Roman Sexuality in Paul's World
HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE BIBLE, Supplement
By Bruce L. Gerig
Growing up in
Tarsus. We know
little about Paul’s schooling as a youth in Tarsus (today in SE Turkey, on the
coast), although he received a typical Jewish Hellenistic education (given to
Jewish boys whose families lived outside of Palestine). Such an education would
have given him both a broad knowledge of his Jewish faith and traditions as
well as a grounding in Greek rhetoric (how to speak
and write persuasively) and secular philosophy (especially Stoicism and
Cynicism).1 Sarah Ruden
notes that Paul, brought up in a Jewish household, would not have had an
accepting view toward homosexual behavior (cf. Lev 18:22, 20:13), even though he
later sets aside various Jewish requirements in his Gentile mission (cf. Gal 2:11-21,
5:1-6). Yet the young
Paul was probably most affected by scenes he witnessed on the streets of Tarsus,
as in any large city in the Roman Empire—of prostitutes of both
sexes who offered themselves on the street or from windows or doorways of
brothels (the males usually much younger than the females), of public slave
auctions where boys probably no older than Paul himself were sold into
slavery, and of pedophiles who pestered him and his friends on their way
to school, offering them money or gifts (no doubt his parents warned him not to
show any interest in such men, since this could ruin a young man’s reputation
and get a boy labeled a prostitute).2
Sexual life in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Peter Oakes notes that looking
at life in Pompeii and Herculaneum, those ill-fated cities that were buried
under the cataclysmic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, can help one better understand
Paul’s letter to the Romans.3 For example, these ruins reveal that prostitution was
notoriously common in first-century bars (or ‘cafes,’ since food was also served)
and that most households probably owned 3-5 slaves.4 With regards
to Paul’s describing “impurity” and “shameless acts” in Rom 1:24, 27, it can be
noted that the most prominent examples in Pompeii of homosexual behavior (as
well as free-wheeling heterosexual behavior) appeared related to the prostitution
trade, to house party orgies,
and to the sexual use of slaves. Furthermore, given the widespread sexual use of
slaves, there certainly would have been a “tension” when a slave joined one of
Paul’s congregations—between Paul’s teaching against “sexual immorality”
(cf. 1 Cor 6:2, NRSV) and the sexual service which a
slave was duty-bound to give his or her master upon demand. What Paul can do and does
do is to bestow upon any slave who joins his community a new dignity, envisioning
him or her “a freed person belonging to the Lord” (1 Cor
7:21-22, cf. Gal 3:28).5
Phalluses, Priapus figures, and male
nudity. In
Roman cities phalluses (erect penises) were displayed everywhere—carved
on pavement stones, sticking out from or depicted in plaques on buildings, and
pictured inside establishments.6 Since the ancient Mediterranean
world believed that this symbol of male fertility could avert evil, Paul would
have seen the phalluses everywhere he looked, in homes as well as businesses. And since noise was also believed to dispel evil
spirits, inside the front door of every home hung a tintinnabulum
(a bronze wind-chime), where bells hung down from one or more swinging phalluses.7 Boys sometimes wore
phalluses as protective amulets.8
Meanwhile, an image of Priapus, the
male fertility god who was always depicted with a huge erect phallus, would
have greeted Paul or any other visitor who entered a Roman
home. For example, the
large fresco painting of Priapus in entranceway of
the Vettii brothers’ home in Pompeii (two freedmen
who had made it good financially) shows the god weighing his huge penis against
a bag of coins, with a fruit basket placed nearby—suggesting that the
master’s large organ would bring protection, prosperity and fertility to his
home.9 A Priapus
statue often also stood in the household garden, to serve as a warning to any unwanted
intruder. The
intention, as expressed in one poem, was: “This scepter [Priapus’s phallus],
which was cut from a tree . . . will go into the guts of a thief all the way up
to my crotch and the hilt of my balls” (Carmina Priapea 25).10
While the Greeks were satisfied with a sleek, muscular boy with a tiny
penis, Priapus promoted the idea of a Roman male
asserting his masculinity by penetrating others with his impressive member—and
the bigger the better, so to speak.11 Moreover, it was the
privilege of a Roman male to wield his phallic power with females and males,
with his wife and slaves, and with prostitutes of both sexes.12 Although some
researchers hold that these phallic symbols had lost all erotic meaning (Varone)13, some viewers still may have found them
sexually suggestive (Clarke).14
Yet, for Paul, whose Jewish background found any genital exposure shameful15, such images
as these added to Paul’s impression of Roman “impurity,” mentioned in Rom 1:24. Also, sculptures of
handsome nude male figures, often life-size (but also sometimes larger and
smaller), were on display everywhere (without erections), depicting gods,
heroes, warriors, athletes, and youths.16 Usually
they are depicted just standing at ease, but also sometimes they wave their
huge phallus in dance17or engage in sex scenes.18 Deiss notes that residences at Herculaneum show that even
the middle class, who lived in rented apartments or rooms, sought to decorate
their walls with erotic paintings, to own statues of male (nude) divinities,
and to display graffiti on their walls, like, “Let love burn here.”19 Other homes, however,
belonged to very conservative people.20
Erotic scenes on walls and objects. Even the Roman Sextus Propertius (50?-15? BC)
complained that erotic pictures were found in houses everywhere.21 These erotic wall paintings
illustrating a wide diversity of sexual scenes and acts (both heterosexual and
homosexual), were displayed in bedrooms (used for sex)
and also dining areas.
