The Role Of Prostitution In Ancient Rome

Prostitutes not only had economic power that benefitted themselves, but they also brought economic prosperity to the Roman economy with their taxes. Their money became a large revenue for the economy of Rome because not only were prostitutes being taxed, but the brothels were also being charged taxes. When we look at prostitution in ancient Rome, we have to take into consideration politics and the power prostitutes had ideologically over the power respectable women were given. The emperor of Rome made a specific reunion with his council to discuss how to control female sexual behavior before the adultery statute was passed (McGinn 154). In this council the emperor stated that they needed to “control female sexual behavior” which gave birth
Concubines are people who engage in ongoing sexual relationships with people who they are not married to or can not be with. The relationship of a concubine in ancient Rome was usually between an adult male and a boy (Taylor 324). It was considered normal for this to happen and was part of the dominant Roman culture (Taylor 326). We see a description of the courtship, ‘“So the rich male would have his concubine shave his body and dress like a woman, but ‘plays the man’ (Taylor 324).” In other words the male takes his concubine and manipulates him the way he wants for sexual favors. In this example, he is making him dress like a woman and shave his body, but still play the male role. While it was seen as a shame for a female to be a prostitute, it was a prestige for a male to be one. A male prostitute was to post himself before a crowd to advertise his charms to potential customers (Taylor 324). This is interesting considering female prostitutes were not allowed to do such thing because it was considered indignant with those around them. Women could be at brothels or anywhere else, but it was forbidden for them to advertise themselves in public, especially not to potential customers. Male prostitution was something commonly accepted in Rome, they had rich boys go on their free time to a gymnasium to get training for their homosexual courtship (Lanni 50). The courtship was an agreement between the adult male and the boy, that he would be under his courtship as long as he gave the adult sexual favors in return. The relationship was a way to train the boys to become civic leaders, the adult males would buy attractive youth with gifts, (Lanni 50). The male children were prostitutes who would get gifts in return for sex. The courtship was one of the ways they were able to network, which was needed if one of them