Homosexuality in ancient Rome
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Sources for Ancient Roman homosexual practice, and attitudes and acceptance of it are abundantly available. There are literary works, poems, graffiti and comments on the sexual predelictions of single emperors. Graphic representations are, on the other hand, rarer in ancient Rome than in classical Greece. Attitudes towards homosexuality changed over the time and from context to context, ranging from strong condemnation to quite open acceptance. Indeed, it was also purported to be one of the cultural facts of certain provinces.
In discussing such attitudes, it is fundamental to recall that the term "homosexuality" is entirely problematic for the ancient world since there is no single word in either Latin or ancient Greek with the same meaning as the modern concept of homosexuality. Although it again and again becomes apparent that bisexuality was more the norm, even the ancient authors agree that there were ancient Roman men who had sexual relations exclusively with men.