Scenes of heavy drinking and hot love-making also decorated dishes and cups
used at meals, which could easily stimulate the libido of the guests invited to
dinner (the most important meal of the day, to which guests were often
invited), leading them eventually to engage in sexual encounters and even group
orgies.22 Not only were these erotic pictures
the pride of the wealthy, but poor folk desired them as well.23 In other words, ‘every home
had to have one.’24 The Romans had no concept of
‘pornography,’ but worshipped deities whom they believed gave them the gifts of
sexual pleasure;25 and nudity was not shocking at all, for men.26
Also, the Romans viewed these erotic pictures in the home as a good way to
teach children, women, the unmarried, and even the married lessons about to
have sex.27 And as
William Countryman notes, it is hard to make a case that Paul would have demanded
that these images on the walls be covered or that erotically decorated household
objects be removed when he visited a Gentile home.28 Wall paintings and pots, cups, oil lamps,
medallions, and other objects unashamedly displayed scenes of erotic games29, vaginal intercourse30, heterosexual anal penetration31, fellatio32, bisexual multiple penetration at the same time33, and pederastic
sex34. As the Roman statesman Pliny
the Elder (23-79) once explained: “It is the fashion to portray lust on cups
and objects to drink from, of an obscene form” (Natural History 33.1).35
Public cafes, public baths, and public latrines. After Paul finished his
tent-making which he did as a livelihood in Corinth (Acts 18:1) or after
teaching his daily Christian catechism class in a rented hall in Ephesus (Acts
19:9-10), he might have stopped by, with others, at a tavern (or café),36 to get a bite to
eat (and some wine) and engage in more discussion with people, or before he
continued his public witnessing elsewhere (cf. Acts 17:17ff). However, both lowly and
more elegant eating-places often displayed erotic pictures on the walls, while
the waiters of both sexes were available for sex in a small back room.37 Two scenes decorating the
wall in the Mercury Street Tavern in Pompeii showed nude mime scenes, like those commonly sandwiched in between acts of comedy
or tragedy at the local theatre. In one scene, a nude sexually-aroused
man chases a woman, while in the next scene, having caught her, he penetrates
her, while both hold up a celebratory glass of wine.38 At the theatre, audiences (slaves were not
allowed to attend) watched free comedy, farce, and dancing on stage, which included
nude chorus girls, nude males who portrayed Apollo, and ‘satyrs’ who wore
artificial erect phalluses.
Erotic gags and gestures were essential.39
It is hard to imagine that Paul ever went to the theater.
But
what about bathing?
For this, Romans went to the public baths, where men usually bathed
apart from the women and completely nude. Although circumcision was practiced in certain parts
of the East (in Syria, as well as Palestine), the Greeks and Romans abhorred
it; and Martial (c.40–104) in some of his epigrams ridicules it and makes
coarse jokes about it.
