Part 26

[233] _Stoll_, Praelectiones in diversos morbos chronicos, (Lectures on certain Chronic Diseases), Vol. I. p. 96, writes as follows: Antiquissimum cum _Henslero_ pronuntiavi, atque inter Aegyptios, Judaeos, Graecos dein et Romanos perfrequentem _ut quasdam harum gentium consuetudines, mores, leges ac statuta forte inde possis repertere_.... Sic praeceptum _circumcisionis_, antiquissima plane consuetudo, idcirco fortassis instituta fuerat, atque tanquam ritus sacer, tanquam praeceptum quoddam, de quo dispensari nemo queat, introducebatur, quod circumcisus videatur difficilius morbum urethrae contrahere, rariusque ablato scilicet praeputio, intra quod virus haeret, rodit, cancros facit, quod et ipsum efficitur pessime in phymosi, paraphymosi. Glans ipsa in homine minus facile virus resorbere videtur, occallescens nempe.... Nota viriginitatis sedulo examinata est in neonuptis puellis; custodia foeminarum per totum orientem; adulterii crimen, maxime foeminarum, morte expiatum _videntur docere, scivisse antiquitatem remotissimam, morbum quendam gravem, immundum volgivaga Venere dari et communicari_. (With _Hensler_ I pronounce it—Venereal disease—to be of most ancient origin, and to have been of such frequency among the Egyptians, Jews, as well as the Greeks and Romans, that it may well _be possible to discover in it the cause of sundry habits, customs, laws and enactments of these Peoples_.... For instance the precept of circumcision, evidently an extremely ancient custom, was very possibly first instituted for this reason, and was introduced in the guise of a sacred rite, a ceremonial precept from which there can be no dispensation, because the circumcised man would seem less readily to contract disease of the urethra, and in cases where the prepuce has been removed, inside which the poison remains adherent and corrodes, less frequently suffers from chancres, an effect that follows in its worst form in phymosis and paraphymosis. The _glans penis_ itself in a man thus treated seems to absorb the poison less easily, being in fact grown partially callous.... The fact that the sign of virginity was scrupulously examined in newly married virgins, the careful guard kept over women throughout the East, the penalty of death attached to the crime of adultery, especially in women, _all seem to show that the remotest Antiquity was aware of some serious, foul disease being given and communicated by indiscriminate Love_.

[234] _Strabo_, Geograph. Bk. XVII. ch. 11. § 5.—_Reland_, De religione Muhamedan., (On the Mohammedan Religion), p. 75. _Niebuhr_, Description of Arabia, p. 70.

[235] _Seezen_, in a letter to von Hammer on the Mines of the East. Vol. I. p. 65.

[236] _Paulus_, “Sammlung morgenländ. Reisebeschreibg.,” (Collection of Descriptions of Eastern Travel), Vol. III. p. 83.—_Olivier’s_ “Reise in Aegypten, Syrien, etc.,” (Travels in Egypt, Syria, etc.), p. 413.—_Seezen_, loco citato p. 65. Perhaps even the ancient Egyptians circumcised maids in their time. _Ambrosius_, Abraham Bk. II. ch. 11., in Works Vol. I. p. 347., Paris edition of 1686. _Galen_, De usu partium Bk. XV.

[237] _Ludolf_, History of the Ethiopians Bk. III. ch. 1.

[238] _Chardin_, Voyages en Perse, (Travels in Persia), Vol. X. p. 76., Amsterdam edition.

[239] _Mungo Park_, Travels p. 180.—Voyage au pays de Bambouc, (Journey to the Land of Bambuk), p. 48.

[240] _Veigl’s_ “Gründliche Nachrichten von der Landschaft Maynas in Südamerika,” (Trustworthy Account of the Province of Maynas in South America), in _Murr’s_ “Sammlung der Reisen einiger Missionarien von der Gesellschaft Jesu,” (Collection of the Travels of various Missionaries of the Society of Jesus), Nüremberg 1785., p. 67.

