At the risk of nitpicking: "Meanwhile, every female Roman voice has been lost to time."
I bring this up less to bang on some diversity card, and more that it seems very far from true? (Yes, they were a vast minority, but 'lost to time' seems quite overwrought) In terms of poetry we have Sulpicia (both of them) and then lots of miscellaneous daily writings e.g. the diary of Vibia Perpetua; and of course Lucretia and Fulvia if we're talking public figures...
And the additional quote of female homosexuality being universally abhorred also seems to be misaligned with what I was taught, but my memories of this are both fuzzier and from my days in university, so I'd be more than willing to be proven wrong. (The obvious argument in my favor is the amount the of attention garnered by the supposed lesbian (both in location and sexual practice) Sappho) My take on it was that there was as much of a distribution in terms of outlook on sexual practices as there is today, albeit very differently weighted.
That all being said, roman graffiti is _amazing_ as a view into "normal people", the article leaving out the fact that gives me a good (but immature) chuckle, that a large amount of graffiti included simply crude drawings of penises.
I bring this up less to bang on some diversity card, and more that it seems very far from true? (Yes, they were a vast minority, but 'lost to time' seems quite overwrought) In terms of poetry we have Sulpicia (both of them) and then lots of miscellaneous daily writings e.g. the diary of Vibia Perpetua; and of course Lucretia and Fulvia if we're talking public figures...
And the additional quote of female homosexuality being universally abhorred also seems to be misaligned with what I was taught, but my memories of this are both fuzzier and from my days in university, so I'd be more than willing to be proven wrong. (The obvious argument in my favor is the amount the of attention garnered by the supposed lesbian (both in location and sexual practice) Sappho) My take on it was that there was as much of a distribution in terms of outlook on sexual practices as there is today, albeit very differently weighted.
That all being said, roman graffiti is _amazing_ as a view into "normal people", the article leaving out the fact that gives me a good (but immature) chuckle, that a large amount of graffiti included simply crude drawings of penises.