So, when Paul went to the public baths, as everyone did, he probably did
not escape lewd jokes about his circumcised organ.40 Some
very wealthy families had private baths at home, which Paul on the road
sometimes had the luxury of enjoying; yet at other times he would have had no
choice but to go the public baths. And since the body was an object of admiration
and veneration among the Greeks and Romans, they kept it clean by usually visiting
the public bath every day.
If men and women bathed together (which was sometimes done in rare cases),
the former wore a brief loincloth and the latter a light garment; but mostly
the genders bathed apart and nude, in separate sections41 or at different times. Yet, pimps and (male) prostitutes also often frequented the
baths,42 advertising their wares43; and at the end of a
corridor in the Suburban Baths in Herculaneum was located a room where sexual trysts
could take place. Here
one surviving graffiti message reads: “Apelles
the Mouse with his brother [a same-sex partner] lovingly screwed each other twice.”44
And of the baths MARTIAL once wrote, “Whatever bath you hear applause in, Flaccus,
know that Maro’s dick is there” (Epigrams 9.33).45 Or Martial remarked about a friend with whom he
went to the Baths, noting that “he looks
at nothing higher up, but devours the studs with his eyes, staring at their
dicks with lips hard at work” (Epigrams 1.96.11-13).46
Paul was happy also to avoid using the public latrine when he could, which lacked private stalls and allowed men to view each other and ‘expose themselves,’ and partner up or pick up prostitutes who hung around outside.
Roman sexual views in general. Roman views on sex were very different than today. For example, falling in
love was commonly thought to be a misfortune, a kind of “insanity,” because
decent people were not supposed to let such emotions take over their lives.47 Also,
even at home, in the bedroom it was considered immodest for a woman to show
herself completely nude to her husband; and so sexual consummation usually went
on in the dark.48 No wonder, then, that men often sought out prostitutes
(of both sexes), who were not bound by such inhibitions; or they turned to household
slaves for full and free sexual enjoyment. For the Roman male, the ideal was virtus
(masculinity), which displayed itself in governing the world and dominating
others; and for the male sexually this meant penetration; and it didn’t matter with whom (a woman, a youth or
another man) as long as he took the active role.49
It was not gender but social status of the partner that was of concern, for
a free Roman citizen was not to have sex with another male citizen or with a
married woman. Sexual play
with slaves of either gender was considered a master’s right, while his wife
was expected to confine her sexual activity to marriage.50 Homosexual behavior was generally not condemned for
the male, unless a free citizen became a prostitute or took on the effeminate,
passive role—both of which were looked upon with contempt.51 Not conflicted by notions
of “sin” or “lewdness,” the Romans practiced sex with simplicity and
spontaneity, if often also crudeness; and in spite of certain ‘official’
judgments that existed against certain sexual behaviors, few males refrained
from these in their pursuit of a full erotic life.52
The attitude of many Roman men is exemplified in the text that appears
on an exquisitely incised gemstone (in a royal cabinet in Leiden), which pictures
two nude horny males going at it, while the text at the top reads: “Leopard [one partner’s pet name]—drink, / Live in luxury, / Embrace!
/ You must die, for time is short. / May you live life to the full, O Greek!” Or put another way, Carpe diem (“Seize the day”).53 Sexual acts like performing
fellatio or cunnilingus or indulging in lesbian or group sex were all viewed as
taboo; and yet all these activities went on anyway, as illustrated frankly in
various scenes displayed in the Suburban Baths in Pompeii.54
Pederasty. Roman audiences found something especially
appealing about the supreme Greek god Zeus (renamed Jupiter in Latin) who fell in
love with the beautiful Trojan prince Ganymede (renamed Catamitus in Latin) and carried him off to become his
cupbearer and bed partner.55 Likewise,
the male usually viewed as the ideal sexual partner by older
Roman males was an adolescent youth (although not always).56 As the Romans came into
contact with Greek culture, in the several centuries preceding the birth of
Christ, it became chic in certain circles to adopt Greek ways, which led to an overall
loosening of Roman morals—which included some women turning to adultery.57 The difference between Greek homosexuality and
Roman homosexuality was that in the former case a man usually had sex with a
free youth, while in the latter case sex usually occurred between a master and a
slave.58 A Roman law was passed
penalizing any man who had homosexual relations with a freeborn Roman youth, although
this did not fully suppress such action, as poems from the first century BC and
onward bear witness.59 In fact, the danger of molestation was so great
that Roman parents, if they could afford it, hired a special slave to walk
their young sons to and from school to protect them from pederasts.60 However,
no blame was attached to the man who had sex with a male slave,61 although the
Roman statesman CATO THE ELDER (234-149) BC) complained that in Rome “pretty boys now fetch more than fields”
(noted in Polybius 31.25.2),62 and he worried about men who impoverished themselves in the
process.63 Sarah Ruden notes that Plato (c.429–c.347 BC) had earlier “whitewashed” pederasty in
philosophical and religious terms by viewing a good-looking boy as leading his admirer
to think of an ultimate beauty which had been forgotten
in mortal life.
