Quae Corpore Quaestum Facit: The Sexual Economy of Female Prostitution in the Roman Empire

1999 ◽  
Vol 89 ◽  
pp. 38-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Flemming

Prostitution, it seems to be generally agreed, was a phenomenon firmly embedded in imperial Roman society. It has, however, yet to achieve a similar level of scholarly integration. Moves are undoubtedly being made in this direction. Several topics which have a direct bearing on patterns of prostitution, or in which prostitution is implicated, such as the complex hierarchy of male and female, the patterning of erotic desires and pleasures, the acquisition and dissipation of wealth, and the organization of urban life, can certainly be described as major preoccupations in present enquiries into the Roman world; and a couple of monographs on the subject, or aspects of it, have recently appeared. None the less, there is as yet no study that can really bear comparison with any of the substantial historical works on prostitution in a range of other times and places that have been published in the last two decades. In particular, there has not been any serious effort to take the perspective of the prostitutes themselves into account, which is one of the most emphatic developments in the new historiography of prostitution emerging elsewhere.

1969 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 92-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Brown

A study of the fate of Manichaeism in the Roman Empire derives its interest from three main problems. First, Manichaeism was invariably associated with Persia: to study the growth of Manichaeism in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, and to trace the attitude of the Roman governing-class to its expansion, is to touch on an important sector of the cultural relations between the Sassanian Empire and the Roman world. Secondly, the repression of Manichaeism in the Christian Empire was the spear-head of religious intolerance: the only Christian heretics to be executed in the Early Church were Manichees or those, such as Priscillian, on whom the accusation of Manichaeism could be made to stick. Thirdly, Manichaeism was a missionary religion: its rapid expansion in the third and fourth centuries makes it the last religion from the eastern provinces to attempt to make headway in Roman society, just as its appearance in the T'ang Empire of China, alongside Buddhism and Nestorian Christianity, place it among the leading ‘barbarian’ religions that spread into an Empire which had suddenly opened to the Western World. Conversely, the withering away of Manichaeism in the Roman Empire is a symptom of the growth of a new, more exclusive, more localized society, that foreshadows the embattled Christendom of the Middle Ages.


Author(s):  
Helmut Reimitz

The writing of history played an important part in Merovingian society, a fact that is well documented in the Merovingian authors’ writing and rewriting of history. The different histories and versions of history also show that Merovingian culture was not a culture in decline after the end of the western Roman Empire. A closer look demonstrates that the transformation of historical knowledge and culture demanded a higher degree of sophistication, expertise, and originality than modern scholars have been willing to allow for the authors of Merovingian histories. The extant historical works from the Merovingian period testify to the historical sophistication and education of their authors. They also show that their authors were well aware of a variety of histories, historical interpretations, models, and genres. This chapter suggests that we might understand the work of these historians better if we take their generic choices more seriously than we usually do. They all worked with the preconception of a genre to define the subject of their historical inquiry while attempting to transform the expectations and patterns of reading and writing history in a post-Roman world. Such an approach might also help us to understand the diversity of generic choices and forms of historical writings in the Merovingian period as one of the characteristic features of a Merovingian historiography.


1954 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 56-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Goodchild

The two well-preserved Roman fortresses to be described in this paper have been known for many years. They were first brought to European notice by the British-sponsored geographical expeditions of the nineteenth century, when Tripoli was the spring-board for repeated attempts to find a route into Central Africa. Although important discoveries have been made in one of these forts (Bu Ngem) in more recent years, no detailed ground-plans have previously been published.The following notes and illustrations are primarily intended to fill this lacuna in the documentation of the African limes; but it is hoped that they may also serve to increase our knowledge of early third-century trends in Roman military architecture. The European frontiers of the Roman Empire have yielded, and are still yielding, numerous examples of first- and second-century forts, and equally numerous examples of the forts erected during the later-third and early-fourth centuries, when barbarian invasion threatened the whole Roman world.


1955 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-110
Author(s):  
Franz Schnabel

We are all aware that the teaching of history today has become a very problematical affair—due as much to the subject as to our times. For centuries and up to a few generations ago the situation was different. In former days the center of gravity of instruction was in ancient history; and this proved itself a magnificent medium for the education of youth. For the history of the Greek-Roman world is understandable to young people as no other area of history; and the ancient historians dispense with the details which preoccupy the moderns. Ancient history is constricted. It can be surveyed completely from its impenetrable dark beginnings to its definitive expiration. We look across the stage from the required distance. The extant source material is limited and of high intellectual content, not loaded up with state proceedings of kingdoms and principalities; the entire development culminates in the two high points—Athens and Rome—and unites them in magnificent harmony. As peers to their subject, the ancient historians have a taste for grand scenes, a taste for the wide contours of world history, for the simplicity and good proportions of form. They do not give too much criticism. They write as moralists and have their firm point of view. They present the universally human, the typical, man and his emotions, not mayhap the individual and his local surroundings; thus as depicted their people remain allied to us; everything can be surveyed and is even accessible to youth without further ado. Ancient history is less fertile than modern, but it is also less full of underbrush. Mighty strides have been made in historical studies since the last century; yet the newer kind is bought with sacrifices. The spirit of criticism has developed the finest methods. Every event of the past has become thoroughly complicated, burdened with controversies; in addition the results shift constantly. Nothing seems to be secure in history. And the spirit of individualization, without which a consideration of historical life can no longer exist, forces us to busy ourselves with the most diverse objects, so that the large outlines are obscured thereby and the integrity of events remains ambiguous.


