Sexual Morality in Ancient Rome

by Rebecca Langlands

Traditionally, scholars have approached Roman sexuality using categories of sexual ethics drawn from contemporary, Western society. In this 2006 book Dr Langlands seeks to move away from these towards a deeper understanding of the issues that mattered to the Romans themselves, and the ways in which they negotiated them, by focusing on the untranslatable concept of pudicitia (broadly meaning 'sexual virtue'). She offers a series of nuanced close readings of texts from a wide spectrum of Latin literature, including history, oratory, love poetry and Valerius Maximus' work Memorable Deeds and Sayings. Pudicitia emerges as a controversial and unsettled topic, at the heart of Roman debates about the difference between men and women, the relation between mind and body, and the ethics of power and status differentiation within Roman culture. The book develops strategies for approaching the study of an ancient culture through sensitive critical readings of its literary productions.

Genres: Nonfiction

408 pages, Paperback

First published May 31, 2006

Reviews

[Valentina Moreli]

Along with the completion of the draft of my mythic fantasy novel currently titled The Fruit of Passion, the last few years I’ve been working on the premise of my next project: a historical cross-genre novel whose events unfold during the reign of emperor Claudius, partly in ancient Cornwall and partly in ancient Rome, recounting the bloody clash between the Romans and the Druids.

Owing to its fastidious and challenging genre and because the history of such cultures and eras are far away from my own field of studies, I’ve taken care to meticulously ferret out any relevant historical material (books, articles, literary texts) that offer ample relevant information and cover the whole gamut of topics I’ve in mind to explore in my work.

One of the central themes of my novel is the force of lust and the impact it can have on those who act under its sway. But in order to depict such a notion as realistically as possible, I had to distance my own thinking from any modern Western mentalities about sexuality and sexual customs and attempt to penetrate into the way both the ancient Celtic tribes and the ancient Romans regarded sex and the human body, the legislature concerning marriage, adultery, prostitution and rape as well concepts such as honour, shame and modesty.

As a result, Rebecca Langlands' Sexual Morality in Ancient Rome has been an invaluable tool in this particular aspect of my research. Langlands opens her introduction with the philosopher Seneca’s letter to the satirist Lucilius, seeking his assistance in delineating the meaning of the word pudicitia, ”doce me quid sit pudicitia et quantum in ea bonum, in corpore an in animo posita sit” (Teach me what pudicitia is, and how good it is, and whether it is located in the body or in the soul).

Without unnecessary or drawn-out preambles, we’re immediately treated to the very concept which is studied and explored throughout the pages of the book: pudicitia, which corresponds roughly with what we would nowadays translate as sexual virtue. Sexual behaviour was an ever-present ethical issue which concened the ancient Romans throughout the entire scope of their existence, from the Republic to the Imperial times.

Langlands takes pains, first and foremost, to establish and prove the fact through the ancient sources she examines that pudicitia was a controversial and intricate subject that incited all kinds of debates, discussions, edicts, flamewars and anxieties in Roman society. Just like she clarifies that one’s sexual life and choices were intimately linked to control, power and politics.

For the most part, pudicitia was considered a communal possession with the implication that one’s sexual conduct (particularly a woman’s) was monitored by the watchful gaze of the community in which she lived and that, as much as she had to openly boast of and display her purity, she had to, also, keep a low profile lest even a baseless rumour sully her spotless reputation.

Regarding pudicitia, we’re given to understand that it was far from a fixed thing but acquired different meanings as it transported itself across different contexts and situations: between man and woman, freeborn and slave, plebeian and patrician, Roman and foreigner. Even amongst the powerful and the elite, orators, law-makers, officers in the army as well as politicians and rulers could redifine it and deploy it in any manner they saw fit until it served their individual interests.

The section dedicated to Livy and his work on Roman history bears much significance as echoes of his accounts as well as the characters that lead in them reappear with frequency in the rest of Langland’s work. We’re mainly presented with three different tales: that of Lucretia, Verginia and Chiomara.

For more of my review, visit my blog: https://valentinamoreliwordsaresacred...

[Melissa]

A dense but fascinating book; hence the time it took me to read it. However, the material is compelling and convincing. Four instead of five stars only because of a certain amount of repetition that I felt could have been avoided.

[Leone Mattheus]

Marco Formisano would be so proud.