Infamia
In ancient Roman culture,
infamia was a loss of legal or social standing. As a technical term of Roman law,
infamia was an official exclusion from the legal protections enjoyed by a Roman citizen, as imposed by a censor or praetor. More generally, especially during the Republic and Principate,
infamia was informal damage to one's esteem or reputation. A person who suffered
infamia was an
infamis.
Infamia was an "inescapable consequence" for certain professionals, including prostitutes and pimps, entertainers such as actors and dancers, and gladiators.
Infames could not, for instance, provide testimony in a court of law. They were liable to corporal punishment, which was usually reserved for slaves. The
infamia of entertainers did not exclude them from socializing among the Roman elite, and entertainers who were "stars," both men and women, sometimes became the lovers of such high-profile figures as the
dictator Sulla and Mark Antony. A passive homosexual who was "outed" might also be subject to social
infamia, though if he was a citizen he might retain his legal standing.