Suffodit inguina: Genital attacks on Roman emperors and other primates

When Julius Caesar was stabbed, 23 times, on the Ides of March, at least one of the daggers is supposed to have gone into his groin. He wasn't the last Roman to have his privates attacked. And he wasn't the last primate. In competition for sexual access, gonads are occasionally targeted: c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Politics and the life sciences 2014-12, Vol.33 (1), p.54-68
Main Author: Betzig, Laura
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assassinations
Biological sciences
Chimpanzees
Diseases
Emperors
eusociality
Genitalia
human evolution
Pan troglodytes
Primates
Senators
Sexual selection
Slaves
Soldiers
sterile castes
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Summary:When Julius Caesar was stabbed, 23 times, on the Ides of March, at least one of the daggers is supposed to have gone into his groin. He wasn't the last Roman to have his privates attacked. And he wasn't the last primate. In competition for sexual access, gonads are occasionally targeted: canine incisions in monkey and ape scrota are not uncommon; and rumors had a number of Roman emperors—from Caligula and Nero, to Galba, Vitellius, Domitian, Commodus, Caracalla, Elagabalus, to Balbinus, Pupienus and Valerian over the course of the third century crisis—done in with their genitals at risk, or with their genitals cut off.
ISSN:0730-9384
1471-5457
DOI:10.2990/33_1_54