Therefore the suitor wanted to impart his spirituality to his beloved
boy, to educate and improve him; and in return the boy would view him as his
benefactor and give in to his suitor’s sexual desires. However, these views were
far removed from mainstream (everyday) thought and action; and later authors
simply called themselves pedophiles or ‘lovers of children,’ although some of
them preferred older teenagers.
Still, most boys were rejected when they began to grow a beard.64
Sexual use of slaves. It is
hard to grasp how widespread slavery was in the Roman Empire, but Scott Bratchy estimates that as many as one-third of the
inhabitants of the large cities at the time—including Rome, Ephesus,
Corinth, and Antioch in Syria—were slaves.65 And as the Roman statesman-philosopher SENECA
THE ELDER (55 BC–AD 39) noted, “Sexual
servicing is a crime for the freeborn, a necessity for the slave, and a duty
for the freeman” (Controversiae
4, preface 10), i.e., a slave even after he had been freed could be called upon
by his former master to perform sexual service.66 The Roman poet HORACE (65-8 BC) explained, fulfilling
sexual urges for a free Roman citizen should be like eating when you’re hungry,
for: “When your crotch is throbbing and
there is a slave-girl or home-grown slave-boy ready at hand whom you could jump
on right away, you don’t prefer to burst with your hard-on, do you? I certainly don’t. I like sex that is easy and
obtainable” (Satires 1.2.114–119).67 Craig Williams writes that since
slaves were property, their bodies belonged to their master, who might call
upon them at any time, day or night, to satisfy his sexual desires. In fact, it was assumed that a master would make sexual
use of his slaves; and the most desirable male slave was a boy, with whom the master
generally took the active sexual role (but not always). In fact, a complete list of
all of the references to sex with slaves in literary classical sources would be
“massive,” since the practice was so widespread.68 Having sex with slaves was one of the privileges
of ownership and of Roman manhood;69 and a married man could have sex with them as long as he
showed a certain discretion and moderation, even though his wife often
objected.70 Sarah Ruden notes that in many cases these boys were the children of slaves who belonged to
their master; and so he could exploit these youngsters’ loneliness and
humiliation again and again, without recrimination.71 In fact, for some beautiful
slave boys, called delicati (“pets”), their main
duty was to present themselves for anal sex whenever their master desired it.72 Antonio Varone notes
that masters and mistresses considered their slaves little more than
domesticated animals.73 Also, slaves could be called to be present when
the master had sex with someone else (as seen in various erotic house scenes), since the master’s awareness of his
slave’s sexual arousal increased his own sexual pleasure even more.74 Martti Nissinen notes how Roman males often practiced sex with
young slaves, as a sexual outlet, before they got married; and even when some
slaves were freed (as a reward), they stayed with their masters as ‘concubines.’75 John Boswell notes how some
masters sometimes loaned their slaves out, although MARTIAL (2.43) complained about
a friend of his who would not lend him one of his male slaves to whom he was greatly
attracted.76 The exquisite silver Warren
Cup in the British Museum77 shows a
bearded male on one side and a beardless youth on the other side, both having
sex with young slave-boys, the latter identified by having an extended lock of
hair hanging down the back of his neck. In one scene, the slave boy lies on his side
while the older youth penetrates him; and in the other scene the slave boy
lowers himself down onto his master’s phallus while he holds onto a strap hanging
down from the ceiling—while, at the far right, a still younger slave-boy
peeks in through a crack in the doorway, to see ‘how the big boys do it.’78
Prostitution. Roman law sanctioned another kind of sex between males,
homosexual prostitution, shown by the fact that both female and male
prostitutes paid taxes on their earnings and were granted a holiday off every
year. However, while
female prostitutes usually came from the lower class and sold their services quite
cheaply, many male prostitutes were young and sold themselves for high prices,
some of them even becoming quite rich.79 Usually
no stigma attached to visiting prostitutes, and even slaves visited them.80 The prostitutes
themselves were usually slaves, part of a brutal institution which
viewed them not as persons but as things.81 It was widely held that
prior to marriage young men should be allowed to sow their wild oats, in ‘appropriate
fields’ of course82,
and as long as they did so in moderation, did not squander their inheritance, and
did not bring disgrace on another household (by having sex with a freeborn
Roman youth). The
Roman statesman CICERO (106-43 BC) argued, in defense of prostitution: “But if there is someone who thinks that
young men should be forbidden even from engaging in affairs with prostitutes .
