The Romans (5th Century B. c.-7th Century a. d.)

In Rome, marriage and sexual relations were viewed as a means to improve one’s eco­nomic and social standing; passionate love almost never appears in the written accounts handed down to us. Bride and groom need not love each other, for that kind of rela-

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tionship would grow over the life of the marriage; more important was fair treatment, re­spect, and mutual consideration. Wives even encouraged their husbands to have slaves (of either gender) for the purposes of sexual release. Rome had few restrictions about sex­uality until late in the history of the empire, so early Romans had very permissive atti­tudes toward homosexual and bisexual behaviors, which were entirely legal until the 6th century A. D. (Boswell, 1980).

In Rome, as in Greece, adult males who took the passive sexual position in homo­sexual encounters were viewed with scorn, whereas the same behavior by youth, for­eigners, slaves, or women was seen as an acceptable means to try to please a person who could improve one’s place in society. Still, long-term homosexual unions did exist.