In the legal framework of classical Rome social, penalties suffered by prostitutes who were object of “infamy” were sanctioned; they were declared “villains”, together with actors and los gladiators, according to a study on prostitutes in Rome prepared by Professor Aurora López López, of the University of Granada, and published in the book: “In Greece and Rome: people and things”; whose authors are Professors Andrés Pociña and Jesús María García. The book, published jointly by the University of Granada and the Spanish Society of Classical Studies, deals with poetry, mysticism, philosophy, athletes, doctors, prostitutes, musicians, games, teachers, literature, fashion, comedy and homosexuals in different studies prepared by specialists and lecturers and expounded in the homonymous course “In Greece and Rome: people and things”, which took place in Granada sponsored by the Spanish Society of Classical Studies.
According to Professor Aurora López, author of this study, prostitutes, actors and gladiators are, in classical Rome, the paradigm of dishonor, those who indecenmtly assault the “dignitas” of the high citizenship, the “gratuitas” a Roman must be blessed with. UGR lecturer, who has made use of classical texts and Roman legislation in her research work, points out that prostitutes had their own identifying marks in clothes and hairstyle in order that there could not be a mistake between a woman and a prostitute: “When a prostitute walks down the street –states Aurora López– she must wear a short grey-brown toga, an attire that no other sort of woman will wear. Otherwise, high-class women, the “matronae”, are different too, and they wear a long “stola” which went down until their feet trimmed with a wide stripe called “instita”, which served as a warning to the public about the risk of getting closer to them; they also wore the “palla”, a kind of cloak they covered with; a hairstyle with ribbons, “uitae”, completed their attire.”
However, prostitutae could wear luxurious dresses underneath and, of course, in “lenones” or “lenae´s” houses; they showed their refinement with them and, as a aconsequence, the price of their services.
Professor Aurora López concludes her work with an illuminating quote of a member of the Swedish Parliament. Elizabeth Markstrom. “Prostitution is a matter of power, of masculine power over women, and we will not allow men to buy women. As Louise, an old prostitute, said to me: some say that prostitution is the oldest job in the world. In this case, it has been built on the oldest lie invented by mankind”.
Reference: Professor Aurora López López
Dpt. of Latin Studies. University of Granada
Phone number: 958 243689 / 243684
E-mail: flatina@ucartuja.ugr.es