Roman Sexuality

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Our understanding of any society is enhanced by an awareness of how it thinks about sexuality. The sexual act itself is often categorized in polar terms—such as “(un)natural” or “culturally constructed”—that reveal much about a society’s political, religious, and moral codes. Ancient Rome was no different. This course will examine ways in which ancient Roman society slotted sexual behavior into such categories, and/or used (or did not use) these extreme polarities as a way to formulate codes of social and sexual behavior. By the end of the course, students will have a clearer understanding of large dynamics of ancient Roman culture, and perhaps even of their own world. This course will involve explicit language and content. If such material will make you uncomfortable, this course will not be for you. On the other hand, this is an academic pursuit, and as such I expect that you will frame your discussions and papers in ways that reflect an appropriate level of scholarly discourse.