Pueri delicati in the household of Pliny the Younger: slaves' strategies of resistance to sexual abuse

Autors/ores

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/SPhV.25.25960

Paraules clau:

children, slaves, sexual abuse, Pliny the Younger

Resum

This paper aims to reconstruct the presence of pueri delicati in the household of Pliny the Younger. Although Pliny makes no explicit reference to the issue in his epistolary, an analysis of some of his letters shows that, probably, he, like many wealthy Romans of his time, did not refrain from the pleasure afforded by his impubescent slaves. In connection with this issue, the present study reveals some possible strategies of resistance that these children might have used against a reality that, presumably, was not as pleasant to them as it was to their master.

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Biografia de l'autor/a

Gonzalo Fontana Elboj, Universidad de Zaragoza

Departamento de CIencias de la Antigüedad, Profesor TItular de la Universidad de Zaragoza

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31-01-2024

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Fontana Elboj, G. (2024). Pueri delicati in the household of Pliny the Younger: slaves’ strategies of resistance to sexual abuse. Studia Philologica Valentina, (25), 139–157. https://doi.org/10.7203/SPhV.25.25960
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