Rome the Perverts Delight by Joe Medhurst

Book Review by Caldrail

Imagine yourself two thousand years in the future, looking back to the twenty-first century as a student. Given how little information survives that length of time, and how difficult it is to preserve the digital information we rely on nowadays, what would a student of the future think of us? Now that we live in what might easily become a "2nd Dark Age" in two millenia, what conclusions would we derive from scraps of archeology and history? A porno DVD? One of those explicit scrawlings on the wall of a factory urinal? A grim warning in a newspaper about STDs? Anyone would think we were all obsessed with sex...

...continue to the full review of Rome the Perverts Delight by Joe Medhurst

Anyone would think we were all obsessed with sex...

 

 

We are all obsessed with sex.  At the deepest, most primitive level, the earliest-developed parts of our brain dictate that we're obsessed with:

1.  Not being eaten.

2.  Eating

3.  Sex

In that order.  Basically, if we are to encounter another biological entity, the first thing that happens in our brains, at a barely higher level than the brain stem, is that the follwing questions are asked in rapid succession: "Will it eat me"?  "If not, can i eat it?"  "If not, can I shag it."

Obviously, we've engineered (1.) out of the equation to a significant degree, so much of our lives now revolve around (2.) and (3.).

I must admit, Ghost of Clayton, that response made me laugh!

By extension, the fourth question would be "Will it shag me?"

Quit that!

Quit that!

Of course, our primitive brain's reaction to #4 would vary based on whether the biological entity in question was, say, an elk, an overweight tour guide, or an astronomer.

What's the reaction then if you combine all three? Tycho Brahe was a tourguide of the stars, was overweight, had a moose (elk).

http://www.nada.kth.se/~fred/tycho/nose.html

Lantgrave Wilhelm of Kassel in Germany, with whom Tycho Brahe had an extensive mail correspondence and astronomical discussions, asked Tycho in a letter 1591 about an animal he had heard about called "Rix", which was faster than a deer, but with smaller horns. Tycho replied that such an animal did not exist, but maybe he meant the norwegian animal called reindeer. Tycho wrote that he would check further details about such animals and if he could perhaps send one. He wrote that he had a young moose, that he could send if the Lantgrave would like. The Lantgrave replied that he had owned reindeers before but they had died of the heat, he also had a moose, which was tame and followed him like a dog. He would gladly accept a tame moose from Tycho, and would in such case reward Tycho with a riding horse for the trouble.

Tycho replies that he would order additional moose, and he would have sent his tame one, had it not died shortly before. It had been transported to the castle of Landskrona, a city close to Hven, to entertain a nobleman there. But it had happened that during the dinner, the moose had ascended the castle stairs and drunk of the beer in such amounts, that it had fallen down the stairs, and broken a leg. Despite the best care, the moose had died shortly thereafter.

Good story, Onasander.  I like it.

In answer to your first question, my reaction would be to give a clear and unambiguous 'No' to both the great Mr Brahe, and any part of his menagerie.  Even after a few pints of beer (me, not the moose). 

Somebody should stop this thread before it crosses a line.

Maybe it already has.

Getting us back on topic.  This is a fair-minded and informative review of what looks like it could be an enjoyable read.  Caldrail does touch on the quality of presentation, and paucity of content though.  I have to admit that my first impression on seeing the cover was THERE SHOULD BE AN APOSTROPHE AFTER PERVERTS (or at least before the s).  I know you're thinking "that's just OfClayton trivialising someone's hard work", but I assure you it isn't.  I won't be buying this book, because that ommission makes it look very cheaply produced and casually editted.  I can't take it as a serious work with such a glaring error.

I know - there should be less pedant's in the world.

Whenever I encounter a grammar Nazi, I just tell them "There, their, they're!"

By extension, the fourth question would be "Will it shag me?"

Gasp! Ghost, what are you saying? A roman male should say "Can I shag it?"

http://files1.coloribus.com/files/adsarchive/part_251/2515905/file/brand-gazelle-lion-small-75472.jpg

Ghost of Clayton, I've been meaning to mention my background in philosophy also extends not just into classical schools and the military, but also the topic that is all the rage in San Francisco when I was there, Sexology.... which everyone but me was obsessed with (I didn't need to question why I was a heterosexual and liked boobies like all the gay guys who showed up to philosophy discussions did, but I did after a while have to respond to their more outlandish claims)

I usually don't have a reason to talk about it beyond the mere mention of The Rape of Lucretia, or Dido here on this site.

But since you jumped into it.... your exhibiting some unusual paraphilias that are ordered in such a way that may suggest you may soon become a tour guide/sexual cannibal. This may hurt your business, or perhaps make it grow. People after all like the Spinoffs of Silence of the Lambs.... so who knows.

I need to point out, this is much worst than "Swedish Hospitality".... which is the case on unsuspecting surprise on the part of a male victim, a brutal man on hetero man rape that is applauded publicly in Sweden as the epitome of social liberalness and feminist control of society. You managed to incorporate a whole new stage to the sexual dysfunction well beyond this into being eaten in a sexual context, holding within the ordered scope of a well known sexual theory that explains the stages of Courtship Disorder.

WTF dude. If you desire to eat someone, don't do it. If you think someone wants to eat you alive, it's time to move, far, far away, away from your country. Even Sweden would be a step up.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtship_disorder

According to the courtship disorder hypothesis, there is a species-typical courtship process in humans consisting of four phases.[3][4] These phases are: "(1) looking for and appraising potential sexual partners; (2) pretactile interaction with those partners, such as by smiling at and talking to them; (3) tactile interaction with them, such as by embracing or petting; (4) and then sexual intercourse."[5]

The associations between these phases and these paraphilias were first outlined by Kurt Freund,[6][7] the originator of the theory: A disturbance of the search phase of courtship manifests as voyeurism, a disturbance of the pretactile interaction phase manifests as exhibitionism or telephone scatologia, a disturbance of the tactile interaction phase manifests as toucheurism or frotteurism, and the absence of the courtship behavior phases manifests as paraphilic rape (i.e., biastophilia). According to Freund, these paraphilias "can be conceptualized as a preference for a pattern of behavior or erotic fantasy in which one of these four phases of sexual interaction is intensified and distorted to such an extent that it appears to be a caricature of the normal, while the remaining phases are either omitted entirely or are retained only in a vestigial way."[8]

Freund noted that troilism (a paraphilia for observing one’s sexual/romantic partner sexually interacting with a third party, usually unbeknownst to the third party)[9] might also be a courtship disorder,[8][10] troilism being a variant of voyeurism.

Appropriate behaviors depend on the social and cultural context, including time and place. Some behaviors that are unacceptable under most circumstances, such as public nudity or sexual contact between dancers, may be accepted or even encouraged during celebrations like Carnival or Mardi Gras. Where such cultural festivals alter normative courtship behaviors, the signs of courtship disorder may be masked or altered.

Clearly human beings have a propensity toward sexual behaviours whenever they feel they can get away with it.

But since you jumped into it.... your exhibiting some unusual paraphilias that are ordered in such a way that may suggest you may soon become a tour guide/sexual cannibal. This may hurt your business, or perhaps make it grow.

 

I'd never realised what a f***up I was until you told me.  At least this will make my CV stand out:

Specialist Areas:  New York, Hadrian's Wall, Maritime Alps, Provence, Northern Netherlands

Specialist knowledge:  Roman History, Paraphilias related to Sexual Cannibalism,

Now I really will be needing that sex dungeon.