Page 410
WIVES as WHORES
Sex in imperial Rome was wild - for men, that is. A married man could legally have sex with female slaves, prostitutes, divorcees, and widows, but not with a virgin or wife. Strict adultery laws forbade married women from any form of extra-marital sex. The crime of adultery itself was denied as sex with a married woman, not with a married man. If an adulterous wife was caught, the punishment was forfeiture of her property and exile. Want to know the story on sexy colored shoes or slang like floozy or ditz? How about the history of condoms?
Roman wives were very clever when it came to finding a loophole in the law, Many, from well - to do - families, registered as prostitutes. Ancient Romans law clearly stated that any woman listed in the prostitute registry could not be punished for sex acts. The law had been written by men for their own pleasure, and to encourage as many women as possible to register as prostitutes. Many lustful wives took advantage of the letter of the law."
(Such women were renouncing their privleges of their rank in society!)
BOOK REVIEW: SEXY ORIGINS and INTIMATE THINGS
The Rites and Rituals of Straights, Gays, Bi's, Drags, Trans, Virgins, and others
Charles Panati C 1998
Penguin Books
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