. . when was this not commonly done? . . . When was it not permitted?” (On Behalf of Caelius 48).83 Rome also had adult male prostitutes, called exoleti (from the verb exolescere, “to grow up”), who assumed both active and passive roles and who serviced both
men and women.84 Prostitutes advertised
their services in graffiti on walls, e.g., one ad in Pompeii read, “Felix will fellate for one as” (not a lot of money). A character in a play
(470-483) by PLAUTUS (c.254–184 BC), a Roman writer of comedic plays, mentions
that prostitutes of both sexes frequented the Roman Forum85 —that plaza in the center of Rome, which
was the center of Roman public life and was surrounded by government buildings
and temples and shrines.86 Also,
actors at the public theaters were assumed to be usually available for hire as
prostitutes.87
Related to terminology, John
Younger points out that the Greek pornē (“female
prostitute,” Strong G4204) and pornos (“male prostitute,” G4205)
derived from the verb permēni (“to sell”), and
these terms applied to prostitutes who worked alone or in a brothel. Porneia (G4202) became a word in the NT that was generally modified to refer to “sexual
sin” of any kind (Strong G4202); yet in some NT references the term may retain
its older meaning of “prostitution.” Hetairae (“higher
class female prostitutes”) cost more and were expected to be educated, witty,
and politically astute.
Pallake (female) and pallakos (male) referred to prostitutes who became kind
of live-in spouses.88 Most
prostitutes were slaves owned by brothel managers, and sometimes (but not
always) they were foreigners.89 Rome
had thousands of young male prostitutes called cinaedi, who
adopted effeminate ways and wore female attire. The Roman historian TACITUS (c.56-120) uses two
special terms for young male prostitutes, sellarii
(derived from sellarium = “public latrine,”
where they often gathered) and spintriae (a spintria was a
small Roman coin, which depicted sexual acts or symbols and was probably used
in brothels) (Annales
6.1).90 In Ephesus the brothel was located near the
public latrine.91 Still, while prostitutes
may have been everywhere available in the classical world, surprisingly few
brothels have been excavated; instead the prostitutes gathered mostly in public
places, clustered near the baths and city gates—although in Rome prostitutes
were found around
the Colosseum arches and in central Rome.92 Some writers considered
prostitutes ‘dirty’ (Aristophanes, Knights 1397-1401), while others viewed them as better than wives because they had to
be “amenable” to one’s wishes.93 Graffiti in Pompeii advertised fellatio and
cunnilingus, by male or female prostitutes, for between 1-4 asses, although to acquire a male
for anal sex might cost up to 10 asses.94 Some bath attendants and
chamber servants offered sexual services on the side. In general, prostitutes could not refuse a
prospective client, and they worked long hours, day and night.95 At Herculaneum it can be
seen where prostitutes listed their name, address, and prices for various
services on building walls.96
Effeminate males. A cinaedus (Greek: kinaidos) was often
viewed as an effeminate, passive ‘queer’ (Ruden)97,
yet ancient sources (cf. Martial 7.58, Episetus 3.3.3) also suggest that many of them were
heterosexual (Boswell)98. The cinaedus was primarily an effeminate dancer who often
wiggled his buttocks in a suggestive way, and so it was assumed that they preferred
anal intercourse (Williams).99 They
were sometimes described as having a “disease” or an “affliction.”100 Still, the lucky cinaedi found their sexual desires satisfied by “real
men,” to both parties’ satisfaction.101
Sarah Ruden notes that both eunuchs (castrated
males) and cinaedi
were viewed as having lost their manhood, and so they were viewed as lower than
women. Most cinaedi were
