The Plague of Lust, Vol. 2 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical AntiquityRosenbaum, Julius
History
The Plague of Lust, Vol. 2 (of 2): Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical Antiquity
Rosenbaum, Julius
Sexually transmitted diseases -- History
But in proportion as the exciting cause grew ever more and more common,
the _cunnilingue_ being now no longer contented with girls, but
employing for the satisfaction of his shameful mania women and even
pregnant women as well, and at last actually women during menstruation,
the resulting consequences were bound to occur not only more frequently
but also in a more dangerous form. At first it was merely single
pustules, which appeared round the mouth and took possession of the
chin, and which were confounded with _Sycosis menti_ (Sycosis,—fig-like
eruption of the chin), a complaint liable to arise from other causes
as well and one long since familiar, without attracting particular
attention as anything uncommon. Later on when neither morbid vaginal
phlegm nor yet menstrual blood repelled the _cunnilingue_ any longer,
there was set up a diseased process in the cutaneous glands, the
resulting secretion rapidly drying formed a white crust or scurf, and
this was detached in flakes resembling bran. All this could not fail to
arouse remark, and accordingly the Romans, little practised in medical
diagnosis, saw in it a new disease, which in turn received a new name.
Just as in more modern times the introduction of Venereal disease was
attributed to a leprous Knight from the Holy Land, so now at Rome
_Perusinus, eques Romanus, Quaestorius scriba_ (Perusinus, a Roman
knight, a secretary in the Quaestorian office) was held responsible
for bringing _mentagra_ from Asia. As a matter of fact he probably
got his _mentagra_ in Asia in exactly the same manner in which it was
acquired in Rome,—if indeed we are on general grounds to give any
weight to this part of the story. At any rate modern times have given
us many examples of how much credence mankind is ready to give to an
account of the introduction of a disease by one definite individual.
But the disease did not stop at the cutaneous glands, the hair-glands
were also involved, the hair fell away, and ulcers formed, which spread
around with destructive virulence, as was particularly the case in
Martial’s day. On the other hand it is true deep-seated ulceration
never supervened, but the disease rather extended on the surface from
the face onwards, spreading more or less over the whole of the rest
of the body[116], and thus assumed the form of Psora (Itch) or Lepra
(Leprosy),—a phænomenon we shall have to return to once more later, its
right appreciation being of the utmost importance for the History of
Venereal Disease.
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