Was it okay to be gay in roman times
23 Same Sex Desire: Women
Sexuality and Gender
Table of Contents
- Female Homosexual Relationships in Ancient Rome: Introduction;
- Sexuality and Sex Roles in Ancient Rome;
- Female Homosexual Desire in Ovid’s Metamorphoses: The Tale of Iphis and Ianthe;
- Female Same-sex Desire in the works of Martial.
FEMALE SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS IN ANCIENT ROME: INTRODUCTION
Wall fragment with Two Women Roman 1-75 CE Plaster and pigment fresco Credit: Mary Harrsch
As Sandra Boehringer states in her essay on female homoeroticism, our modern terminology of sex and sexuality “assumes that certain sexual practices are associated with the ancient world.” For instance, the use of the term ‘lesbianism’ in reference to ancient Rome implies that “the ancient[s] designated female homosexuality in this way and [that] there were ‘lesbians’ in Greece and Rome” (Boehringer 2013). The specificity of language, however, we now utilize in relation to sexuality wasn’t show in ancient Rome. Though, this does not mean behaviours we now characterize as ‘lesbian’ were not present then.
There is also the additional, odd standing, aspect of masculine-presenting women in Rome. There e
The ancient history of Italy during the Roman Empire
For hundreds of years, Italy dominated most of Europe and beyond. When we look back at the Roman Empire’s leaders, we unearth unbelievable eccentricity and power. Vanity was commonplace, and some men loved to use make up and use perfume in abundance. And they went further: symbolically, they married each other and, in some cases, offered a dowry to their future husband. According to the English historian Edward Gibbon, “of the last 15 Roman emperors, only Claudius was heterosexual” and homosexuality and bisexuality were seen as natural, even though the attitudes of some of the emperors were considered “unusual”, such as those of Julius Caesar (23 BC to 14 AD).
Known as “every woman’s man, every man’s woman”, Caesar, the most known of Roman emperors, was notorious for being an incorrigible seducer of married women. He was a lover of Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, while also having an intimate relationship with Nicomedes IV, the king of Bithynia—this is why he earned the nickname “Queen of Bithynia”. However, despite Caesar’s fame, Emperor Hadrian was considered the most admired
A Brief History of Homosexuality in Italy from Ancient Rome to Today
Postwar Italy, politically dominated by the country’s Catholic party, didn’t undertake much against the diffused homophobia of those years. World cared about homosexual 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 state turned its morbose attention to it.
In 1971, Fuori! (Out!), the first queer 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 group of homosexual people publicly demonstrated for their rights for the first time in the history of the country.
Since then, the Italian queer collective has been keeping an active role in manifesting and demanding rights. Minuscule by little, and always at a much slower pace than most other European countries, It
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 diverse 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 lesbian, 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 principle of a Roman guy engaging in homosexual sex was in no way controversial or taboo to the Romans, as elongated as it fell within certain parameters.
Rome was a deeply militarised state, with conquest and dominance deeply ingrained as desirable masculine traits. As a finding of this, men were free to engage in h
Homosexuality in ancient Rome
During the time of the Republic, Roman citizens had the right (libertas) to protect their bodies from physical coercion, including both corporal punishment and sexual violence. Roman society was typically patriarchal and masculinity was based on the principle of governing not only oneself but also other persons, especially those from the lower class.
Roman cup displaying a homosexual sex scene.
It was socially acceptable for a free-born Roman to have sex with a woman or a dude assuming a dominant role. Both women and little men were perceived as natural objects of need. Outside of marriage, a man could have sex with slaves, prostitutes (who were usually slaves) and the so-called infames (the restricted man). It did not matter with which gender the Roman indulged in until he did not exceed certain social norms. For example, it was immoral to hold sex with another citizen’s free-born wife, his daughter by marriage, his underage son, or the male himself.
During imperial times, the fear of losing political freedom and submitting to power to the emperor led to an raise in the frequency of free-born men assuming a passive position du