Historical Perspective

John K. Taber jktaber at onramp.net
Sat Sep 12 15:02:54 PDT 1998


Michael Cohen wrote:
>
> Do you guys know of another case whereby the ostensible
> "executive" or popular leader of a coutnry has been forced out of
> office over the details of a sexual relationship between consenting
> adults. When did this happen? What were some of the historical
> details?
> Or is this sort of thing a uniquely American pastime.?
> --mike

The closest I can think of is the Profumo scandal in England some years back. I don't remember his position, but something important to the PM. His affair with a call girl (Mandie Rice Davies? those aging gray cells you know) was publicized and caused his resignation.

Maybe there's a parallel in ancient Rome. Tacitus imputed sexual perversions to Tiberius in order to blacken him. Petronius, ordered to commit suicide (the result of a palace intrigue), instead of composing verses flattering to the Emperor as one was expected to do before one's suicide, detailed Nero's sex life. That work has disappeared, leaving the Satyricon as the only extant work of Petronius.

On the whole, the subject's sex life was used in Roman times for character assassination but only in the third person:

My sex life is fascinating, you must be dying to hear it.

Your sex life alarms me, and I speak to you as a Dutch

uncle.

His (or her) sex life is disgusting. Yech.



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list