The History of Sex: Pompeii -- 'Roman Society was Based on Rape' -- (Chap. I, Pt. 5)

'The notion of the obscene as we use the term today did not exist,' Dr. Varone says.

Phalluses were probably just signs of good luck, and many 'dirty' pictures—such as a pygmy orgy on the banks of the Nile—were meant to make people laugh (in this case, at the debauchees' deformities).

The Romans weren't so bothered about what you did as whom you did it with.

Most importantly, though, they made this laissez-faire approach to sex work by restricting sexual freedom to the elite.

Rome's citizens loved to swing, but most people weren't invited to the party—unless they were the party, that is: the majority of passive partners in sex scenes at Pompeii were slaves or prostitutes.

For freeborn Romans, sexual rules were all about penetration: to screw was good, but to get screwed was bad—that's what they did to the rest of the world, particularly the Greeks. 'Even oral sex to give pleasure to a woman was frowned upon because it wasn't dignified for a Roman citizen.'

'Roman society was based on rape,' Dr. Varone continues. 'For example, if I'm a master and you're my slave, and I want you to give me your ass—play the passive role—you have to. It's your duty. And I can do it whenever I want. If, during the course of your lifetime you're freed, and I ask you to give me your ass, it's a good idea if you do it.'

If the idea of rape as the basis for civilization sounds exaggerated, consider the founding legends of Rome.

The king of the Latins, Romulus (who'd been suckled as a child by a wolf-bitch, or lupa) invited the neighbouring tribe to a religious celebration.

In the middle of the feast, the Latins scared off the men and raped their women.

This forced interbreeding—the Rape of the Sabines—gave birth to the Romans, who viewed their ancestors' betrayal as a simple practicality due to a lack of women.

A couple of centuries later, another rape gave birth to the Republic.

The king's son violated a noblewoman, who then committed suicide.

The subsequent infighting over the dead woman's honor led to the collapse of the monarchy.

The Rape of Lucretia, as imagined by Titian during the Renaissance

For women, the Rape of Lucretia highlighted a Roman rule of female sexuality that persists to this day in Latin culture: women were destined to be either wives—matronae—or whores.

And once a Roman lost his or her honor, it might be avenged, but it could never be fully restored.