The Romans may have lived in an oversexed society, but many of their sexual practices were nonreproductive, not just for the enjoyment of the different kinds of physical stimulation but in a deliberate attempt to prevent pregnancy. Even when sexual activity could have resulted in pregnancy, the Romans frequently used a variety of herbal and other contraceptive measures to prevent it. When those failed, they used surgical abortion as a means of birth control. This was particularly common when the baby was the product of an adulterous affair. The abortion techniques were crude, and the Romans
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