I grew up north of Hadrian’s Wall, but just south of the more short-lived Antonine Wall that bisects up-to-date Glasgow and Edinburgh. Our school trips were couched in the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Our historical sense of time and place moulded by Hadrian, who managed the Empire from the era of its greatest extent, and left a rocky ruin across the Scottish lowlands. But on our doorstep too were the ghosts of the Fall. Viking settlements that spurred the Celtic Gaels and warring Picts to unite and establish modern Scotland. The battlefields of Bannockburn and Stirling Bridge, monuments to a nation which longed for recognition from the Pontifex Maximus down in Rome. These memories were our day trips and family outings.
Growing up Scottish is to exist between two walls of history. The glorious past and the crumbling introduce. Growing up male lover is similar, but the other way around. The ‘gay’ past haunts us like a spectre, shadows of persecution and disease jog sharp but imperceptible nails up our spine, so we cling to the ‘it gets better’ we hope will come to pass.
Maybe it will or it won’t earn
Queer Romans
Queer lives hold 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 Stamp 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 approach to varying conclusions; some suggest homosexual relations were freely practiced in the Roman world, others argue they were both legally and socially condemned. However, neither argument has been able to reach a definitive conclusion. This blog will discuss 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 phrase 'homosexual', meaning someone who has a sexual orientation towards someone of the same gender, did not exist linguistically, within the Latin language, and socially, within Roman world. This is because male Roman citizens are assumed to h
Everything You Need To Comprehend About Homosexuality In Ancient Rome
Since we’re heading to Rome on a swanky, culture-rich tour of Italy, you may be wondering about homosexuality in ancient Rome and how lgbtq+ the Empire really was? As it turns out, super gay. But it’s complicated.
You Weren’t Gay or Straight. But Top or Bottom. With Consequence.
The biggest thing about sexuality in ancient Rome was that they didn’t concern themselves with who, but rather how, you boinked. They didn’t even have a word for homosexuality, but the empire was obsessed with conquest, and that mindset pervaded everything including sex. All that mattered was who’s on highest. Alas, if you were a man, to be penetrated was to be conquered, thus weak and less worthy.
Furthermore, sexual partners weren’t chosen by gender, but class. Married men would continue to cavort with other fellows, so long as that spouse was beneath them both sexually and societally. This could entail prostitutes, the enslaved, and the infamia (those disgraced by community such as gladiators, actors, dancers and anybody else who ‘gave up’ their body for public display).
Gay Marriage was a Thing.
Even without a word fo
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 interpretation of homosexuality in the Roman world was vastly different than how it is today, and gives us an example of how homosexuality has been indelibly linked with communications of force and authority in antiquity. The Latin language has no pos for either heterosexual or queer, 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 concept of a Roman man engaging in homosexual sex was in no way controversial or taboo to the Romans, as long as it fell within certain parameters.
Rome was a deeply militarised state, with conquest and dominance deeply ingrained as desirable masculine traits. As a result of this, men were free to engage in