Sexual Life in Ancient Rome

by Otto Kiefer

The psychological basis of the Roman Empire was a ruthless, frequently sadistic "will to power." This impulse is highly manifest in Ancient Roman attitudes towards sex. After describing women's position in Roman society, Otto Kiefer skilfully surveys the crypto-sexual satisfaction derived by Romans from a range of the sadistic treatment of slaves, savage public executions involving crucifixion and the mauling of naked, unarmed prisoners by wild beasts, and almost incredible mass-gladiatorial combats. The strong sexual element in Roman religion receives attention, as do the varying attitudes towards sex of Rome's major writers. A gallery of Emperors and Empresses complete with their often bizarre tastes, is included and Otto Kiefer takes a critical look at the notion that Rome's sexual excesses contributed to its decline and fall.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Sexuality, Cultural, Reference

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 1934

Reviews

[Iain Gardener]

rubbish, the authoer makes a common mistake of allowing his personal preudices to colour his apporoach. If you believe Kiefer, all romans were seual sadists, avoid this book!

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! I was all prepared for sexist, misogynist, homophobic comments, but it really wasn't that bad, especially considering it was written in 1934. I thought the author did a good job of being fair to Rome as its own culture with its own cultural values and norms. He had some great comments about scholars who judge societies by their values and how nonsensical this is. I also love how he is upfront about his bias and points out everyone who writes history has their own bias. He definitely has a love of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. There are some quotes of his I will have to add later. A truly informative and engaging book.

As a side note: I will never think of the word "fascinating" the same way.

[Sammy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A reasonably important book in 20th century classics studies but, nevertheless, all of the previous reviews are correct: not really that interesting, clearly motivated by the author's own prejudices, and seemingly more reactionary than factual. Nevertheless, a neat part of my Classics collection.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

not by any means as interesting as it sounds. Much talk of what Ovid wrote.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly not as factual as I had hoped. I think it was mostly author driven.

[Artemis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pg 156
Author has mentioned an interesting title, however curiously enough... I couldn't find any information online! Title: EGYPTIAN NIGHTS by HANS MUCH