Roman provincial sexualities: Constructing the body, sexuality, and gender through erotic lamp art

Abstract

This paper explores how replicated erotic art decorating terracotta lamps constructed sexual ideology in Roman provinces. Lamp imagery, through semantic combination of elements, generated sexual discourse in which certain bodies and actions visually articulated boundaries of ideal and non-ideal sexualities and associated practices. Mould-made replication helped sexual disc-reliefs communicate consistent ideas about sexuality, aiding cultural cohesion throughout the globalising empire. Lamp portability helped these ideas reach large audiences across vast geographies. Provincial communities, through selection of these objects, however, redefined Roman sexual discourse locally. The greatest difference is discernible between the Latin and Greek locales. In the Latin sites disc-reliefs generate meaning through idealised and dwarf symplegmata, whereas in the Greek East they do so through portrayals of idealised symplegma, mythological rapes, and bestiality. The paper demonstrates the plurality of provincial sexualities, the regional bases for their formation, and their implication in broader Roman colonial discourses.