Two Pathic Subcultures in Ancient Rome

Two Pathic Subcultures in Ancient Rome 357
claims that he is only taking the active role, but in secret his so-called
pedicating is quite the opposite.'29 Perhaps the same sort of sarcasm is
at work in 3.98 as well. But it does not conform well with 12.85. .1, which
is almost sententious in ascribing to the pedico a pathic vice. Unless the
fellow had a pungent whiff of the pathic about him, calling him a pedico
simply would not meet the standards of Roman invective. Most likely,
Martial is astutely acknowledging a generalizing trend in everyday usage
of the verb and its nominalization, which at times he follows and at other
times ridicules. "Well, Sabellus," 3.98 might be saying, "I see the rules
have changed, and now the poked means the same as the poker. I guess
that means you're poking with your backside:' Since the new, broader
meaning of the verb blurred the line between active and passive partner,
it had to be intransitive and absolute, like Martial's usage of futuo in
11.7.13 ("whenever it pleases you [a woman] to go fuck").130 Neither
of the two instances of the verb cited above has a direct object, and it
may be that they are meant to have this absolute sense.
BATHHOUSE LIAISONS, PROSTITUTION, AND PATRONAGE
The literary sources of the Empire consistently indicate that public baths
were foci for the establishment of male sexual liaisons.'3' They are not
forthright, however, about the nature of these contacts. Are the bathers
looking for boys, or for grown men? Do they seek active, passive, or
mutual intercourse? Are they simply johns, or is there a more complex
relationship between solicitor and solicited?
There is no reason to conclude that fee-based prostitution is the standard
structure of these relationships. The pattern of behavior, where it
can be determined at all, seems rather to be one of patronage. However,
as Krenkel notes, the line between sexual patronage and prostitution can
be very thin.'32 The difficulty of assessing such situations is well illustrated
by Achilles Tatius, who in his novel Leucippe and Cleitophon sets
Greek and Roman values at odds in his portrayal of Thersander. An opponent
suggests that Thersander's insatiable quest as a teenager for intel-
I" Kay (n. 38 above), p. 249.
130"Quotiens placet ire fututum." CIL IV has several instances of the preposition cum
with the verb futuo-a sure sign that the verb had acquired an intransitive meaning by
the early Empire. The House of Jupiter and Ganymede in Ostia Antica includes a graffito
employing the verb with ad + accusative (see Clarke, The Houses of Roman Italy [n. 20
above], p. 324). For evidence of the agent noun fututrix, see Adams (n. 104 above), p.
122.
'31And, less frequently, male-female contacts; see, e.g., Ov. Ars Am. 3.639-40; Juv.
6.418-23.
'32Krenkel(n. 55 above), p. 181.
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