8 – In Ancient Rome, Men Were Not Just Allowed to Be Sexual Deviants, It Was Encouraged
The Romans were advanced in many ways but were positively barbaric in others. One of the biggest black marks against ancient Rome is not only the slavery aspect, but how they treated those in servitude. It is a sad fact that you don’t create and expand an empire without shedding rivers of blood, and the Roman Empire was no different. Ancient Rome was a dominating and aggressive society and produced some appalling emperors including Caligula, Nero, and Commodus.
Rome had an enormous slave trade which was a significant part of its economy. Slaves had zero rights and were completely at the mercy of their masters. As well as beating and sexually abusing slaves, masters could murder them and suffer zero consequences. If slaves ran away and were recaptured, crucifixion was the typical punishment. There were some laws implemented to protect slaves but were generally ignored. At the height of the empire’s power, up to 15% of the population were slaves.
Therefore, female slaves were regularly and brutally raped by their masters and could do nothing about it. In fact, the only way to get in trouble for raping a slave was if you didn’t own the slave. In that case, you may be charged for property damage but that’s about it. However, it wasn’t just slave women in Rome that were at risk. Women who worked as prostitutes, waitresses, or actresses also had no recourse if they were raped as it was considered part of their job.
In one case where a woman tried to get justice after being gang-raped, her complaint was dismissed because apparently, the men were only acting by well-established traditions at staged events. While it would be nice if attitudes to rape had improved over the years, it sadly didn’t. Saint Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 AD) was praised for his progressive attitude as he said raped women did not have to commit suicide. He also suggested that some women enjoyed the experience.