Uncovering Sex Lives of the Romans | With Honor Cargill-Martin

From popular TV series to kinky paintings, there is a recurring image today of Romans as lust-filled, mad degenerates. But the reality is a lot more...complicated.
Join Tristan Hughes and historian Honor Cargill-Martin as they explore the sex lives of ancient Romans living c.2,000 years ago - Emperors, statesmen, freedmen, slaves and more. Sorting fact from fiction, they explore why erotic imagery could be found all across the Roman Empire, acceptable vs deplorable marriage partners and just why gladiators became such sex symbols.
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[@HistoryHit]

We hope you enjoyed this video! This was a re-upload as our last version was flagged for adult content 🙄 - a raunchy little mosaic never killed nobody!

[@darylmckay]

Whew, I thought I was suffering from deja vu...

[@jan-willemwijnbergen9586]

Almost every picture is blurred? Bizar...

[@RabbitInAHumanWoild]

Is Britain still in the Victorian era? If you make a film about sex and then blur it all out, you insult your audience. We are adults in the 21st century after all.

[@darylmckay]

@@jan-willemwijnbergen9586 agreed. KZbin is an arse (albeit a blurred one) at times...

[@user-oi9to7ux7k]

This channel constantly trying to get clicks chasing a sensationalist angle. Sad.

[@she42069]

Bizarre that we're at the point where we're having to censor and blur art that can be found in MUSEUMS. Feels like we're going backwards.

[@juliemay5117]

It is odd because the erotic images at Pompeii are shown in many other documentaries...wonder why this one is different.

[@juliemay5117]

It is odd because the erotic images at Pompeii are shown in many other documentaries...wonder why this one is different.

[@juliemay5117]

It is odd because the erotic images at Pompeii are shown in many other documentaries...wonder why this one is different.

[@juliemay5117]

It is odd because the erotic images at Pompeii are shown in many other documentaries...wonder why this one is different.

[@Yandarval]

@@juliemay5117 KZbin's American prudishness.

[@JittikMieger]

2000 years of civilization and we're not allowed to see art on modern media... What a progress have we made!

[@sayuas4293]

Because youtube is based in the US

[@DivingDog0]

They used to outright deface artwork by chiselling off phalluses or drilling marble fig leaves into the works. We've come a long way.

[@randomcamus9445]

Imagine being a Roman and being able to buy barbaric women and choose the one you like the most🤤🥵 . . . .

[@Lis2875]

Ya but everyone can see it in a art books...at any library...

[@timtam003]

Christian puritanism. No problem before the Church.

[@winklenator]

For anyone commenting about the blurred images, just remember that they’re posting on KZbin where people can report any kind of nudity, including historical art.

[@hollieBlu303]

Yeah .I remember them doing this at my school. I was studying art. They had to be somewhat less heavy-handed after our teachers found out they had outright BANNED all the art websites that were available to us in the mid-2000s. It's a joke

[@bentucker2301]

Its KZbin doing that not people

[@Otto72ish]

Yank cultural imperialism, as ever.

[@hollieBlu303]

@@Otto72ish lol

[@Pancake_Nix]

I can keep that in mind all I want, it doesn't make it any less ridiculous. Why don't they just put underwear on the statue of David and be done with it?

[@Yandarval]

Dont blame HH for the cencored images. Blame YT and its American prudishness.

[@togrutabb1032]

As an American, I approve this message lol

[@KasumiRINA]

Why? These mosaics and statues are shown in other videos without getting blurred, you even have them in Assassin's Creed and usually those don't even lead to demonetized videos. This topic itself would be adult on its own pictures or not so they're just trying to play the victim here. That said, fuck American prudes.

[@Brad-r5q]

@@togrutabb1032 As an American, you could be more specific and blame it on the forever offended, prudish woke more than anyone else. Do you think YT is upholding the values of the religious prud?

[@ray.shoesmith]

​@@Brad-r5qFrom the rest of the world, you're all the same.

[@kelseybowman5463]

Hey now, let’s lay the American prudishness at the feet of those it belongs to… *cough* boomers *cough cough* LOL, jk, mostly…. And yes it is ridiculous that lots of YT content has to be censored because of ignorant people flagging historical/educational content as if it were a video on an adult website, (don’t know if I’m allowed to say p*rn) disregarding its context and educational value.

