Roman gay sex
Queer Romans
Queer lives have always been part of history! For the last day of Pride Month 2021, Victoria Vening-Richards who is one of our Amgueddfa Cymru Producers has written an investigation of queer lives in ancient Rome. With thanks to Mark Lewis at the National Roman Legion Museum in Carleon for sharing his knowledge.
Queer Romans
Homosexuality within the Roman world is a much debated topic. Over the years scholars have come to varying conclusions; some suggest lgbtq+ relations were freely practiced in the Roman earth, others argue they were both legally and socially condemned. However, neither argument has been able to reach a definitive ending. This blog will consider the use of the label homosexual, the social attitude towards same-sex relationships, and same-sex relationships within a military context.
1. The use of the label 'homosexual'
Recent studies on Roman society have argued that the term 'homosexual', essence someone who has a sexual orientation towards someone of the same gender, did not exist linguistically, within the Latin language, and socially, within Roman society. This is because male Roman citizens are assumed to h
A Brief History of Homosexuality in Italy from Ancient Rome to Today
Postwar Italy, politically dominated by the country’s Catholic party, didn’t do much against the diffused homophobia of those years. Society cared about gay people only for the wrong reasons, as it happened in 1960 when an investigation on the “homosexual scene” in the northern town of Brescia turned into a massive media case with endless plot twists and unfounded accusations (which included one of human trafficking). When the so-called “Scandalo dei Balletti Verdi ” (“Green Ballets Scandal”) reached TV personalities like Mike Bongiorno, the entire region turned its morbose attention to it.
In 1971, Fuori! (Out!), the first lgbtq+ organization in Italy, was founded. Mario Mieli, the most famous Italian Gay activist, took part in the movement before founding his own organization. A year later, a community of gay people publicly demonstrated for their rights for the first second in the history of the country.
Since then, the Italian queer community has been keeping an active role in manifesting and demanding rights. Little by little, and always at a much slower pace than most other European countries, It
Greek homosexuality has been establish upon a pedestal, deemed a worthy and respectable model for romance by philosophers, writers and lovers alike. The reality is, though, that love and sex for the lgbtq+ community owe more to the ancient Romans. Their approach was grittier, dirtier and sometimes just as romantic. However, it’s an outlook on sex and love we are only now coming to embrace.
Ancient Greece’s appeal to queer men is much greater known. Pioneering activists such as John Addington Symonds (1840-1893) and George Cecil Ives (1867-1950) turned to Greece as a respectable model. It offered them a legitimising precedent for elevated and spiritual adoration between men. They establish this through Platonic philosophy and historical and fabled examples of devoted lovers.
Greek love is renowned in their work for “sublimity” and “aesthetic” appreciation of male beauty. However, when describing Roman romance and erotic practices words such as “gross”, “obscene”, and “lust” abound. To them, Roman homosexuality was not expressed with lovey-dovey love, but with riotous orgies. It is often linked to the notorious emperor Nero. A hedonistic ruler who married both women and men. A man who is believed t
In honour of LGBTQIA+ history month, Ancient History alumni Ollie Burns takes a closer look at the social, political, and cultural implications of homosexuality in ancient Rome.
Trigger Warning: sexual violence, homophobia, paedophilia, nudity.
The presentation and perception of homosexuality in the Roman world was vastly unlike than how it is today, and gives us an example of how homosexuality has been indelibly linked with communications of power and authority in antiquity. The Latin language has no word for either heterosexual or lgbtq+, and instead partners in a sexual relationship would be presented as either active, synonymous with masculinity, or passive and therefore, feminine, regardless of the gender of the individuals involved. Freeborn male Romans had the civil liberty to do as they pleased when it came to sexual activity, and as such, the notion of a Roman dude engaging in homosexual sex was in no way controversial or taboo to the Romans, as drawn-out as it fell within certain parameters.
Rome was a deeply militarised state, with conquest and dominance deeply ingrained as desirable masculine traits. As a fallout of this, men were free to engage in
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