LGBT Rights in Spain - The Romans

The Romans

The Romans brought, as with other aspects of their culture, their sexual morality to Spain. Romans were open minded about their sexuality, and relationships among men were commonplace. Among the Romans, bisexuality seems to have been perceived as the ideal. Edward Gibbon mentions, of the first fifteen emperors, "Claudius was the only one whose taste in love was entirely correct"—the implication being that he was the only one not to take men or boys as lovers. Gibbon based this on Suetonius' factual statement that "He had a great passion for women, but had no interest in men." Suetonius and the other ancient authors actually used this against Claudius. They accused him of being dominated by these same women and wives, of being uxorious, and of being a womanizer.

Marriages between men occurred during the early Roman Empire. This is proved by a law in the Theodosian Code from the Christian emperors Constantius and Constans which was passed on 16 December 342. Martial attests to same-sex marriages between men during the early Roman Empire.

The first recorded marriage between two men occurred during the reign of the Emperor Nero, who is reported to have married two other men on different occasions. The Roman emperor Elagabalus is also reported to have done the same. Emperors who were universally praised and lauded by the Romans such as Hadrian and Trajan openly had male lovers, although it is not recorded whether or not they ever married their lovers. Hadrian's lover, Antinuous, received deification upon his death and numerous statues exist of him today, more than any other non-imperial person.

Among the conservative upper Senatorial classes, status was more important than the person in any sexual relationship. Thus, Roman citizens could penetrate non-citizen males, plebeian (or low class) males, male slaves, boys, eunuchs and male prostitutes just as easily as young female slaves, concubines and female prostitutes. However, no upper class citizen would allow himself to be penetrated by another man, regardless of age or status. He would have to play the active role in any sexual relationship with a man. There was a strict distinction between an active homosexual (who would have sex with men and women) and a passive homosexual (who was regarded as servile and effeminate). This morality was in fact used against Julius Caesar, whose allegedly passive sexual interactions with the king of Bithynia were commented everywhere in Rome. However, many people in the upper classes ignored such negative ideas about playing a passive role, as is proved by the actions of the Roman Emperors Nero and Elagabalus. Martial also attests to adult men who played passive roles with other men. Martial describes, for example, the case of an older man who played the passive role and let a younger slave occupy the active role. In contrast to the Greeks, evidence for homosexual relationships between men of the same age exists for the Romans. These sources are diverse and include such things as the Roman novel Satyricon, graffiti and paintings found at Pompeii as well as inscriptions left on tombs and papyri found in Egypt. Generally speaking, however, a kind of pederasty (not unlike the one that can be found in the Greeks) was dominant in Rome. It is important to note, however, that even among straight relationships, men tended to marry women much younger than themselves, usually in their early teens.

Lesbianism was also known, in two forms. Feminine women would have sex with adolescent girls: a kind of female pederasty, and masculine women followed male pursuits, including fighting, hunting and relationships with other women.

Marcus Valerius Martialis, a great poet and lawyer, was born and educated in Bílbilis (Calatayud today), but he spent most of his life in Rome. There he characterised Roman life in epigrams and poems. In a fictitious first person he talks about anal and vaginal penetration, and about receiving fellatio from both men and women.

Another example is Hadrian, one of the Roman emperors born in Hispania, specifically in Itálica (Santiponce today). He was emperor from 117 to 138. He had a famous lover, Antinous, whom he deified and in whose honour he built the city of Antinopolis in Egypt after his accidental death in the Nile.