[241] _Plutarch_, On Isis and Osiris ch. 94. Hence we commonly find among the Ancients the custom, merely after the evacuation of urine and fæces, of cleansing the parts concerned. Accordingly _Josephus_, De Bello Judaic. Bk. II. ch. 8., says: καίπερ δὲ φυσικῆς οὔσης τῆς τῶν σωματικῶν λυμάτων ἐκκρίσεως ἀπολούεσθαι μετ’ αὐτὴν, καθάπερ μεμιασμένοις, ἔθιζον. (And even though the evacuation of the bodily defilements was in the course of nature, they were accustomed to wash themselves after it, as in the case of men polluted). The Romans used for the purpose a sponge fastened to the end of a stick, as we see from _Seneca_, Letter 70, where he says: Lignum, quod ad emendanda obscoena adhaerente spongia positum est, totum in gulam sparsit, (The stick that is placed with a sponge fixed to it for cleansing filth, this he shook right in his mouth). Slaves took stones, bulbs, etc. for the purpose. _Aristophanes_, Plut. IV. 1. After making water it was usual to wash the hands. _Petronius_, Satyr. 27. Exonerata ille vesica, aquam poposcit ad manus. (After relieving his bladder, he asked for water for his hands). This care for cleanliness roused, as mentioned before, the utmost anger on the part of Saint Athanasius; but it is to this day the custom among the Turks, for it is enjoined by the Koran (Sure IV. 42.), even adding that only one hand ought to be used (_Niebuhr_, Description of Arabia, p. 78.), namely the _left_. The same hand was used also by the Romans, as well as perhaps by all ancient Peoples. Hence _Martial_ says, bk. XI. 59., sed lota mentula laeva.... (but my member, when my left hand has been washed....). With the left hand, amica manus (the _mistress_ hand), masturbation was performed, _Martial_, IX. 42. XI. 74.; it served to cover the genitals, _Lucian_, Amor. 13., hence according to _Ovid_, Ars amandi, Bk. II. 613.

Ipsa Venus pubem quoties velamina ponit, Protegitur laeva semireducta manu

(Venus herself, as oft as she lays aside her garments, half withdrawn covers herself with her left hand), and Priapus is represented in Art holding the penis with the left hand, Priapeia 24. 34. If we are not mistaken, this was also the case with Horus among the Egyptians. What has just been said explains at the same time the reason why the left hand has from of old been held in disrepute, an idea still preserved in the expression, to marry, to be married, _with the left hand_.

[242] _Friedr. Hoffmann_, Diss. med. 3., asserit luem Veneream Constantinopolidos non grassari, quod feminae munditiei apprime studiosae post opus aquam sumant et locos diligenter colluant (asserts that Venereal disease is not prevalent at Constantinople, because the women being extremely careful of cleanliness take water after their work and scrupulously wash the parts), says _Astruc_, I. p. 108. This is further confirmed by _Oppenheim_, “Ueber den Zustand der Heilkunde etc. in der Türkei,” (On the Condition of Medical Science etc. in Turkey), Hamburg 1838., p. 81., who writes: “Without the great cleanliness of the Turks, who after any single occasion of coition not only practise washing, but wherever at all possible, go to the bath as well, the disease (Venereal) would undoubtedly be still more widely spread.”

[243] Herodotus, Histor. Bk. I. ch. 198., Ὁσάκις δ’ ἂν μιχθῇ γυναικὶ τῇ ἑωυτοῦ ἀνὴρ Βαβυλώνιος περὶ θυμίημα καταγιζόμενον ἵζει· ἑτέρωθι δὲ ἡ γυνὴ τὠυτὸ τοῦτο ποιέει· ὄρθρου δὲ γενομένου λοῦνται καὶ ἀμφότεροι· ἄγγεος γὰρ ουδενος ἅψονται πρὶν ἂν λούσωνται· ταὐτὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ Ἀράβοι ποιεῦσι. (for translation see text above).

[244] _Eusebius_, Praeparat. evangel. p. 475. C., Μηδὲ εἰς ἱερὰ εἰσιέναι ἀπὸ γυναικῶν ἀλούτοις ἐνομοθέτησαν. (And they enjoined that men should not enter into temples unwashed after women).

[245] _Chaeremon_ in _Porphyry_, περὶ ἀποχ. bk. IV. §. 7, The expression _pollutiones_ (pollutions) for nocturnal ejaculation of seed shows the Romans also saw a defilement in this. Comp. _Heinsius_ on Ovid’s Art of Love, bk. III. 96.