[@seththomas6350]

Peak comedy; egg plant emoji in 2024 🤝 Ancient Roman art. Humans ain’t changed a bit 😂

[@randomcamus9445]

Imagine being a Roman and being able to buy barbaric women and choose the one you like the most🤤🥵. . .

[@michael_a_4]

Great video. The historian was very informative. She shed a light on the interesting dynamics of roman sexual dynamics. 10/10!

[@randomcamus9445]

Imagine being a Roman and being able to buy barbaric women and choose the one you like the most🤤🥵 . . . .

[@gillafunk]

Funny how KZbin offers soft-core porn, but they blur out sex in historical museum art. Makes total sense. Absolutely. No question.

[@stutzbearcat5624]

Unbelievable! So annoying I'm bailing. Miss Cargill-Martin's prodigious charms not withstanding.

[@JoeBManco]

It would have been nice to hear what the program had to say without the background music.

[@randomcamus9445]

Imagine being a Roman and being able to buy barbaric women and choose the one you like the most🤤🥵 . . . .

[@courtneystewart8006]

This was such a fun history lesson. As a soon to be sex therapist, I always love these videos! The cultural norms make so much sense giving the values of the time and it is so fun to see how different the taboos can be in two patriarchal societies, theirs and our own. I really appreciate your painting of adolescent male sexuality as predatory because we usually see them used as examples of acceptability that we can adopt today. Unfortunately, these young men probably did not possess the agency to consent given their position, let alone their age. Fascinating.

[@Xagzan]

🎵"Let's talk about sex baby, let's talk about te et me"🎵

[@verynotreally]

Good video, but why the constant droning music? It's very distracting once you notice it.

[@flowermeerkat6827]

Yes the background music is hideous. It's too loud and incredibly distracting.

[@wwerrent8079]

I hadn’t noticed it until I read this post… Thanks 😂

[@southeastcoastalphotography]

You know what more annoying than the background music? These comment complaining about the music on every single documentary on KZbin. I can’t speak to why History Hit does it because their content is either made by them or the pay for the right to show it. Most of the smaller channels that have good and hard to find documentaries sometimes add the music so that they can get around paying royalties, keep under the radar of automated copyright checks and it lets them be able to keep bootlegging the documentaries we all enjoy. The music is really a minor issue compared to the super bootlegged videos where they change the pitch or speed of the speech or the absolute worst when the put a stupid background image like a old time widows screensaver then put the video you want to see in Picture in Picture window about 1/4 the size of your screen.

[@davidcoxinparis]

@@southeastcoastalphotography So you're complaining about complaints?

[@southeastcoastalphotography]

@@davidcoxinparis hahaha yes

[@Raz.C]

re - 20:04 She accidentally says "... runs away with a senator," rather than "... with a gladiator," which is what she meant to say.

[@courtneyriley185]

The blurred out art 😂

[@xdasdaasdasd4787]

Such a waste :(

[@M139NG]

What the hell is the point of that? Are we so scared of sex and or the human body that we can't even show old art during an educational program?? We are going backwards in so many ways

[@bentucker2301]

Blame America

[@wwisaacson4807]

A penis is fine to view but breasts are not. So ridiculous.

[@shinypeter7]

The background sound ruins this vid.

[@markcavandish1295]

Yes

[@Remigrator]

Jesus Christ, why would you play the same two second audio clip over and over for half an hour? Super annoying.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

"I wish I could hold to my neck and embrace the little arms, and bear kisses on the tender lips. Go on, doll, and trust your joys to the winds; believe me, light is the nature of men." -- A graffito from Pompeii

[@shock_n_Aweful]

I studied Greco-Roman sexuality as part of my degree and one of the important things they are not explaining is the root of how they viewed sex and why Gladiators/Actors were infame. In the ancient world physical ability was far more important than it is now, you cannot defend a city with nerds and sissies, so naturally they valued men capable of fighting above all. This naturally leads to highly patriarchal society and doing anything that was associated with females instead of hyper masculinity was looked down on. This is why it was ok to have homosexual relationships but only if you were the poker and not the pokee. In their point of view, allowing yourself to be treated like a woman meant that you had no self respect and could not be expected to have the self respect or integrity it took to be a protector. Performing for others, as an actor or a gladiator was still performing for others, a form of prostituting yourself for the enjoyment of others.