1982 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 22-27

‘Society’ covers a very broad range of human activity, and the interests of historians of Roman society have differed markedly. The great social historians of imperial Rome writing about a century ago were primarily concerned with a description of what anthropologists call ‘high culture’ (including literature, philosophy, and religion). Since then, the primary interest of social historians has shifted from ‘the inner moral life of the time’ to ‘daily life’ in Rome and, more importantly, the structure of Roman society. This last interest will form the subject of the present chapter.Which terms and categories are best suited to the analysis of Roman social structure? Rostovtzeff’s monumental Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire, exemplary in its integration of the social with the economic and political developments of the Principate, employs a system of economic classes, including an entrepreneurial bourgeoisie, which is more appropriate to a modern capitalist society than the Roman world. A more satisfactory explanation of the course of Roman history has not yet been provided by any Marxist writer, for example in terms of class struggle between propertied exploiters and propertyless exploited. There will remain overt political conflicts, such as that between propertied freedmen and propertied senators, which are difficult to accommodate in the model.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-195
Author(s):  
Nurma Risa

This study aims to prove that there is a difference of perception about ethics on tax evasion in UNISMA Bekasi students, based on selected study program and gender. The sample of this research is the students who have fulfilled the subject of taxation, at the Faculty of Economics (FE) and Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP). Using independent t-test, the results showed that there was no significant difference of perception about tax evasion ethics between FE and FISIP students. But significant differences the perception of tax evasion ethics occur between accounting and management students at FE. Significant differences also did not occur between male and female students


Author(s):  
David J. Mattingly

Despite what history has taught us about imperialism's destructive effects on colonial societies, many classicists continue to emphasize disproportionately the civilizing and assimilative nature of the Roman Empire and to hold a generally favorable view of Rome's impact on its subject peoples. This book boldly challenges this view using insights from postcolonial studies of modern empires to offer a more nuanced understanding of Roman imperialism. Rejecting outdated notions about Romanization, the book focuses instead on the concept of identity to reveal a Roman society made up of far-flung populations whose experience of empire varied enormously. It examines the nature of power in Rome and the means by which the Roman state exploited the natural, mercantile, and human resources within its frontiers. The book draws on the author's own archaeological work in Britain, Jordan, and North Africa and covers a broad range of topics, including sexual relations and violence; census-taking and taxation; mining and pollution; land and labor; and art and iconography. The book shows how the lives of those under Rome's dominion were challenged, enhanced, or destroyed by the empire's power, and in doing so he redefines the meaning and significance of Rome in today's debates about globalization, power, and empire. This book advances a new agenda for classical studies, one that views Roman rule from the perspective of the ruled and not just the rulers. A new preface reflects on some of the reactions prompted by the initial publication of the book.


Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 72-83
Author(s):  
Tushar Kadian

Actually, basic needs postulates securing of the elementary conditions of existence to every human being. Despite of the practical and theoretical importance of the subject the greatest irony is non- availability of any universal preliminary definition of the concept of basic needs. Moreover, this becomes the reason for unpredictability of various political programmes aiming at providing basic needs to the people. The shift is necessary for development of this or any other conception. No labour reforms could be made in history till labours were treated as objects. Its only after they were started being treating as subjects, labour unions were allowed to represent themselves in strategy formulations that labour reforms could become a reality. The present research paper highlights the basic needs of Human Rights in life.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Ya. Lukasevich

The subject of the research is new tools for business financing using the initial coin offering (ICO) in the context of the development of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technologies as their basis. The purpose of the work was to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the ICO in comparison with traditional financial tools as well as prospects, limitations and problems of using digital financial tools. Conclusions are made in relation to possibilities, limitations and application areas of digital business financing tools, particularly in the real sector, taking into account the specifics of the Russian economy and legislation. It is shown that the main problems of using the digital financial tools are related to the economic sphere and caused by the lack of adequate approaches to evaluation of assets as well as the shortage of objective information. The problems and new tasks of corporate finance in the digital economy are defined.


1983 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-61
Author(s):  
Shahrukh Rafi Khan

The book under review is a compilation of the author's articles and lectures that highlight the prominent developments in the literature on the subject of Islamic banking and inform the reader of the current state of debate on it. One of the earliest and main contributors to this topic is the author himself. The focus of this review will mainly be on "Economics of Profit-Sharing", which is the title of the fourth chapter of the book and is among his latest contributions. This chapter is a significant contribution as it is the first attempt to formalise the concept of profit sharing into an analytical model and, therefore, demands closer scrutiny. However, in the remaining chapters of the book, the author has drawn attention to some of the fine points made in the literature on this topic. Since some of these points appear to be controversial to me, I will briefly discuss them before moving on to the analytical chapter of the book.


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