[246] Josephus, Contra Apionem, bk. II. p. 1381., καὶ _μετὰ τὴν νομιμὸν συνουσίαν_ ἄνδρος καὶ γυναικὸς ἀπολούσασθαι _κελεύει ὁ νόμος_· ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος ἐγγίνεται μολυσμός. (Even _after the lawful intercourse_ of man and wife _the Law orders_ men to wash: a defilement both of soul and body ensues).

[247] _Philo Judaeus_, De special. legg., τοσαύτην δ’ ἔχει πρόνοιαν ὁ νόμος τοῦ μηδ’ ἐπὶ γάμοις νεωτερίζεσθαι, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς συνιόντας εἰς ὁμιλίαν ἄνδρας καὶ γυναῖκας κατὰ τοὺς ἐπὶ γάμοις θεσμοὺς, ὅταν εὐνῆς ἀπαλλάττωντο, οὐ πρότερον ἐᾷ τινος ψαύειν ἢ _λουτροῖς_ καὶ _περιῤῥαντηρίοις χρῆσθαι_. (But the Law takes such precautions that nothing strange and unlawful be done in marriage, that it suffers not even such as come together in intercourse, men and women united according to the laws of marriage, when they quit the bed, to touch anything before they have _employed baths and sprinklings_.) The same Writer, De mercede meretricis non accepienda in sacrar., (Of Harlots’ Hire not meet to be Taken in the Holy Place), Works edit. Mangey Vol. II. p. 265., moreover states that in his time the public women made frequent use of warm baths.

[248] _Europa_ bathed in Crete after coition with Zeus (Antigonus Carystius, Hist. mirab. 179.), Venus after the first embraces of Vulcan (Athenaeus, Deipnos. XV. p. 681.), Ceres after lying with Neptune (Pausanias, Arcad. p. 256.).

[249] In Amor. 42. Lucian says of the women (Hetaerae), νύκτας ἐπὶ τούτοις διηγούμεναι, καὶ τοὺς ἑτερόχρωτας ὕπνους καὶ θηλύττητος εὐνὴν γέμουσαν· _ἀφ’ ἧς ἀναστὰς ἕκαστος εὐθὺ λουτροῦ χρεῖός ἐστι_. (passing their nights in this way, enjoying indiscrimate sleep and a couch teeming with wantonness; from the which each man when he has risen, straightway is in need of bathing). _Hesiod_, Works and Days 731., writes,

μηδ’ αἰδοῖα γονῇ πεπαλαγμένος ἔνδοθι οἴκου ἑστίη ἐμπελαδὸν παραφαινέμεν, ἀλλ’ ἀλέασθαι.

(Nor yet when done with generation, within the house hard by the hearth expose the privates, but retire aside).

[250] _Persius_, Sat. II. 15.,

Haec sancte ut poscas, Tiberino in gurgite mergis Mane caput bis terque et _noctem flumine purgas_.

(That you may make this request free from taint, you plunge your head in Tiber’s flood twice and three times at dawn, and _purge away your night in the stream_). _Gregory the Great_, Answers to ten Questions of Augustine, first English Bishop: Vir cum propria uxore dormiens, intrare ecclesiam, non debet, sed neque lotus intrare statim debet.... Et quamvis de hac re diversae hominum nationes diversa sentiant, atque custodire videantur, _Romanorum tamen semper atque ab antiquioribus_ usus fuit, post ad mixtionem propriae coniugis et lavacrii purificationem ab ingressu ecclesiae paullatim reverenter abstinere. (A man sleeping with his own wife, ought not to enter a church, and not even when washed ought he to enter immediately after.... And although on this matter different nations of mankind hold different opinions and appear to keep different customs, yet the Romans’ practice always and from the most ancient times has ever been, that subsequently to intercourse with his lawful wife and the purification of the bath a man reverently abstain for a while from entering a church). For the same reason _Tibullus_ says, Carmina bk. II. 1.,

Vos quoque abesse procul jubeo discedite ab aris, Queis tulit hesterna gaudia nocte, Venus.

