“They of the gynaeceum, those men, who amongst women are men, and amongst men women; who have nothing virile about them but their impiety; those that cannot give themselves up to voluptuousness in the natural way, have recourse to their tongue as their only alternative.”
The cunnilingues exhaled an evil smell from the mouth, and their kisses were as much shunned as those of fellators. Martial, XII., 87:
“You say the mouths of pedicons smell badly; if this is true, Fabullus, as you say, tell me! what think you of the breath of cunnilingues?”
And the same, XII., 59:
“The neighbors kiss you every one, from the bearded cowherd, whose kisses have flavor of the he-goat, down to the fellator and the cunnilingue fresh from his business.”
Cunnilingues and fellators are compared to he-goats by Catullus (XXXVII.), on account of their fetid breath:
“Think you you alone have members, that you alone are entitled to satisfy women, and may consider all other men he-goats?”
Do not suppose for a moment that Catullus is speaking here of castrated he-goats, which would be against the sense of the word, one invariably used to designate entire he-goats. The sense is the same, but got at in another way. He says: “Do you believe that you alone have members fit to do the girls’ business? that all the others betray by their goatish breath their vile trade as cunnilingues or fellators, and consequently the inertness of their mentulas, their feebleness, their inability for erection? You will better appreciate the sting of Atellane verse respecting Tiberius Cæsar: “An old buck licking the she-goats’ parts.”
It was thought better to be taken for a fornicator than for a cunnilingue; in the first place, because your friends would not kiss you; Martial, VII., 94:
“I had rather confront a hundred cunnilingues.”