Ancient Roman concubinae and concubini
For more details on this topic, see Marriage in ancient Rome#Concubinage.Concubinage was an institution practiced in ancient Rome that allowed a man to enter into an informal but recognized relationship with a woman (concubina, plural concubinae) not his wife, most often a woman whose lower social status was an obstacle to marriage. Concubinage was "tolerated to the degree that it did not threaten the religious and legal integrity of the family". It was not considered derogatory to be called a concubina, as the title was often inscribed on tombstones.
A concubinus was a young male slave chosen by his master as a sexual partner. Romans did not mark same-sex relations as "homosexual" if an adult male used a slave or prostitute, characteristically a youth, as his passive partner (see Homosexuality in ancient Rome); these relations, however, were expected to play a secondary role to marriage, within which institution an adult male demonstrated his masculine authority as head of household (paterfamilias). In one of his wedding poems, Catullus (fl. mid-1st century BC) assumes that the young bridegroom has a concubinus who considers himself elevated above the other slaves, but who will be set aside as his master turns his attention to marriage and family life.
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