[@georgeg331]

How ridiculous to blur millennia-old art not only for KZbin - but on your SUBSCRIPTION BASED website as well ??? In a historical documentary about sex ... FFS

[@smarcis2]

The blurring is ridiculous.

[@julianjazz7296]

Why the freck are the fresco painting censored?

[@scottabc72]

KZbin algorithm

[@Lis2875]

Because YT is f...d up...

[@jmhatyoutube6283]

I’m not sure I can make through the second half of this video. The same musical phrase being repeated over and over and over is just driving me crazy. Maybe it changes eventually but I’m done.

[@54mgtf22]

Enjoyed it just as much as the first time 😂😂

[@nancytoothaker3224]

At first I thought it was just me but as it went on I realized I'd seen the same content pretty recently. I don't recall if it was this same channel, just under a different title, or somewhere else.

[@sb-id]

Interesting video but the background music was annoying.

[@maisondusuave]

I had to turn this off...the music is very distracting and annoying

[@DanielRamosss]

Good, this documentary is only for smart people.

[@skontheroad]

Sorry, but a documentary with the artwork being discussed blurred out? That is ridiculous!

[@bratis99]

Unbelievably Censored...

[@BTReese]

Good lord, I could listen to Honor talk on this subject allll night long.

[@charlotteillustration5778]

I read somewhere that Julius Caesar was called “every woman’s husband and every man’s wife “ - is that a true source?

[@riccardoalcaro8483]

It’s true that that was said of him. It was a form of political attack, and quite an effective one. How much truth there was in it, it’s hard to say. Sources do tell stories of Caesar as a womanizer though

[@Red_Comet_Char_Aznable]

Caesar had at least one confirmed male lover so who knows? Maybe.

[@enkilm]

Yes it is, according to Suetonius.

[@peachgo3]

Thank you for such a concise video! I'm glad you pointed out how askew the perspective on this topic is in people's heads, popular media etc. I'm currently writing a paper on Roman gender roles/sexuality surrounding Nero and Boudicca -- it is fascinating but it's also giving me a headache 💀😂

[@robbieodonovan44]

1:10 My gosh ❤ She's beautiful and speaking on such a taboo subject in history. Historicans do come in all forms of course 😢

[@ballislife6086]

To Miss Honor Cargill, 🌻🌻 Best regards, Stranger

[@tubecrazytube]

Very interesting doc. However, after the fifth segment with blurred images I quit watching. I thought that nudity in art was allowed on this platform. So, why not show us those historical fresco’s? Without them the meaning of the subject is not that strong and it really annoys me we’ve come to this ridiculous censorship. Maybe I’ll watch later when I’m less irritated.

[@janetpendlebury6808]

If it was being shown on tv anywhere other than America it would not be blurred out, but KZbin follows American prudery.

[@stutzbearcat5624]

Well I'll freely admit to feeling the stirrings of Aphrodite listening to the beautiful intelligent and compelling Miss Honor Cargill-Martin!

[@Raz.C]

In the case of the Romans, I don't think this streak of inequality had anything to do with hatred. I think it was more a case of fear; fear of raising another man's child, tricked into believing it was your own. I guess men who want children are highly motivated to ensure that they leave an inheritance for offspring that actually sprang from their off?

[@eric2500]

thumbs up from "sprang from their off"!

[@eric2500]

Mama's baby. Papa's? Maybe. blame Mother Nature, it is her rule.

[@Raz.C]

@@eric2500 Cheers, mate. I always try to make anything I write fun for the reader to read. It doesn't always work, but I'm glad to hear that this one landed.

[@Raz.C]

@@eric2500 I'm more interested in the 'How' and 'Why' behind people and what they do. I don't care much about assigning blame.

