Skinner, Marilyn B. Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2005. 192.
Stamp, Johnathan. “The Man in the Blood Red Hat: Inside the Episode.” HBO. 10 Apr. 2007 <www.hbo.com>.
Stanley, Allessandra. “Television Review: Friend’S Romans, Countrymen, Lovers, Hater, Murderers, Barbarians.” New York Times 12 Jan. 2007. 16 Apr. 2007 <www.nytimes.com>.
