In the newest episode of Betwixt the Sheets, a podcast that tackles the history of sex, sexuality, and sex work, historian Dr. Kate Lister interviews Prof. Sarah Levin-Richardson about sex workers in ancient Roman culture. Prof. Levin-Richardson has become a go-to expert on Roman prostitution following the publication of The Brothel of Pompeii: Sex, Class, and Gender at the Margins of Roman Society (Cambridge 2019). The interview—at times humorous and at times heart-breaking—invites listeners into the lives of the (often enslaved) male and female prostitutes who provided sexual labor and the men who purchased their services.
Be sure to also check out the episode with UW Classics alumna Prof. Melissa Funke (PhD ‘13; Assistant Professor, University of Winnipeg), whose interview about the (in)famous ancient Greek courtesan Phryne follows on her recent publication of Phryne in Fragments (Bloomsbury 2024).