(You too I bid stand afar off, depart ye from the altars, to whom yesternight Venus brought her joys). Comp. _Ovid_, Amor., bk. III. eleg. 6.

[251] _Ovid_, Amor., bk. III. eleg. 7. 84.

Neve suae possent intactam scire ministrae, Dedecus hoc _sumta_ dissimulavit _aqua_.

(And that her handmaids might not know her untouched, she dissembled this disgrace by _taking water_).

_Ovid_, Ars Amandi, bk. III. 619.,

Scilicet obstabit custos ne scribere possis, _Sumendae_ detur cum tibi tempus _aquae_.

(Of course your guard will put obstacles in the way to hinder your writing, though time be given you for _taking water_).

_Martial_, bk. VII. Epigr. 34.,

Ecquid femineos sequeris matrona recessus? Secretusque tua, cunne, lavaris aqua?

(What! do you a matron penetrate into women’s secret haunts? and by stealth are you washed, O female organ, in the water that appertains to you?) _Petronius_, Sat. 94., Itaque extra cellam processit, tanquam _aquam peteret_. (And so she came forward outside her chamber, and if she _were going for water_).—_Cicero_, Orat. pro Caelio, ch. 14. represents his grandfather Appius Claudius Caecus, who (442 A. U. C.) had constructed the Appian Way, say to his depraved granddaughter: Ideo aquam adduxi ut ea tu inceste uterere? (Was it for this I brought the water to Rome, that you might use it for abominable purposes?) Comp. Casaubon on Cicero, Letters to Atticus, bk. I. Letter 16. For the same reason women and girls who only rarely participated in sexual intercourse were called _siccae_ (dry) (_Plautus_, Miles Glor. III. 1. 192. _Martial_, XI. Epigr. 82. _Petronius_, Sat. 37.), in contrast to the _uda puella_ (wet girl) _Juvenal_, Sat. X. 321. _Martial_, XI. 17., who was obliged to wash herself frequently. So too _illota_ or _illauta_ virgo (unwashed maid) stands for _intacta_ virgo (untouched maid), as in _Plautus_, Poenul. I. sc. 2. 22. Nam quae lavata est, nisi perculta est, meo quidem animo, quasi _illauta_ est. (For she who is washed, unless she is bedecked as well, in my opinion, is as good as _unwashed_). In fact the whole of this scene is important for our subject.

[252] _Festus_, p. 19. under word _Aquarioli_: Aquarioli dicebantur mulierum impudicarum sordidi asseclae. (Aquarioli, or water-boys, a name given to the shameless attendants of immodest women).—_Tertullian_, Apologet. ch. 43. They were also known as _baccariones_ from baccarium, a word which _Isidor_ explains by aquarium (a water vessel). An old Gloss says: baccario πορνοδιάκονος, meritricibus aquam infundens (baccario, a prostitutes’ attendant, one who pours water for whores); another: aquarioli, βαλλάδες, βαλλὰς, from βάλλων ὕδωρ, ab aqua jaciunda (water-boys, or throwers, from throwing water). These aquarioli at the same time carried on the business of procurers; so _Juvenal_ says, Sat. VI. 331., veniet conductus aquarius. (Some water-carrier will come, hired for the purpose). Comp. _Lipsius_, Antiq. lect. I. 12. Hence also the word _aquaculare_ was used meaning lenocinari (to be a pandar); see _Turnebus_, Adversar. XIV. 12. XXVIII. 5. Besides this they held themselves, especially in the public baths, at the disposal of lustful women, very often earning in this way the Bath farthing they had to pay. Probably Dasius in _Martial_, bk. II. Epigr. 52., was such an Aquariolus.

Novit loturas Dasius numerare, poposcit Mammosam Spatalen pro tribus, illa dedit.

(Dasius knew well how to count the women going to bathe; he asked big-bosomed Spatalé the price for three, and she gave it). Hence the _quadrantaria permutatio_ (farthing barter) in Cicero, Orat pro Caelio ch. 26. Comp. _Juvenal_, Sat. VI. 428.,

Callidus et cristae digitos impressit aliptes, Ac summum dominae femur exclamare coegit.

