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Roman Resources

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Some Roman colour for your stories/imagination, brothel tokens
Those Romans again!!! They just don't let up. :p
Well considering that Roman prostitutes did their business in vaulted entryways and subterranean places (in the fornication), they would seem to bear some resemblance to subway tokens. :D
 
Thanks, Eulalia! :)

Going a bit deeper into matters historical: there's an event described in Pliny's Letters which took place circa AD 100.

From Pliny the Younger III, 14:

Larcius Macedo, a praetorian, has suffered at the hands of his slaves a ghastly fate which merits notice more than in a mere letter. True, he was in general an arrogant and savage master, too forgetful, or rather, all too aware, that his father had been a slave. He was taking a bath at his residence in Formiae when suddenly slaves surrounded him. One took him by the throat, another battered his face, and a third pummelled his chest, belly, and (disgustingly) his private parts. When they thought that he was senseless, they threw him on the hot pavement to see if he was alive. Whether because unconscious or feigning unconsciousness, he lay stretched out and motionless, giving the impression of being quite dead.

Finally he was carried from the bath as though overcome by the heat. His more trusty slaves took over, and his concubines came rushing round, moaning and shouting. In this way he was both roused by their voices and revived by the cool temperature indoors. By opening his eyes and moving his body he indicated (for now it was safe) that he was alive.

Those slaves made off in different directions. Many have been caught, and the rest are being hunted. Macedo was revived with difficulty, but died within a few days. However he had the consolation of vengeance, for while still alive he was avenged as murdered individuals usually are. You realize to what dangers and insults and derision we are exposed. No man can remain untroubled because he is relaxed and gentle, for masters are murdered through wickedness rather than considered judgement.


Might be a story fit for CF here, I think.

'Praetorian' here means 'someone who's been a praetor'; the cruel son of a freedman was of senatorial rank. Interestingly enough, the, ahem, usual punishment for murdering the master was inflicted while Macedo was not dead yet. Did the Senate or Trajan have to sign off on that? We can only guess.

Pliny, usually blandly sunny, must've ordered some crucifixions himself while serving as governor of Bithynia and Pontus, now that I think about it. He certainly mentions having some Christians executed and two Christian slave-women tortured in order to find out more about their religion.

So I thought it all the more necessary to ascertain the truth from two maidservants, who were called deaconesses, even by employing torture. I found nothing other than a debased and boundless superstition. (X, 96)

He doesn't mention their fate, but it appears that the women didn't recant, and '[t]hose who remained obdurate I ordered to be executed, for I was in no doubt, whatever it was which they were confessing, that their obstinacy and their inflexible stubbornness should at any rate be punished.'
 
This seems a good moment to mention to those who don't know of it,
and remind those who do, Velut Luna's superb epic

'Amica, the slavegirl of Pompeii'
in the Forum Archive:
http://www.cruxforums.com/xf/resources/amica-the-slavegirl-of-pompeii-by-velut-luna.402/

Pliny the Elder plays a role in her story, and Luna drew a good deal on his son's account
of the eruption of Vesuvius, as well as her own very extensive knowledge of the
literary, historical and archaeological sources, not to mention her own familiarity
with the land around the Bay of Naples, her own home region.
I helped with the translation, but all the credit was due to Luna for the research,
conception and vivid imagination of the magnificent novel.
 
This seems a good moment to mention to those who don't know of it,
and remind those who do, Velut Luna's superb epic

'Amica, the slavegirl of Pompeii'
in the Forum Archive:
http://www.cruxforums.com/xf/resources/amica-the-slavegirl-of-pompeii-by-velut-luna.402/

Pliny the Elder plays a role in her story, and Luna drew a good deal on his son's account
of the eruption of Vesuvius, as well as her own very extensive knowledge of the
literary, historical and archaeological sources, not to mention her own familiarity
with the land around the Bay of Naples, her own home region.
I helped with the translation, but all the credit was due to Luna for the research,
conception and vivid imagination of the magnificent novel.

Good plug, Eul.

It's a great story, if you haven't read it, I heartily recommend it.
 
In another thread a couple of months ago was raised the subject of sexualized executions by wild beasts as described by Martial -- and Apuleius, I must add. The re-enactment of Pasiphae and the bull was considered in the commentary on M. Valerii Martialis Liber Spectaculorum (Oxford University Press, 2006) by Kathleen Coleman, the leading authority on the subject of 'spectacular executions' in Rome. Here it is:

Given that the popularity of Pasiphae's story earned it a place in the stage repertoire under the Julio-Claudians (specifically Nero), our emperor's performance can be interpreted as an attempt to upstage his predecessors: Martial wants us to believe that this time the bull, the woman, and the intercourse were all real. This brings us up against a problem introduced in General Introduction, Section 5: when is a motif a literary conceit, and when does it reflect actuality? The Roman ambition to realize the impossible, combined with scant regard for those human lives that were deemed dispensable (chiefly slaves and prisoners of war), suggests that we have no reason to dismiss the possibility that the bull in the arena really was roused to mount 'Pasiphae': see Coleman (1990: 63–4). But how could this have been staged?

