''Exoletus'' is a

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

term, the perfect passive participle of the verb ''exolescere'', which means "to wear out with age". In

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

the word referred to a certain class of homosexual males or

male prostitute Male prostitution is a form of sex work consisting of the act or practice of men providing sexual services in return for payment. Although clients can be of any gender, the vast majority are older males looking to fulfill their sexual needs. M ...

s, although its precise meaning is unclear to historians. In his essay on sexual morality, ''Offences Against One's Self'', the nineteenth-century English philosopher

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. 5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S.– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...

provided the following definition of the term: :There was a particular name for those who had past the short period beyond which no man hoped to be an object of desire to his own sex. They were called ''exoleti''. No male therefore who was passed this short period of life could expect to find in this way any reciprocity of affection; he must be as odious to the boy from the beginning as in a short time the boy would be to him. The objects of this kind of sensuality would therefore come only in the place of common prostitutes; they could never even to a person of this depraved taste answer the purposes of a virtuous woman. However, the word is sometimes also applied to adolescents, ''puberes exoleti'', as in the ''

Historia Augusta The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, Caesar (title), designated heirs and Roman usurper, usurpers from 117 to 284. S ...

'' 7.5.4.4. In an essay on Roman erotic art, John Pollini has argued that the term referred not to age but to prostitutes who had become physically "worn out" by frequent anal penetration.

John Boswell John Eastburn Boswell (March 20, 1947December 24, 1994) was an American historian and a full professor at Yale University. Many of Boswell's studies focused on the issue of religion and homosexuality, specifically Christianity and homosexuality ...

argued that the term "exoletus" distinguished an active from a passive male prostitute, or "catamitus", from which the English word "

catamite In ancient Greece and Rome, a catamite (Latin: ''catamītus'') was a pubescent boy who was the intimate companion of an older male, usually in a pederastic relationship. It was generally a term of affection and literally means " Ganymede" i ...

" is derived. In the article "Some Myths and Anomalies in the Study of Roman Sexuality" in the '' Journal of Homosexuality'', James L. Butrica argued that the term did not refer to prostitutes at all. The word is found in Seneca's ''Epistulae'' 95.24, in

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

' ''Divus Iulius'' 76.3, and in

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

's ''

Philippics A philippic () is a fiery, damning speech, or tirade, delivered to condemn a particular political actor. The term is most famously associated with three noted orators of the ancient world: Demosthenes of ancient Athens, Cato the Elder and Marcus ...

'' against

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

.''Qui semper secum scorta, semper exoletos, semper lucas duceret.''

References

{{reflist Ancient LGBTQ history LGBTQ history in Italy Prostitution in ancient Rome Sexuality in ancient Rome Sexuality and age Male prostitution Gay history

See also

References