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Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2007.02.23
Page 1 of 3
Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2007. 02. 23
Rebecca Langlands, Sexual Morality in Ancient Rome. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2006. Pp. 408. ISBN 0-521-85943-3.
$99.00.
Reviewed by Lien Foubert, Radboud University Nijmegen (L.Foubert@let.ru.nl)
Word count: 1549 words
Table of Contents
In this book, Rebecca Langlands (henceforth L.) studies the Roman concept of
pudicitia in the literary sources dating from the second century BC to the second
century AD. She wants to explore the term, reveal its nuances and ramifications, and
thereby cast light on how Romans thought about sex and morality in general. Yet the
emphasis of the book lies on pudicitia: what did it represent in Roman society? What
role did it play in the public domain? What did it mean for authors such as Livy,
Valerius Maximus, or Plautus? What was its function in oratory? To some extent,
therefore, the generalizing title of the book is misleading. L.'s aim to answer some
general questions remains partly unfulfilled. She rarely abandons the concept of
pudicitia and her main general conclusion seems to be that her argument provides a
challenge to the currently accepted model of Roman sexuality in terms of penetration
and binary opposites (p. 365). Although this challenge is justified, L.'s study is
perhaps not the right starting point for a reader who is looking for a general
introduction to sexual morality in ancient Rome. This observation, however, does not
diminish the value of the book. A recent tendency in modern research is to consider
literary descriptions of ancient men and women not as accurate reproductions of
historical reality but rather as products of a creative and literary process. Scholars
have acknowledged that literary descriptions are embedded in, among other things, an
author's political opinion and the contemporary moral culture. Since the importance
of virtues in Roman culture has long been established, a study of the various elements
of the corpus of virtues is a necessary starting-point for research on Roman sexuality.
L. has outstandingly noted this lacuna in modern research.
In the introductory remarks (pp. 1-36), L. discusses how the term pudicitia has been
used in modern research. She concludes that the term is interpreted with a wide
semantic range, already indicating the difficulties inherent in any attempt to
understand the concept in Roman terms. L. distinguishes pudicitia from other terms
pertaining to moral behaviour in Rome (such as castitas, pudor, verecundia, and
modestia) and defines the special position pudicitia takes in regard to these qualities.
Chapter 1 ('Sexual virtue on display I: the cults of pudicitia and honours for women',
pp. 37-77) treats the role of pudicitia in the public domain. As a counterpart to
Chapter 6, this chapter concentrates on the attribution of pudicitia to women, whereas
the latter chapter focuses on the relation between the virtue and men. L. explores the
cultivation of pudicitia as a personified abstract virtue: a goddess associated with
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married women. By examining literary references, she tries to reconstruct the cult and
deals with the associated themes and the narratives that emerge from the sources
mentioning religious practices regarding Pudicitia (pp. 39-61). She also approaches
pudicitia as a personal quality that needed to be displayed to and seen by others (pp.
61-77). The importance of displaying pudicitia is apparent from the sources, but how
did a Roman know that a woman was pudica? L. concludes that the sources remain
coy and oblique on the question of what pudicitia looked like.
In Chapter 2 ('Traditional narratives and Livy's Roman history', pp. 78-122), L.
explores the meaning of pudicitia in Livy through the legends of Lucretia, Verginia,
the centurion and the chieftain's wife, and the Bacchanalian scandal. Lucretia, often
considered the paradigm of pudicitia par excellence, receives most attention. In this
context, L. concentrates on different Livian themes, such as the split between body
and soul, the association between pudicitia and the freedom of the people, the
dangers of avarice and lust, and status boundaries. This chapter consists, above all, of
a closer reading and literary analysis of a few Livian passages. Although L. indicates
that Livy's interests may reflect the dominant Roman ideology in the Augustan
period, she does not elaborate upon the historical context of the Ab Urbe condita.
This would have contributed to a better understanding of Livy's use of the concept of
pudicitia.