Close observation of the natural world had doubtless acquainted the Romans with the precoital behaviour in ungulates that is known to zoologists by the German term 'Flehmen'. This is defined by Duden as '(meist von Pferden) die Oberlippe [in geschlechtlicher Erregung] hochziehen'. The male manifests this behaviour upon sniffing the urine of an oestrous female. By curling his upper lip he closes his nostrils, thereby forcing the scent that he has inhaled to enter his vomeronasal organ (otherwise known as 'Jacobsen's organ'), whose epithelium (lining) serves as a bed for sensory neurons. He is then stimulated—presumably by sex hormones excreted in the urine—to mount the female. This behaviour is widely documented in ungulates from the American bison to the Armenian wild sheep; for a lucid account see the description of the mating habits of the African buffalo by Sinclair (1977: 102–3). Other Bovidae, including domestic cattle, behave in the same way; for a close-up photograph of a bull curling his upper lip see Hafez (1968: pl. 20A).

Significantly, the female's urine does not have to be immediately fresh, and males who smell deposits of it on the grass are also liable to perform Flehmen. Hence it seems possible that the Romans could have collected the urine of oestrous cows and smeared it on the genitalia of the human victim in the arena. Rather than being strapped directly to the bull, it seems likely that the woman was probably restrained at the appropriate height on a rack or trestle; for a photograph of a blindfolded stallion penetrating an artificial 'vagina' on a wooden apparatus of the appropriate height covered with canvas see Hafez (1968: pl. 20C). In the case of our spectacle successful penetration would have resulted in an ultimately fatal rupture of the woman's uterine tissues, and—depending upon the exact configuration of the rack—she might have been trampled by the bull's forelegs as well; but since the context was presumably comparable to Apuleius' scene, i.e. the execution of a criminal condemned ad bestias, the sequel to the display would in any case be death—if not in the arena itself, then by the sword afterwards.​
 
In another thread a couple of months ago was raised the subject of sexualized executions by wild beasts as described by Martial -- and Apuleius, I must add. The re-enactment of Pasiphae and the bull was considered in the commentary on M. Valerii Martialis Liber Spectaculorum (Oxford University Press, 2006) by Kathleen Coleman, the leading authority on the subject of 'spectacular executions' in Rome. Here it is:

Given that the popularity of Pasiphae's story earned it a place in the stage repertoire under the Julio-Claudians (specifically Nero), our emperor's performance can be interpreted as an attempt to upstage his predecessors: Martial wants us to believe that this time the bull, the woman, and the intercourse were all real. This brings us up against a problem introduced in General Introduction, Section 5: when is a motif a literary conceit, and when does it reflect actuality? The Roman ambition to realize the impossible, combined with scant regard for those human lives that were deemed dispensable (chiefly slaves and prisoners of war), suggests that we have no reason to dismiss the possibility that the bull in the arena really was roused to mount 'Pasiphae': see Coleman (1990: 63–4). But how could this have been staged?

Close observation of the natural world had doubtless acquainted the Romans with the precoital behaviour in ungulates that is known to zoologists by the German term 'Flehmen'. This is defined by Duden as '(meist von Pferden) die Oberlippe [in geschlechtlicher Erregung] hochziehen'. The male manifests this behaviour upon sniffing the urine of an oestrous female. By curling his upper lip he closes his nostrils, thereby forcing the scent that he has inhaled to enter his vomeronasal organ (otherwise known as 'Jacobsen's organ'), whose epithelium (lining) serves as a bed for sensory neurons. He is then stimulated—presumably by sex hormones excreted in the urine—to mount the female. This behaviour is widely documented in ungulates from the American bison to the Armenian wild sheep; for a lucid account see the description of the mating habits of the African buffalo by Sinclair (1977: 102–3). Other Bovidae, including domestic cattle, behave in the same way; for a close-up photograph of a bull curling his upper lip see Hafez (1968: pl. 20A).

Significantly, the female's urine does not have to be immediately fresh, and males who smell deposits of it on the grass are also liable to perform Flehmen. Hence it seems possible that the Romans could have collected the urine of oestrous cows and smeared it on the genitalia of the human victim in the arena. Rather than being strapped directly to the bull, it seems likely that the woman was probably restrained at the appropriate height on a rack or trestle; for a photograph of a blindfolded stallion penetrating an artificial 'vagina' on a wooden apparatus of the appropriate height covered with canvas see Hafez (1968: pl. 20C). In the case of our spectacle successful penetration would have resulted in an ultimately fatal rupture of the woman's uterine tissues, and—depending upon the exact configuration of the rack—she might have been trampled by the bull's forelegs as well; but since the context was presumably comparable to Apuleius' scene, i.e. the execution of a criminal condemned ad bestias, the sequel to the display would in any case be death—if not in the arena itself, then by the sword afterwards.​

Interesting, I wondered if those stories about women being mounted by bulls in the arena were myths. How would you train an animal to perform sex on cue? According to this it seems like it was possible after all.

A few years ago a friend was writing a story that included this scenario, and his solution was to have the women's private parts smeared with a cow's menstrual blood. I pointed out to him that from my acquaintance with cows while growing up, they do not menstruate. Then I did some research and found out that only primates, including humans, have a menstrual cycle; other mammals have an estrous (American spelling) cycle, where unfertilized eggs, endometrium, etc. are re-absorbed rather than expelled.

Using urine from a cow in estrus (not a misspelling, estrus is a noun, estrous is an adjective) seems like a viable possibility.
 
Very interesting, Kathleen Coleman has an impressive CV.
James Loeb Prof of Classics at Harvard - can't get much higher!
I guess growing up in Zimbabwe she'd have had a good start in learning about the mating habits of ungulates.
 
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