Prostitution in the Eastern Mediterranean World: The Economics of Sex in the Late Antique and Medieval Middle East.

• Author: Haberl, Charles G.
• Position: Book review

Prostitution in the Eastern Mediterranean World: The Economics of Sex in the Late Antique and Medieval Middle East. By GARY LEISER. London: I.B. TAURIS, 2017. Pp. xv + 332. $52.50, [pounds sterling]35.

The trade in sex work is a subject of both topical and perennial interest, as demonstrated by the chronological range of Gary Leiser's latest contribution. The range of this work is not limited to mere chronology, however--it unifies in one volume diverse sources on prostitution from numerous eras, geographic locations, and languages, in some cases for the very first time. Leiser has brought his expertise on medieval Islamic literature to bear upon the subject matter, but he does not limit himself to medieval Islamic sources, presenting the most comprehensive (and comprehensible) portrait of the subject matter to date.

The subtitle of his work promises us a treatise on the "economics of sex in the late antique and medieval Middle East," but its scope is actually much more modest, concerning depictions of female sex workers in literature from this region. From the outset, it must be said that the latter theme is far more practical than any foray into the dismal science, and therefore offers considerably more potential than the former, as Leiser's sources provide precious little fodder for that mill. As a consequence, his pronouncements on economics are suggestive and more than a little speculative, although to be fair to the author this is primarily a reflection on the deficiencies of the available sources (deficiencies that he readily acknowledges).

Departing from the broad promises of the work's title, Leiser defines prostitution rather narrowly as "the frequent and indiscriminate sale by women of their sexual favors to men" (p. xiii). He offers this as a "simple definition," but by adopting it we necessarily neglect many aspects of the broader phenomenon of sex work in antiquity, as Leiser has. In particular, it grants women agency where such agency might not always have been present, excluding sexual slavery and other forms of sexual exploitation, such as the sale by men (or for that matter, other women) of women's sexual favors to men. He briefly acknowledges the existence of such prostitutes on pp. 44-45, before concluding that "in Late Antiquity there may have been more free women than slaves, but this is difficult to determine." Additionally, he limits himself exclusively to women prostitutes who serve an exclusively male clientele, excluding gigolos and catamites (among others) from his history of prostitution. I consider these to be missed opportunities rather than necessarily defects of his scholarship, partly because of the parameters that he has set for himself and partly because of the scholarly and general publics he serves. He includes occasional accounts of rape and pillage (e.g., pp. 180 and 195), although he never ventures to explain how these relate to the phenomenon of prostitution as defined above.

Leiser's most obvious intervention in the study of this phenomenon, thus defined and limited, is the introduction of the neologism "public women," which he repeats and reinforces through the titles of the first five chapters of the book. He informs the reader of his rationale for adopting this phrase: "The need for a term or expression which elicits the least visceral reaction in this respect led me to the use of 'public woman' for one who sells her sexual favors" (p. xiii). "Public women" lacks the emotive connotations of "prostitute" and the clinical detachment of "sex worker," but introduces a new and potentially confusing dynamic into the...