[@KheKheGanja]

​@@Raz.Cit def did it I read the whole statement with a straight comphrending face till I came to that sentence then I had a touche face😂

[@ColdTakes585]

What I would not give to make Honor a nice dinner and talk some history 😮‍💨😭😂

[@KasumiRINA]

7:42 why the F would you film and edit in a panning shot of artwork only to blur it so much you can't see what it is? XD

[@willyvonbusche729]

Blame KZbin. Not him. KZbin is full of shit.

[@higoryamada1625]

So nice to see the time span up to 1453 AD and not 476 AD.

[@UOFelucca]

Honor Cargill-Martin is a complete smoke show!

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage video about sex in Roman empire societies

[@spinkey4842]

man, i'm happy these fine folk gave the world such a popular religion

[@SWExplore]

What is the point of producing a video on the Romans' Sex Lives if you blur out the very images that you are trying to illustrate. Something wrong there that you cannot show the sex acts of the Romans.

[@johndee2077]

Please lose the annoying background ‘music’!!

[@jazzeejax5816]

That was definitely a bold choice

[@humanharddrive1]

"absolutely outrageous sex scenes" - shows blurred image. what is the point? I want to see it!

[@zpetar]

Self-censoring is worst type of censorship... Problem is people who are complaining are very loud and rest are too quiet because it became more important to be politically correct than fight for what we believe in. People who are reporting nudity in centuries and millenniums old art should be laughed at, ricilued, trolled... at every single step of their miserable lives. If normal people would start fighting back Google would have no other choice than to stop it's stupid policies

[@meelertac]

What's the point when everything is blurred out?

[@angeloargentieri5605]

Roma, il più grandioso e glorioso Impero della storia; Roma ha conquistato, dominato, costruito e CIVILIZZATO; la grandezza, la potenza, la magnificenza e la GLORIA DI ROMA EST AETERNA, ROMA INVICTA ET LUX MUNDI 💪💯

[@johnslaughter5475]

Very interesting. One complaint - if a picture is going to be blurred out, don't include it in the video.

[@darylmckay]

it's a re-upload due to KZbin restrictions. The original video was not blurred.

[@peterlambert5130]

Why have you blurred out the Roman paintings? We lost the meaning ofsk Roman art because you got sgqimish and censored art...what?

[@carmencita.k]

Yep the bad recorder playing constantly is so distracting, who's bright idea was that,at least play a bit of Italian classical music

[@debbielondon1809]

Why the term sex worker rather than prostitute? I'm really not sure about the "cleaning up" of language, and who is meant to be liberated by it?

[@anna_in_aotearoa3166]

Can't speak for HH channel? But often it's a difference in category. Prostitutes are usually just fulltime professionals who have paid sex with people. Whereas sex work can include 'exotic dancing' (with or without additional sex), sensual massage (ditto), full-on whoring, geisha/hetairai (more intellectual services plus sex) and people who choose to or are pressured into providing paid sex even though it's not their job (actors, laundry workers, underpaid craft workers, etc etc).

[@kryptomanik]

Because "sex worker" covers a wider swath of services. Prostitute just describes people who give full services. Sex workers can include pornographic actors, companionship escorts, and strippers.

[@eriklarsson3188]

@@kryptomanik Incorrect. It's prostitute and prostitution. It covers it _all_ 'sex work' is simply an attempt to "clean" up the services(s) that's all. All those women are/were prostitutes. Of course, not including the dogs that Roman 15-16-17 year old women was mounted by when they had "Roman Sex Parties", and of course, not the 5 year old girls (the youngest age for a female prostitute in a Roman brothel) since they didn't' have any agency. There's more but I think this paint the picture.

[@lloydrobins6074]

I dislike censorship, particularly that done to artworks just to satisfy some ridiculous KZbin hypersensitivity.

[@lynnedelacy2841]

As I understood it ( and it is probably just a story !) the blue eye as the evil eye stemmed from the Crusades. ( although the eye of Osiris was common throughout the Mediterranean for thousands of years ) At one point the Muslims were losing and they looked for a reason and what they saw as a key point of difference was the blue eyes of the Northern Europeans and they thought they were casting evil through these eyes and so in an effort to deflect / reflect this bad luck they carried their own versions of the blue eye

[@vicjay1972]

I wouldn’t mind it if Honor Cargilll-Martin gave me some private tutorials on the intricacies of this area of her expertise. She is very lovely. What a smile.

