The Plague of Lust, Vol. 1 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical AntiquityRosenbaum, Julius
History
The Plague of Lust, Vol. 1 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical Antiquity
Rosenbaum, Julius
Sexually transmitted diseases -- History
Eunt depressum, quia nos sumus libertinae,
Et ego et mater tua, ambae meretrices sumus.
(They go about to depreciate us, because we are freed-women, both I and
your mother, we are both courtesans).—_Livy_, XXXIX. 9.
[213] They were called for this reason _vestita scorta_ (dressed out
whores). _Juvenal_, Satir. III. 135.—_Horace_, Sat. I. 2. 28.,
Sunt qui nolint tetigisse, nisi illas
Quarum subsuta talos tegat _instita_ veste.
(There are men who will refuse to touch any woman but those whose
frilled tunic has a _flounce_ touching their heels).—Comp. _Burmann_ on
Petronius, pp. 64 and 95.—_Ferrarius_, De re vestiar. (On costume), bk.
III. ch. 23.
[214] _Horace_, Odes II. 11. 21., Quis _devium scortum_ domo eliciet
Lyden? (Who will entice from her home the _sequestered harlot_ Lydé?).
[215] Annal., II. 85. In fact mention had been made of Vestilia, member
of a Praetorian family, as being a public prostitute.
[216] Bk. IV. Epigr. 71. Already in his time _Ovid_ dared to say: casta
est, quam nemo rogavit. (she is chaste—whom no man has solicited).
[217] Although the goddess Isis was worshipped at Rome as early as
Sulla’s time (_Apuleius_, Metam., XI. p. 817. edit. Oudendorp), she did
not possess a public temple there till the Triumvirate (711 A. A. C.)
_Dio Cassius_, bk. XLVII. 15. p. 501., XLIII. 2. p. 692., LIV. 6. p.
734., XL. 47. p. 252. edit. Fabricius.—_Tertullian_, Apologet., ch. 6.
_Spartian_, Caracalla, 9. _Suetonius_, Domitian, 12.
[218] _Ovid_, Ars Amandi, I. 27.—_Burmann_ on Propertius, p. 348.
_Josephus_, Antiq. Jud. XVIII. 4. Hence in _Juvenal_, Sat. VI., 488.,
Isiacae sacraria lenae (sanctuaries of Isis—the brothel-mistress).
[219] _Tibullus_, bk. I. carm. 3. 27.
Nunc dea, nunc succurre mihi; nam _posse mederi,
Picta_ docet _templis multa tabella tuis_.
(Now goddess, even now help me; for that thou _canst_ heal, many
a painted tablet in thy temples shows). _Gerning_, “Reise durch
Oestreich und Italien” (Journey through Austria and Italy). Vol. II.
pp. 188-199.—_St. Non_, “Voyage pittoresque” (Picturesque Tour), Vol.
II. pp. 170 sqq. Hardly anything is yet known as to the connection of
the worship of Isis with the healing of disease, least of all with
regard to establishments for the sick; for the particulars collected by
_Hundertmarck_ (“De principibus Diis Artis medicae tutelaribus” (Of the
principal Gods that presided over the Medical Art). Leipzig 1735. 4to.
and “Diss. de Artis Medicae incrementis per aegrotorum apud Veteres in
Vias Publica et Templa expositionem” (Treatise on advances in medical
Art due to the practice of the Ancients of exposing the sick in Public
Ways and Temples). Leipzig 1739. 4to.) are quite insufficient.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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