This paper aims to establish and understand the reasons for the divergence in how prostitution and adultery were legislated in the Lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus, Lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis and Lex Papia et Poppaea and how prostitution and adultery were understood culturally in Rome. This paper looks at material, legal, and literary evidence to better understand these differences and find a reason for them.