[@VitaKet]

Really... you blurred nipples out of a painting? You know that is not necessary right? Educational content is allowed.

[@JewelOfSoul]

There's a pinned comment up there that says: We hope you enjoyed this video! This was a re-upload as our last version was flagged for adult content - a raunchy little mosaic never killed nobody!

[@valis992000]

We went as chaperones with a well known educational tour company to Pompeii and our guide repeated the "penis myth". I'm no expert but I noticed guides at other sites gave popular mis-information (at the time I did not know the phallus story was not true). I think perhaps the "educational guides" are hired more for English and people skills than historical knowledge.

[@jensphiliphohmann1876]

About 20:56 _To marry one_ [actress] _was forbidden._ This rule seems to have relaxed in Christian times of all Roman times since 6th century throne attendant Justinian did it.

[@peterbedford2610]

What about Biggus Dickus?

[@MrJimmyGiblets]

Gave up after 8 minutes of what could have been a very interesting programme. How can I listen to the experts talking about stuff only to see that over the half the images they are talking about have been frosted out?

[@janetpendlebury6808]

Blame youtube, which is run by American's, for being prudish.

[@markn1616]

Turned off after 5 mins. Fuzzy images. I'm not 6.

[@The_PositivePlanet]

Gorgeous blonde British lady who is appropriate to talk about this topic❤

[@deniztalay2546]

One of the weird thing about this modern revisionist history It actually accuses of Romans being unchaste ? They were more honest on their morality than you.

[@justinflaherty4687]

Thank you for not asking us to "SMASH" the like button. 😂

[@rusedgin]

It's amusing that you refer to the 'Evil Eye' as something ancient… In Portuguese culture, it's still very much a part of everyday life.

[@ricardov929]

i love history hit, but why is the art being censored.... its ridiculous... -10 stars

[@lionheart1975]

There was entire cult built around sex. In Roman and else where in Mesopotamia Samaria, Babylon cult surrounded Ishtar would take children born of prostitution then sacrifice them to Molech the Destroyers. They wrote about this stuff extensively which is how we know. If we pay attention you will notice a more modern version of this is returning or in some cases has returned.

[@CuteCatWantsPat]

What's the modern equivalent?

[@phillipseiver1163]

Why Blair the imagery? Can you get rid of that redundant background music otherwise it's a great show

[@lancerbiker5263]

Good topic over censored.

[@rolandscherer1574]

US-Americans are terribly prudish. If the Louvre were to make some of its paintings available for an exhibition in the USA, it would first have to paste them over. Here it is so bad that most of the pictures had to be made completely unrecognisable, they could just as well not have been shown, there would have been no loss of information. Two versions should be made: one pixelated for Americans and one unpixelated for normal people. "Land of the Free"

[@silverleafmaple]

Around 6:41 the music killed me 😅

[@rolandscales9380]

22.30 You've glossed over the Cena Trimalchionis on the one hand (I don't think Petronius was a Christian, and he had to be satirising something that existed, after all) and also the events concerning the Empress Messalina's downfall.

[@CARambolagen]

Blurring out images that are documenting roman sex life in a documentary about roman sex life??? How silly can prudery get?

[@SmokeyTreats]

Surprised you didn't mention Caligula, or do you believe the movie Caligula uncut 1979 is fake news? Thanks for your vid!

[@werpu12]

Thats a general question, the historical information is very thin because there are not that many sources, and often written by opponents who took a lot of freedom, in the end we do not know whether the excesses of caligula or nero are true (or el gabal for instance)! The perfect example for this is. in newer times is Marie Antoinette who had a lot of sexual excesses written onto her by her enemies during her lifetime, but none of those were true, thankfully our historical records for this era are way more precise so we have the full picture there. Now think if the same would have happened to her but we only had 2-3 historical resources on her and then even worse written by her enemies who drove an agenda of setting her into the worst light possible, we would have a completely different picture of her. So I guess, possible yes, did it happen, maybe some of it, but we will never know, in case of Nero and Caligula!

[@SmokeyTreats]

@@werpu12 Thanks for your reply!

