Sex Shows at the Roman Colossuem: A Lesser-Known Historical Tale

The first thing to come to mind when anyone imagines the Colosseum are the spectacles of gladiatorial combat. Two men fighting one another to the death to the jeers and howls of the crowd before one finally capitulates, then the sadistic emperor let's loose the lions - these are the images we think of when we imagine one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. But what most people don't consider when thinking of the Roman Colosseum is the live sex shows that occurred there.

No doubt intrigued, don't think that this was a simple exaggeration - these were not just simple stripteases to keep older men happy between bouts of blood and gore, but were actual spectacles of skin and lust, the Spice Channel of the ancient world, as it were.

The Colosseum was a site of spectacles that the entire world would fall over themselves to see. For those native to the city, it was an escape from reality and a reminder that even as a lowly pleb who couldn't afford his debt to the various cartels (called collegium at the time) there was still someone who had it worse than you. A lot worse. You weren't getting torn apart by lions, after all.

If the aforementioned analogy were true, with the Colosseum acting as the Spice Network for ancient Rome, it also served as the Discovery Channel, History Channel, ESPN, and HBO late night drama and comedy channels too. Comedians would tell stories for guffaws (and some of them would have lions unleashed on them to even more guffaws), plays would be put on as the next show would be quickly assembled, and slaves and animals would be shown from all over the conquered world.

This was everyone's one chance outside of a Triumph (which were running remarkably dry after the death of Augustus) to see the far off reaches of the empire. There was a high demand to see the beasts from afar, especially elephants and giraffes that looked more like uncontrollable monsters than like animals that they were used to.

The main events, the gladiator bouts, were often interspersed with other shows to beguile the audience. Trained lions and tigers would perform tricks alongside bears, beastarii would show off their talents as beast tamers, especially in the ancient bull fights. Equestrians, what we refer to now as knights, would often draw lances and joust with one another on horseback.

But perhaps the most alluring of the shows were actually something of advertisements. Rome was a city much accustomed to sexual profligacy, it was a part of their every day lives. In any Roman home, there was easy access to any number of sexual devices through the forms of slaves and catamites. When that wasn't enough, when a real professional delicacy was needed, Romans could turn to the brothels, which would often run their shows in the Colosseum. These worked both as "commercial advertisements" as well as raw, raunchy spectacles of earthly delight.

Daniel Mannix, author of the masterpiece Way of the Gladiator, goes into detail about some of the displays that went on there. Many times, the owners of said brothels would urge the lights be dimmed around the Colosseum's main display, and aided by visual enhancers like smoke and mist, the prostitutes' "skills" were showcased for all to see.

Acquisition of these "slots" were usually at the leisure of the Master of the Games - the absolute final authority on the games as they occurred, and were an easy way to distract audiences while making preparations for a particularly complex series of bouts.

These were a sure way for brothel owners to market themselves - and were as valuable to them as Superbowl commercials are now.

Sources:

Daniel Mannix - The Way of the Gladiator
http://www.bigeye.com/sexeducation/romanempire.html
http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_prostitutionnotes.htm