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 Fresco of a reclining woman with a drinking horn, Stabiae, 30-50 CE |
This most un-Roman of all the Worlds came
into being in the last 50 years of the Republic and outlived it by barely a
generation. It was a world of "floating artifice," a fiction constructed by the
elegiac love poets that ran headlong into Augustus' program to rescue the
mores maiorum ("customs of the ancestors") and restore traditional Roman
dignitas. This world was populated by un-Roman personalities: the young
poet lover, his girlfriends— married women and prostitutes both—,
absent elderly husbands, indulgent fathers, and conniving slaves. Its concerns
were the pursuit and attainment of pleasure, for which love and the beloved
were symbols. Women acted autonomously, choosing to marry sine manu,
without passing into the legal and financial control of their husbands, which
gave them greater personal freedom. The leading spokesmen for this world were
male - Gallus, Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, Horace, and Ovid —with the
bright exception of Sulpicia. Although women and passion were at the center of
this world, they were viewed through the eyes, words, and appetites of the male
author. The "new woman" stepped lightly in her flimsy, transparent garments
from one lover to another, enslaving them and leaving them with no regrets and
no consequences. At last, setting his own daughter Julia and the brazen
"professor of love" himself, Ovid, as examples,
Augustus lowered the curtain on this world through legislation
and exile, silencing its public expression if not its wanton behavior.
For
further information about this topic, see the Companion bibliography and
Images of Flirtation below.
| Text-Commentaries | Additional Readings | |
|---|---|---|
| Publius Ovidius Naso, Amores 3.2: Circus pick-up | See the Latin reader The Worlds of Roman Women for the following texts: | |
| Gaius Valerius Catullus, Carmina 70: She says, he says | Sextus Propertius, Elegiae 2.23.12-20: choosing a partner | |
| Funerary Inscription for Maria Auxesis | P. Ovidius Naso, Ars Amatoria 1.135-162: hunting in the Circus | |
| Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, Annales II.85.1-4: Vistilia | P. Ovidius Naso, Ars Amatoria 3 (excerpts): how to get a man | |
| Gaius Valerius Catullus, Carmina 27: Postumia | Q. Horatius Flaccus, Carmina 3.9: Lydia and her lover | |
| Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Carmina 1.23: Chloe | Sulpicia, Elegidia 1-6: she sings of love | |
| Sextus Propertius, Elegiae III.23: love-letters | See Iona Latin Reading Program for the following Latin texts: | |
| Titus Lucretius Carus, De Rerum Natura 4.1121-1196: Venus | P. Ovidius Naso, Amores 2.17: Corinna | |
| C. Valerius Catullus, Carmina 11: Puella | ||
| C. Valerius Catullus, Carmina 7: Lesbia | ||
| See De Feminis Romanis at Diotima for the following on-line Latin text: | ||
| Sulpicia, Elegidia 1-6 | ||
Citharist: fresco of a female playing the cithara, her lover, and a woman watching them. Pompeii, 1st century CE. London, British Museum.
Terracotta Figurine: an eager garlanded young man and reluctant veiled woman on a nuptial couch. Greek, Myrina (tomb 100 Atelier of Nicostratos), 150-100 BCE. Paris, Louvre Museum.
Gold Ring with nicolo intaglio, inscribed TE AMO PARUM ("I love you too little"). Roman, third century CE (found in France). London, British Museum.
Mosaic of a couple on a lectus in an erotic pose. In the background is a statue, possibly of the goddess Diana. From a Roman villa at Centocelle near Rome, 2nd century CE. Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum.
Wall Fresco of Amores mixing perfume in a large bowl. A tiny Cupid holds out an alabastron containing perfume to Psyche, sitting and sniffing the perfume on her arm. Roman, 50-75 CE. Los Angeles, Getty Villa.
Leda & the Swan: mosaic from a Roman house in Paphos, Cyprus, late 2nd century CE. London, British Museum.
Lovers fresco: one of a series of frescoes from the shop of Salvius (see text in World of Work). Pompeii, 1st century CE.
Mosaic fragment of lovers on the Nile. Praeneste. Late Hellenistic. Berlin, Altes Museum.
Winged female eros statuette in painted terracotta, clinging to the back of a woman. Left view, Right view. Centuripe, South Italy. 200-100 BCE. London, British Museum.
Cupid embracing Psyche: painted terracotta bust. Centuripe, South Italy. 200-100 BCE. London, British Museum.
All images are courtesy of the VRoma Project's Image Archive.