On a knife-edge: an image of sex and spectacle from Roman north-west Europe

TY - CHAP

T1 - On a knife-edge: an image of sex and spectacle from Roman north-west Europe

AU - Pearce, John

PY - 2020/5

Y1 - 2020/5

N2 - This chapter discusses a little-known image of sex from antiquity, an acrobatic sexual act involving three individuals, modelled as a miniature three-dimensional group on Roman-period knife handles found in Britain and Gaul. The scene is not derived from known Roman images of sex and may portray a theatrical show or similar spectacle. After describing the scene and considering its genesis, the author considers how the image was understood and experienced by contemporaries as a dynamic object, potentially embodying literary cultivation, spectacle partisanship, normative sexuality, and, in its incongruities, talismanic protection.

AB - This chapter discusses a little-known image of sex from antiquity, an acrobatic sexual act involving three individuals, modelled as a miniature three-dimensional group on Roman-period knife handles found in Britain and Gaul. The scene is not derived from known Roman images of sex and may portray a theatrical show or similar spectacle. After describing the scene and considering its genesis, the author considers how the image was understood and experienced by contemporaries as a dynamic object, potentially embodying literary cultivation, spectacle partisanship, normative sexuality, and, in its incongruities, talismanic protection.

KW - Roman archaeology art sex artefacts

M3 - Chapter

SN - 1138284025

SP - 25

EP - 53

BT - Un-Roman Sex: Gender, Sexuality, and Lovemaking in the Roman Provinces and Frontiers

A2 - Collins, Rob

A2 - Ivleva, Tatiana

PB - Routledge

CY - London

ER -