Chapter 3 ('Valerius Maximus: the complexities of past as paradigm', pp. 123-191),
which is the longest and most complicated of the book, concerns Valerius Maximus'
Facta et dicta memorabilia. The main focus lies on his chapter on pudicitia. L. starts
her discussion by looking at its context within the work as a whole and at its relation
to Valerius Maximus' view of the era of the maiores. This he considered to have been
a golden age since the power of virtues was so great that there was no need for further
restrictions. After an extensive analysis of Valerius' examples of pudicus behaviour,
L. concludes that the examples often contain lessons about paternal authority. The
Roman author emphasizes the importance of the protection of vulnerable bodies by
the strongest members of society. Remarkably, many of the examples contain
references to violent reactions to violations of pudicitia. Because of this and because
of the moral complexity of the episodes, L. believes that Valerius did not want his
audience to imitate the examples, but wanted to incite them to think about the concept
of pudicitia and its relevance for social structures. Chapter 3, because of its
complexity, is probably the most difficult to understand. It clearly shows L.'s
familiarity with Valerius' text. She also refers more than once to her unpublished
doctoral dissertation on gender and exemplarity in the Facta et Dicta Memorabilia
('Gender and exemplarity in Valerius Maximus', Diss. Cambridge, 2000), but, since
many readers will not have access to it, giving a broader context would often have
been useful. Nonetheless, since studies on women in Valerius Maximus are few, this
chapter should be valuable to every scholar interested in the subject.
In Chapter 4 ('Subversive genres: testing the limits of pudicitia', pp. 192-246), L.
examines, as she calls it, literature for the less-well educated. These literary genres,
which in ancient times were often attacked for their corrupting influence, question the
moral standards of Rome and bring to attention the ambiguity that surrounds concepts
such as pudicitia. Writers L. studies include Propertius, Plautus, Phaedrus, Ovid,
Petronius, and Apuleius. L. analyzes how these authors tested the limits of pudicitia,
how they undermined apparent certainties and exposed their problematic aspects.
Chapter 5 ('Declamation: what part of 'no' do you understand?', pp. 247-279), in a
way, also treats the limits of pudicitia. L. studies the concept as a subject of
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declamation. She discusses how declamatory exercises consisted of constructing
persuasive arguments around a controversial topic, in this case pudicitia, and how
these exercises served to prepare young boys for their lives as orators. Through a
study of declamatory texts by Seneca, Ps.-Quintilian and Calpurnius, L. explores the
pliability of the term.
As mentioned above, chapter 6 ('Sexual virtue on display II: oratory and the speeches
of Cicero', pp. 281-318) serves as the counterpart of chapter 1. It explores the result
of the declamatory exercises treated in the previous chapter, namely the use of
pudicitia in political speeches. Through various Ciceronian speeches, L. examines the
role of the virtue in the image of a good citizen of Rome. Cicero highlights the
importance to a citizen's life of displaying pudicitia, and its consequent importance
for the well-being of the state. Central in L.'s study are Cicero's invectives against
Verres, Clodius, and Antony, and his use of pudicitia as a means of characterization.
In a concluding remark, L. observes that one should take into account the distinction
between moral attitudes expressed in works such as Cicero's and Roman ethics as
actually practiced.
Chapter 7 ('Imperial narratives, imperial interventions', pp. 319-363) treats the works
of Tacitus and Suetonius. In the first part of the chapter, L. discusses how Tacitus,
unlike the authors treated in previous chapters, concentrates not on pudicitia but on
impudicitia. Tacitus' focus is mainly on vices, which he, of course, considers
abundantly present in the imperial family. L.'s study of Tacitus' Germania makes
clear that his use of the concept of pudicitia in reference to the Germanic tribes serves
to highlight the presence of impudicitia in Rome. L. then analyzes various passages
of the Annales that describe Julio-Claudian women. L. hopes to show that Tacitus
wrote these passages with the legend of Lucretia in mind. Yet, although there are
similarities between the stories, in some cases they are too superficial to be
convincing. In the second part of the chapter, L. studies Suetonius' references to the
decline of pudicitia under the Julio-Claudians. Suetonius, the author argues, uses the
concept to symbolize the moral decline and to discuss the efficiency (or inefficiency)
of imperial intervention. L. concludes that authors of the imperial period certainly
used some Republican themes, such as the concept of pudicitia, but did so in
reference to the socio-political changes of their times and as a means of describing
the elite resistance to these changes.
In sum, L.'s study is an important contribution to the study of sexual morality in
Rome. She has brought to the fore the complex meaning of pudicitia and offered a
model by which other virtues could be studied. In this way, L. has broadened our
view on this virtue, until now often considered characteristically feminine, by
explaining how it was also a fundamental aspect of being a good citizen.
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