young boys, which is what most grown-up males wanted—although the glabri (“smoothies”) were older Roman slaves who had all
of their body hair plucked out, wore young-looking clothes, and continued to
serve their masters sexually.102 SENECA especially detested
and condemned this practice of maintaining glabri.103 Yet, the Roman poet
HORACE (65-8 BC) praised beautiful boys with long, wavy hair, calling them mollis (girlish), a word very close in meaning to malakos in 1 Cor 6:10.104 Rome had thousands of cinaedi,
or young male prostitutes (Younger);105 and one of the things Roman parents feared most was that their
son might become a cinaedus, or even an adult who
preferred being the receptive sexual partner and who adopted effeminate
mannerisms (Nissinen).106
The cinaedi were scorned for
their effeminate walk, gestures, dressing, and cosmetics, because such
practices so opposed the Roman ideal of masculinity.107
Instead, unkempt beauty befitted a man, although he was expected to keep
his fingernails trimmed and to avoid body odor.108
Yet, Craig Williams
warns that effeminacy needs to be kept distinct from sexual roles. Numerous men who were known
for their effeminate ways were, in fact, “womanizers,” e.g., the historian
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS criticizes Maecenas, a long-time friend of Augustus, who “practically surpasses a woman in his
leisurely softness” (2.88.2, p. 323). The Roman philosopher SENECA THE ELDER (55
BC–AD 39) speaks the same famous Maecenas,
“dripping with foreign perfumes, crippled by his lust, walking more softly than
a woman in order to please women—and
all other things show not judgment but disorder” (Controversiae 2.1.6, italics
added). Maecenas was
even reputed to have irregular relations with his wife.109 SENECA THE YOUNGER (4 BC–AD 65) also noted
how “delicate he [Maecenas] was,” as he walked “around the city with
his tunic unbelted” or “appeared on the public tribunal . . . with his head
veiled, . . . accompanied in public by two eunuchs who were . . . more manly
than he himself was” (Epistulae morales 114.4-6).110 Yet,
males who liked anal penetration were often called pathici
or cinaedi, and they were
represented in Roman texts as being effeminate. MARTIAL contrasted cinaedi with “real men” (veri viri),
the former frequently described with terms denoting “softness” (e.g., mollitia).111
SENECA THE ELDER harshly criticized the young men in his time who
indulged in uncontrolled lust with both
female and male partners, saying: “Consider
today’s lazy young men: . . . The revolting pursuits of singing and dancing
have taken hold of these effeminates; braiding their hair and thinning their
voices to a feminine lilt, competing with women in bodily softness, beautifying
themselves with disgusting finery—this is the pattern of our young
men.” Then in complete exasperation, he
asks, Where is the dedicated student today, or the
gifted orator? (Controversiae 1, pr. 9-10).112 As Marilyn Skinner explains,
for males to act like females was considered appalling because such expressions
weakened the framework of manliness. Yet, also it seemed sometimes that only way a
Roman male could feel secure in his own masculinity was to degender
(attack) another male’s character (as not being manly enough).113 And the greatest fear was
directed toward the secret cinaedi, men who showed all the hallmarks
of masculinity on the outside, but in the bedroom he turned to become the
passive partner.114 Such was the case with
Gracchus, a priest of Mars, who paraded as a man in public, but then wed a
horn-player, bringing with him a considerable wifely dowry and becoming his
passive sexual partner (Juvenal, Satire
2, 117-136).115
Bisexuality. Against Michel Foucault, Amy Richlin argued (1993) that there were men in antiquity who may
