Sexual Morality in Ancient Rome

Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-0-521-10900-0
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 408 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 660 g

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Langlands, Rebecca

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturgeschichte und Literaturkritik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction; 1. Sexual virtue on display: the cults of pudicitia and honours for women; 2. Traditional narratives and Livy's Roman history; 3. Valerius Maximus: the complexities of past as paradigm; 4. Subversive genres: testing the limits of pudicitia; 5. Declamation: what part of 'no' do you understand?; 6. Sexual virtue on display II: oratory and the speeches of Cicero; 7. Imperial narrative, imperial interventions.

Über Autor(innen)

Langlands, Rebecca
Rebecca Langlands is Lecturer in Classics at the University of Exeter.