L'empereur la prostitution et le proxénétisme : droit romain et morale chrétienne à Byzance

This article deals with the attitude of the imperial power in Byzantium to female prostitution as well as to procurement. Few emperors issued laws on these matters, and while there is no reason to question the impact of Christian moral values on their language and rulings, there is hardly any clear evidence that these lawgivers – apart from Andronikos II Palaiologos – acted under the direct influence of bishops or church councils. Moreover, there are good reasons to believe that at least some laws were aimed, primarily, at curtailing the visibility of prostitution in Constantinople. This conclusion is corroborated by the evidence offered by some literary texts for various measures pertaining to prostitution taken by some emperors, mainly in the capital. If we are to believe the authors of some literary texts, several emperors had prostitutes and pimps amongst their followers, while others did not refrain from intercourse with prostitutes. However, this kind of evidence is largely unreliable.