be identified as “homosexual” and who were victims of “homophobia,” and Rabun
Taylor (1997) saw a “homosexual subculture” in Rome, or at least a group of men
(cinaedi) who “openly flaunt[ed] their homosexuality” and
confessed “their homosexual inclination”—even though there was no word
for “homosexual” in Greek or Latin.116
Jeffrey Weeks (1977) wrote: “Homosexuality has existed throughout
history. But what have
varied enormously are the ways in which various societies have regarded
homosexuality, the meanings they attached to it, and how those who were engaged
in homosexual activity viewed themselves. . . . As a
starting point we have to distinguish between homosexual behavior, which is
universal, and a homosexual identity, which is historically specific.”117 Yet Craig Williams notes that while there seem to have been some men in
ancient Roman times who only desired and sought sexual pleasure with other men,
they were in the minority and unusual. Most men then were more like bisexuals today, although they did not pigeon-hole each other.118 Charles Hupperts
points out that many sources show that it was common for Roman men to have open
sexual relations with both sexes, and certainly nobody opposed a man having
sex with his slaves of both sexes. In fact, in the latter case, a Roman male could satisfy
any desire he had, even to be the passive
partner.119
Literary writers believed that most Roman men would openly seek sexual
relations with persons of both sexes;120 and in fact there was a kind of interchangeability between a
girl and a boy that is exhibited in ancient Roman poetry.121 Williams notes that the Romans like Greeks assumed
that the smooth bodies of young boys would be attractive to both men and women,
although the Romans lacked the Greek tradition of courting freeborn adolescent
youths. Instead, the
Roman male, with Priapus as his guide, was ready to
dominate any woman, boy or man available.122 Even
Augustus, who was known as an avid womanizer, kept some male slaves as his deliciae (“darlings”).123 The Romans did not think about “sexual
orientation,” but rather gender choice, which was viewed
as a matter of taste, like preferring blonds over brunettes.124 Obviously some individuals
existed in antiquity who, if alive today, could rightfully be called
“homosexuals”—but the Romans rather focused on various sexual roles, such
as: fellator (“penis sucker”), a cunnilingus (“butt sucker”), a futator (“inserter
in the vagina”), a pedico (“inserter in the [male
or female] anus”), or cinaedus (“effeminate dancer”), moechus (“pursuer of other man’s wives”), or pullo (“pursuer of boys”), etc.125
Homoerotic Art Museum - Europa
Erotic art of ancient Rome (photo gallery)
FOOTNOTES: 1. Roetzel 2009, pp. 405-406. 2. Ruden Paul 2010, p. 48
. 3. Oakes Reading 2009, p. xi. 4. Oakes Reading 2009, pp. 36,
83 5. Oakes Reading 2009, pp. 135, 143-145
6. Clarke
2003, pp. 98–99 7. Clarke 2003, p. 97 8. Williams
1999, p. 93 9.Clarke 2003, p. 21 10. Clarke
2003, pp. 104-105 11. Williams 1999, p. 86 12. Williams 1999, p. 95 13 .e.g., Varone 2001, p. 15 14. Clarke
2003, p. 132, S12-59 15. Hornsby 2007, p. 92 16. Deiss 1989, passim 17. Grant 1997, pp. 122-123 18. Grant
1997, pp. 87, 88-89 19. Deiss 1989, pp. 83, 85, 104 20. Deiss 1989, p. 90 21. Varone 2001, p. 59 22. Varone 2001, pp. 56, 41-47 23. Clarke 2003, p. 33 24. Clarke 2003, p. 35 25. Clarke 2003:15 26. Deiss 1989, p. 38 27. Clarke 2003, p. 33; Varone 2001, p. 16 28. Countryman 2007, p. 237 29. Varone 2001, p. 66 30. Ibid., p. 58 31. Ibid., p. 77 32. Ibid., p. 59 33. Ibid., pp. 36, 68 34. Ibid., pp. 45, 47 35. Grant
1997, pp. 164-165
36. Deiss 1989, pp. 119, 121 37. Clarke 2003, pp. 68-70 38. Clarke 2003, pp. 68-69 39. Deiss 1989, p. 170 40. Witherington, Galations 1998, p. 455 41. Deiss 1989, p. 133 42. Deiss 1989, p. 133 43. Varone 2001, pp. 37-41 44. Deiss 1989, p. 147 45. Skinner 2005, p. 214 46. Williams 1999, p. 89
