Pulcrior et nivei cum sit tibi forma coloris,
cuncta pudicitiae iura tenere cupis.
Mirandum est quali naturam laude gubernes
moribus ut Pallas, corpore Cypris eas.
Te neque coniugii libet excepisse levamen;
saepius exoptas nolle videre mares.
Haec tamen est animo quamvis exosa voluptas:
numquid non mulier conparis esse potes?
--Luxorius LXXVIII.
Although your complexion is as clear as fresh-fallen snow,
you want to cling to the laws of chastity-- all of them.
And I think it's super cute that you can deny your nature
and strut about with Pallas' [Athena'] self-control
in a body that rivals Venus'.
You wouldn't even "put out" for a husband, either--
you don't even want to look at men.
But when that detestable lust creeps into your soul,
couldn't you share it with someone as a wife?
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LUXORIUS
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MAP:
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Name: Luxorius
Date: 6th c.
CE
Works: <Poems>
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REGION 3
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BIO:
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Timeline:
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Little is known about the life of the Roman poet Luxorius except that
he lived in Carthage (modern Tunisia, northern Africa) and that his poetry
was popular in the court of the Vandal kings. His poetry provides us with rare
insight into the changing customs as the Roman Empire transitioned from a
polytheistic to a monotheistic society.
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BYZANTINE / LATE LATIN
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