[@ivy_1990]

I expected some interesting content but this was shocking 😏. Some of it kinda creepy. Ultimately, appreciated but surprised. Some crazy s**t. Lol thanks for making an honest and bold documentary 🙌

[@inboxnr1]

I loved Honor Cargill-Martin, please bring her back.

[@HumanBeanbag]

I thought she was Sophia Coppola for a second

[@hugosophy]

Damn even the kitschy Victorian artwork got censored.

[@npc-np7dc]

Oh great, another nice historian lady to fall in love with...

[@plastikmaiden]

Boy this comment section... some of you get real weird around sex. 🙄

[@vickywitton1008]

Why are breasts blurred out? Who is offended by breasts? If you are watching this video then you are not going to be a puritanical person!

[@eric2500]

The algorithm is offended, and it is not a person.

[@janetpendlebury6808]

Blame KZbin, which is American owned.

[@v.5442]

@@janetpendlebury6808 "American". If I say who actually owns it, my acc would get yeeted.

[@golden_smaug]

This video was so fun to watch as well as interesting lol

[@NotMyName888]

Interesting video. Some feedback - lose the ever-looping background music and the moral commentary, e.g. "horrifyingly, ..."

[@LeoKamen-h8d]

Why talk about sex and then blur out all the images. Silly. And therefore, not worth watching.

[@cotybare9720]

I have been told (over and over again within the last 10 years) that America is the ONLY place that had slaves. Who gets reparations for the Roman slave trade? Love, Sarcasm.

[@platolover6377]

It is absolutely ridiculous that you're blurring the images. I won't even watch the rest

[@jonathaneffemey944]

Thanks for posting

[@Magneticvortex-kk4gb]

The background music has to go.

[@zappa-happy]

WTF is happening?! We are censoring art from 2000 years ago that they Could See Uncensored! Insanity!

[@johncochrane1301]

So much for "Thou Shall not Bare False Witness." LOL

[@bronzewound]

Never ever make a comment until now. The blurring of images for whatever reason is pure BS. I'm 4:23 into the video and have decided to move on! from watching further I don't appreciate being treated as unable to process what is real. Shame on whomever, including KZbin if they're the underlying culprit!!

[@janetpendlebury6808]

Of course it is KZbin, it was not blurred in the original doco, just in the upload onto youtube.

[@Peter-oh3pm]

6:26 In Pompeii. That is not a lie, it is true. It points strait to a brothel.

[@ellienavarro4230]

What is the point of watching this video with blurred images? I'm giving up

[@eric2500]

A symbol of protection? Sure. That's what all the 8 year olds doodling on desks say!

[@jdad3oh3]

This video was terrible because of the music that continuously played in the background. I had to turn it off and comment

[@BumboRasKlat79]

The term "illegitimate children" baffles me. I know what it means, but if a child is born living, he/she has a legitimate Right to be ALIVE. Id say the parents are illegitimate, not the child. Disgraceful how that standard still exists in the 21st Century.

[@PentaRaus]

Given the horde of single moms it should make a come back.

[@BumboRasKlat79]

@@PentaRaus well now, I think Men should have more self control, and not make babies they cant take care of, or be responsible for. It takes 2 to tango. You're a part of the problem, not the solution @$$hole.

[@janetpendlebury6808]

Illegitimate means born of parents not lawfully married to each other. Legitimate means conforming to the law or to rules.

[@tadjani5191]

@@janetpendlebury6808 Then call the parents illegitimate. The child had NOTHING to do with it!

[@josephmarzullo]

Dislike for the blurred works of art. If you don’t draw a line in the sand with works of art then you don’t deserve to be praised!

[@rileykiller5]

If they didn’t blur the art the video would of likely been set to 18+ and not get any ads so no money or completely taken down altogether

[@janetpendlebury6808]

That is what American's are like, you can show violence but not sex. The original doco was not blurred.

[@YasirAraparrot]

14:52 I thought Joffrey Baratheon was a virgin?

[@Tiberiotertio]

Sorry stupid blurring of classical art, not watching any further. This is BS

[@alfonsocarlossoler5371]

nice intro

[@svt80221]

i'm watching this pretending i have sex regularly and can relate.