47. Ruden, Paul 2010, p. 13 48. Varone 2001, p. 81 49. Hupperts 2006, p. 49 50. Countryman 2007, p. 236 51. Nissinen 1997, p. 87. 52. Varone 2001, pp. 9-10 53. Clarke 2003, pp. 91-93 54. Clarke 2003, pp. 116-117 55. Williams
1999, p. 57 56. Williams 1999, pp. 19, 183 57. Hupperts 2006, p. 52 58. Nissinen 1998, pp. 70-71 59. Hupperts 2006, p. 52 60. Ruden Paul 2010, p. 55 61. Skinner 2005, p. 200 62. Skinner
2005, p. 198 63. Clarke 2003, p. 88 64. Ruden Paul 2010, pp. 58-60
65. Bartchy 1988, p. 543-544 66. Jewett, in Balch 2000, p. 239 67. Williams 1999, p. 32 68. Williams 1999, pp. 30-31 69. Williams
1999, pp. 47-48 70. Williams 1999, pp. 50-51 71. Ruden, Paul 2010, p. 65 72. Ruden, Paul 2010, p. 55; Skinner 2005, p. 200
73. Varone 2001, p. 74 74. Varone 2001, p. 75
75. Nissinen 1998, pp. 70-71 76. Boswell 1980, p. 78 77. Cf. Clarke 2003, pp. 79-80 78. Clarke 2003, p. 84 79. Clarke
2003, p. 88 80. Ruden Paul 2010, p. 12 81. Ruden Paul pp. 16-18 82. Williams 1999, p. 46
83. Williams 1999, p. 47 84. Williams 1999, pp. 83-84 85. Williams 1999, p. 39
86. Wikipedia,
“Roman Forum” 87. Williams 1999, p. 41
88. Younger 2005, p.
106
89. Younger
2005, p. 107
90. Younger 2005, p. 108; Wikipedia,
“spintria” 91. Younger 2005, p. 27 92. Younger 2005, p. 108
93. Madeleine
Henry 1992, p. 262; in Younger 2005, p. 109
94. Younger 2005, p. 110-111
95. Younger 2005, p. 111 96. Deiss 1989, p. 147
97. Ruden Paul 2010, p. 51 98. Boswell 1980,
p. 76 99. Williams
1999, p. 175 100. Williams 1999, p. 180 101. Williams
1999, p. 181 102. Ruden Paul 2010, p. 51 103. Furnish 1985, p. 80 104. Nissinen 1998, p. 72 105. Younger
2005, p. 108 106. Nissinen 1998, p. 72 107. Nissinen 1998, p. 83 108. Williams 1999, pp. 131-132
109. Williams 1999, p. 148 110. Williams
1999, p. 147 111. Williams
1999, pp. 142-143 112. Williams 1999, pp. 148-149 113. Skinner 2005, p. 248 114. Skinner 2005, p. 250 115. Skinner 2005, p. 251
116. Williams
1999, pp. 5-6, T6-25 117. Quoted
in Williams 1999, p. 7 118. Williams 1999, p. 228 119. Hupperts 2006, p. 50 120. Williams
1999, p. 27 121. Clarke 2003, p. 87 122. Williams
1999, p. 77 123. Williams 1999, p. 34 124. Williams 1999, p. 172 125. Williams 1999, pp. 218, 161, 330
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Boswell, John, Christianity, Social Tolerance, and
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Clarke, John R., Roman Sex, 100 BC–AD 250,
photographs by Michael Larvey, 2003.
Countryman,
L. William, Dirt, Greed, & Sex,
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Deiss, Joseph D., Herculaneum:
Italy’s Buried Treasure, 1989.
Furnish, Victor Paul, The Moral Teaching of Paul, 2nd ed.,
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Grant, Michael, Eros in Pompeii: The Secret Rooms of the
National Museum of Naples, photographs by
Antonia Mulas. 1997.
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Hupperts, Charles, “Homosexuality in Greece and Rome,” in
Robert Aldrich, ed., Gay Life and
Culture:
A World History, 2006, pp. 28-55.
Jewett, Robert, “The Social
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Nissinen, Martti, Homoeroticism in the Biblical World,
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Oakes, Peter, Reading Romans in Pompeii: Paul’s Letter at
Ground Level, 2009.
Roetzel, Calvin J., “Paul the Apostle,” New Interpreters’ Dictionary of the Bible, 4 2009, pp. 405-406.
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among the People: The Apostle Reinterpreted and Reimagined in His Own Time,
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Skinner, Marilyn B., Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture,
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BIBLE TRANSLATION: New Revised Standard Version, 1989.
© 2012 Bruce L. Gerig