BROADCASTS.com

b'

This is a cultural history episode about sexuality in Ancient Rome. I thought the topic would be fun and juicy, but that\\u2019s because my memory of Roman sexuality was hazy. After refreshing it with lots of research, I can safely say that \\u2018fun\\u2019 is not a word I would apply to it. \\u2018Insanely disturbing\\u2019 is probably more fitting. Most of the ancient sources, in fact, seem to indicate that little to no attention was paid to the idea of sex being for mutual pleasure. Rather, sex was primarily seen as something to reinforce dominance and hierarchy. In this episode, we\\u2019ll cover prison sex, rapey garden gnomes, the similarities and differences between ancient Roman and Christian sexualities, the origin of the word \\u2018family\\u2019 (it\\u2019s not pleasant), threatening sexual violence to prove one\\u2019s manliness, the violent myths about Rome\\u2019s founding, the Rape of the Sabine women, sex and slavery, prostitution, why speaking of homosexuality or heterosexuality made no sense in Ancient Rome, legal trials as rap battles, Cicero & the art of character assassination, Mark Anthony & the art of assassinating Cicero, Augustus\\u2019 puritanism, gladiators fighting against their own wildcat-shaped phalli, Roman sexual art, and much, much more.