Sex in ancient Rome: A violent approach to lovemaking

by JACINTO ANTON

Historian Patricia González Gutiérrez, author of ‘Cunnus,’ explains that the concept of consent was alien to Romans

In ancient Rome, a woman on top during sexual intercourse was frowned upon. Given the suggestion that the man was being ridden like a horse, it was considered humiliating for the male partner. It was a position specific to prostitutes and carried with it a higher fee — up to twice as much in Pompeii — as it was considered somewhat kinky. However, the woman having intercourse on all fours was acceptable, because the Romans respected the natural world and animals, and this position seemed to favor fertility.

The buttocks were appreciated more than breasts: large breasts were the object of ridicule — the adjective mastale, meaning busty, was used — as were large penises. Another thing that would surprise us about Roman habits in bed, or in the dining room or at the kitchen table, is a resounding rejection of oral sex, and especially cunnilingus, which comes from the Latin cunnus, meaning vulva, and lingere, to lick.

Cunnus is the word historian Patricia González Gutiérrez has chosen as the title for her new book, which is subtitled Sex and power in Rome. Once again focusing on gender issues like her previous work, Soror, Women in Rome (2021), the cover of Cunnus is an explicit illustration of the female genitalia by Paula Bonet. “Well, there are people who understand right away what it is and others who don’t, so we decided to go all out,” explains González, a 40-year-old scholar who was born in Santiago de Chile to Spanish parents. From a table in a Barcelona cafeteria, she goes on to point out the difficulty of addressing the subject of sex in historybeyond unscientific dissemination and anecdotes. “It is a topic that continues to be controversial when it is dealt with from an academic point of view; the motives for doing so are questioned with activism suspected.”

How did the ancient Romans do it? “Very differently and very much like us at the same time,” answers González, who is not unlike the British classics media personality Mary Beard regarding her rebellious attitude and her ability to tackle provocative topics. “Their concept of sex was conditioned by that of hierarchy, rather than gender. If you were powerful, you could do whatever you wanted. In general, almost anything was permissible as long as you were a man and the active partner in the relationship, with women and inferior men, such as gladiators and actors of both sexes, always being penetrated by you.” The vir, the man of virtue, the Roman patrician, was literally impenetrable. It is possible that the Emperor Nero characterized his male lovers as girls to avoid speculation on this issue rather than for esthetic reasons. “Of course, slaves were completely subjected and at the sexual mercy of the owner at all times, even children,” she says.

In theory there were some boundaries — other citizens were off limits, for example. And statutory rape of young boys and girls of good family as well as adultery were crimes, although the one considered at fault was invariably the woman. “Gender violence was the order of the day, and any real chance of justice was slim,” says González. “Killing a woman could prove terribly cheap.”

Oral sex, according to González, was not socially acceptable. It was seen as humiliating for the one who practiced it — they would be considered impudicitia meaning sexually impure; it was thought that it dirtied the mouth. The poet Martial added that it produced bad breath. This does not mean that it did not happen, especially fellatio, but “there are few allusions and representations, and even less of cunnilingus, which was more vilified.” In fact, when it comes to graffiti, one usually finds the expression lingitcunnum — a person who performs cunnilingus used as an insult. Anal sex was highly reprehensible and humiliating and dishonorable if you were the passive partner, but, says González, we have plenty of evidence of it, from the Warren Cup to the explicit poems of Martial and the Priapic inscriptions — “te pedico,” I give it to you up the ass, was the war cry of the god.

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