The Plague of Lust, Vol. 1 (of 2)

by Julius Rosenbaum

Being a History of Venereal Disease in Classical Antiquity

The Plague of Lust, by the German physician Julius Rosenbaum, is a learned history of venereal disease in classical antiquity, translated from the sixth German edition by an anonymous Oxford graduate and issued by the Paris publisher Charles Carrington. Rosenbaum argues that such diseases were known in the ancient world and sets out to prove it by close reading of Greek and Latin texts. In this first volume he discusses the history of disease as a subject, then the cult of Venus and phallic worship, the plague of Baal-Peor, brothels and courtesans, and the sexual practices of the ancients as the setting for contagion. The work is frank, heavily annotated and of interest mainly to students of ancient medicine and sexuality. The full text is available to read online in your browser on Vinteuil, and the first chapter is free.