(The artful masseur too pressed his fingers on the clytoris, and made the upper part of his mistress’ thigh resound under his hands). From the passage of _Martial_ it follows that _Busch_, “Handbuch der Erfindungen,” (Manual of Inventions), vol. II. p. 8., is mistaken in saying: _Women_ and persons not yet adult had the bath _gratis_; in fact in the passage from Juvenal, Sat. II. 152., quoted by him, it is a question of boys only. For the rest, the Aquarioli recall the λουτροφόροι (water-bearers) of the Greeks; these were boys, whose duty it was to fetch the water for the Bride’s bath before marriage. _Pollux_, Onomast. III. 43. _Harpocration_, under the word, p. 49. _Meursius_, Ceramicus ch. 14. p. 40. _Böttiger_, “Vasen gemälde” (Vase-painting), I. p. 143. Again the παρανύμφοι (groomsmen), who anointed the bride, and as a rule were from 17 to 19 years old, may be mentioned here by way of illustration. Hancarville, Antiquités Vol. I. plate 45. Vol. III. plate 43. Vol. IV. plate 69.

[253] _Columella_, De re rust. bk. XII. ch. 4., His autem omnibus placuit, eum, qui rerum harum officium susceperit, castum esse continentemque oportere, quoniam totum in eo sit, ne contractentur pocula vel cibi, nisi aut ab impubi aut certe abstinentissmo rebus venereis. Quibus si fuerit operatus vel vir vel femina, debere eos flumine aut perenni aqua, priusquam penora contingant, ablui. (But all were agreed upon this, that he who should undertake the performance of these duties ought to be chaste and continent, since all depends on his care that drink and food be not defiled, unless indeed they are prepared by one still immature or at any rate one extremely self-restrained in the matter of love. But if it has been indulged in by man or woman, they ought to be cleansed in the river or in flowing water, before they touch the victuals). From what precedes the words quoted, it may be conjectured that this custom prevailed also among the Carthaginians and Greeks.

[254] _Propertius_, bk. III. eleg. 9., At primum pura somnum tibi discute limpha. (But first shake off your sleep with pure water). _Apuleius_, Metamorphos. bk. II., Confestim discussa pigra quiete, alacer exsurgo meque purificandi studio, marino lavacro trado. (Soon as ever dull sleep is shaken off, at once I briskly rise, and with the desire of purification, I give myself to the bath of sea water.) _Tacitus_, Germania ch. 22., Statim e somno, quem plerumque in diem extrahunt, lavantur, saepius calida, ut apud quos plurimum hiems occupat. (Immediately on rising from sleep, which as a rule they prolong into the day-time, they wash, generally in warm water, as one would expect among men whose winter lasts most of the year).

[255] _Lomeier_, De lustrationibus veterum gentium, (Of the Lustrations of Ancient Peoples), ch. XVI. p. 167., Et Priapus iter ad fontem monstrare dicebatur, quod qui quaeve viros experirentur lotione opus haberent; (Moreover Priapus was said to point the way to the fountain, because such men, or women as had intercourse, were in need of washing); in confirmation of which he then alleges the passage quoted in the text.

[256] _Martial_, Bk. II. Epigr. 50. Comp. bk. II. 70., bk. III. 69. 81. _Petronius_, Sat. 67., Aquam in os non coniiciet. (He will not throw water into his mouth).

[257] E. g. the Epigram of _Martial_ (VI. 81.) on Charidemus, who according to VI, 56. was a _fellator_.

[258] _Martial_, bk. VII. Epigr. 34. 35.,

Inguina succinctus nigra tibi servus aluta Stat, quoties calidis tota foveris aquis.

(A slave girt about the loins with a pouch of black leather stands by you, as oft as you are washed all over with warm water). _Claudian_, I. 106.,

Pectebat dominae crines et saepe lavanti Nudus in argento lympham portabat alumnae.

(He was wont to comb his mistress’ hair, and oft when she bathed, naked, he would bring water for his lady in a silver ewer).

[259] _Dio Cassius_, Histor. bk. XLIX. ch. 43., τά τε βαλανεῖα προῖκα δι’ ἔτους καὶ ἀνδράσι καὶ γυναιξὶ λούεσθαι παρέσχε. (And he opened the Baths gratuitously throughout the summer both to men and women). Comp. _Pliny_. Hist. nat. bk. XXVI. ch. 24. 9. Dio Cassios. LIV. 29.

