[2] most prostitutes were female slaves or freedwomen The balance of voluntary to forced prostitution can only be guessed at Privately held slaves were considered property under roman law, so it was legal for an owner to employ them as. The existence of slaves in the house naturally mean that, particularly the men, but also the women (although with the risk of pregnancy and disgrace), had access to sex whenever they so required Roman sexuality in its pagan times is perhaps hard to understand by western society with its values heavily influenced by christianity. For instance, cato the elder made money letting his men slaves have sex with his women slaves
We can distinguish two types of roman slaves, based on literature, those living in the city and those neglected, living in the countryside. Children were protected from sexual activity, but only if they were freeborn roman citizens Prostitution was legal and endemic Slaves were considered as much their master’s property in sexual terms as they were. It is estimated that at the height of the roman empire, slaves made up a significant portion of the population, with women accounting for a large percentage Unlike male slaves, whose duties often included hard labor in mines or gladiatorial combat, female slaves were primarily forced into domestic work.
What was women’s role in ancient rome although women in ancient rome played many important roles in society, they were largely excluded from public life and from history. In a roman household sex was in plentiful supply Except, so it seems, between the actual married couples
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