Topic > The Acceptance of Prostitution and Child Prostitution in the Ancient Greek and Roman Empires

The way children were viewed has changed dramatically since the days of the Roman Empire. Many children were forced into prostitution by their parents. Others were sold to slave owners because the family into which the child was born could not afford to raise them (Grille, 2005, np). “In ancient Rome, child prostitution was institutionalized and the government went so far as to tax underage prostitutes” (Grille, 2005, np). Child prostitution was widely accepted in the Roman Empire. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay “In ancient Rome, having a child prostitute was seen as, almost a fashion accessory, for the rich” and noble (Jackson, 2006, p.44). The sale of children by parents to slave owners to become prostitutes was common in Roman times (Jackson, 2006, p. 44). Jackson says these children were forced to please their owners in every way possible. Slave children performed sexual acts for their owners and had no choice but to allow their owners to have sexual intercourse with them. “Families could sell their daughters into prostitution when families fell on hard times (Ditmore, 2006, p. 38).” The sale of a daughter's virginity and sexuality was important because it belonged to her father, and in his absence to the daughter's mother, until the daughter's marriage (Ditmore, 2006, p. 38). Although in today's society a mother or father selling their daughter into a prostitute is a crime, for the Roman people it was an accepted practice. The daughter's family had a greater income thanks to prostitution, which allowed her to support herself better. Children captured during the war were also sold into prostitution (Ditmore, 2006, p. 38). Some of these children were captured, caged, and put on display as entertainment for the Roman citizens; while others were sold to slave owners for prostitution. Captured child prostitutes were sold to slave owners who then put them on the streets to attract clients and earn money (Ditmore, 2006, p. 38). The Greeks and Romans supported sexual relations with boys. This is known because there are many writings regarding child prostitution and sexual relations with young children. “According to Brett Kahr, Plato and Aristotle both wrote about having anal sex with boys, called pederasty. Plato believed that boys should be shared among many men. Aristotle advocated the sexual use of children, but, Kahr writes, he may have been the first recorded writer to warn against sex between a man and his child. Kahr goes on to say that the use of children in ancient Rome was accepted and integrated into the culture. An example was the establishment of a public holiday for underage prostitutes." (qtd in Hastings, 1996, p. 22) In my opinion, if two of the greatest philosophers of Greek and Roman times supported child prostitution, then it is reasonable to think that the majority of Greek and Roman citizens agreed with Plato and Aristotle. Child prostitution was widely accepted in all but the world in ancient times, although the Greeks and Romans are the ones you hear about the most. DeMause said neighbors borrowed young boys for sexual favors and that incest was common in Roman times. «That incest is traditional even in the infanticidal mode is more difficult to demonstrate definitively, since what really happened in the family bed often leaves no historical traces. Yet all the documents in our.