1. See Through togas De rigueur in Emperor Nero's Rome, these diaphanous garments, exposing both the breasts and the genitals, left nothing to the imagination. Complained the Roman philosopher Seneca, "Our women have nothing left to reveal to their lovers

1. See Through togas

De rigueur in Emperor Nero's Rome, these diaphanous garments, exposing both the breasts and the genitals, left nothing to the imagination. Complained the Roman philosopher Seneca, "Our women have nothing left to reveal to their lovers in the bedroom that they have not already shown on the street."

2. The Codpiece
In 1482, King Edward IV introduced a law that forbade persons below the rank of lord to expose their private parts in public. The answer was the essential fashion accessory (pictured, right) for Renaissance men, cut to fit snugly around the male member like the finger of a glove. Fifteenth-century fashion critics were not impressed. Michel de Montaigne sniffed, "What is the purpose of that monstrosity that we to this day have fixed to our trousers, and often which is worse, it is beyond its natural size through falseness and imposture."

The following is an excerpt from Karl Shaw's 5 People Who Died During Sex (Broadway Books), in bookstores now.