[260] _Plutarch_, Cato Major ch. 39., συλλούσασθαι δὲ μηδέποτε· καὶ τούτου κοινὸν ἔθος ἔοικε Ῥωμαίων εἶναι. καὶ γὰρ πενθεροῖς γάμβροι ἐφυλάττοντο συλλούεσθαι, δυσωπούμενοι τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν καὶ γύμνωσιν· εἶτα μέντοι παρ’ Ἑλλήνων, τὸ γυμνοῦσθαι μαθόντες αὐτοὶ πάλιν τοῦ καὶ μετὰ γυναικῶν τοῦτο πράσσειν ἀναπεπλήκασι τοὺς Ἑλλήνας. (And never bathed together; indeed the common habit of doing so appears to be of Roman origin. For at first sons-in-law used to guard against bathing with fathers-in-law, feeling shame at such exposure and stripping naked. Later on however having learned the habit of stripping naked from the Greeks, they again in their turn have taught the Greeks that of doing so along with women). The _balnea virilia_ (men’s baths) are mentioned in _Aulus Gellius_, Noct. Att. X. 3., where he shows that they were also used by women.

[261] Catalect. Graecor. Poetarum,

ἀνδράσιν Ἑρμῆς εἰμί· γυναιξὶ δὲ Κύπρις ὁρῶμαι· ἀμφοτέρων δὲ φέρω συμβολά μοι τοκέων Τοὔνεκεν οὐκ ἀλόγως με τὸν Ἑρμαφρόδιτον ἔθεντο _ἀνδρογύνοις λουτροῖς_ παῖδα τὸν ἀμφίβολον.

(To men I am Hermes; for women I am looked upon as Cypris; and I bear the tokens of both my parents. Therefore not without good reason have they set me up, the Hermaphrodite, the boy of double nature, before male-female baths).

[262] _Martial_, Bk. VI. 34. bk. III. 51. bk. II. 76. As early as _Ovid_, Art of Love, bk. III. 639., we read:

Quum custode foris tunicam servante puellae Celent furtivos balnea tuta iocos,

(When the doorkeeper at the entrance keeps the girl’s garments, and the discreet baths cover surreptitious amusements); also in _Quintilian_, Institut. bk. V. ch. 9., nam si est signum adulterae lavari cum viris, etc. (if indeed it is a mark of a lewd woman to bathe with men).

[263] _Spartian_, Life of Hadrian ch. 18., Lavacra pro sexibus separavit. (He assigned separate baths for the two sexes). Dio Cass. LXIX. ch. 8.

[264] _Julius Capitolinus_, Life of Marcus Antoninus ch. 23., Lavacra mixta submovit, mores matronarum composuit diffluentes et iuvenum nobilium. (He abolished the mixed Baths, and restrained the loose habits of the Roman ladies and of the young nobles).

[265] _Lampridius_, Life of Alexander Severus ch. 24., Balnea mixta Romae exhiberi prohibuit, quod quidem iam ante prohibitum Heliogabalus fieri permiserat. (He forbad the opening of mixed Baths at Rome, a practice which, though previously prohibited, Heligabalus had allowed to be followed).

[266] _Clement of Alexandria_, Paedagog. bk. III. ch. 5., says of women: καὶ δὴ τοῖς μὲν ἀνδράσι τοῖς σφῶν οὐκ ἂν ἀποδύσαιντο, προσποίητον αἰσχύνης ἀξιοπιστίαν μνώμεναι· ἔξεστι δὲ τοῖς βουλομένοις τῶν ἄλλων οἴκοι τὰς κατακλείστους, γυμνὰς ἐν τοῖς βαλανείοις θεάσασθαι· ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ἀποδύσασθαι τοῖς θεαταῖς, ὥσπερ καπήλοις σωμάτων, οὐκ αἰσχύνονται ἀλλ’ ὁ μὲν Ἡσίοδος (Oper. et Dies lib. II. 371).

Μὴδὲ γυναικείῳ λυτρῷ χρόα φαιδρύνεσθαι,