roman context

• Burton - Pudicitia was the idea of restraint and chastity for both men and women, however the expectation was stronger for women.
• Osborne - "There was an inconsistency about men's depictions of women. On the one hand, they were seen as the all-embracing, archetypal source and providers of life; on the other hand, as she-monsters of outrageous and devilish cunning"
• Williams - Virtus is defined as exerting imperium over women and foreigners
• McMaster - Men were meant to receive pleasure, not give it. They were supposed to penetrate.
• Gloyn - When Seneca was writing, marriage served primarily as a means of procreation, power consolidation and property transfer
• Ormand - Romans do not define people as either homosexual or heterosexual
• Chrystal - “Sex attained indelible and inextricable political and historical importance in the annals of Rome.”
• D'Ambra - After his victory over Mark Antony, the new Emperor Augustus focused on ‘a visionary programme to reform Roman society…it purported to revive morality.’, even exiling his daughter Julia
• Sharrock - Sex was an inextricably political issue in Augustan Rome