Clemens Egger (he/him), 23 December 2023

But with my TikTok For You Page being flooded with videos of girls asking their boyfriends how often they think about the Roman Empire, I started contemplating it regularly too! First and foremost, I questioned whether there was queer life in the Roman Empire, and if so, what did it look like? So, let's hop on a time machine and embark on a journey to the Roman Empire - shall we?

The Roman Empire, also known as Imperium Romanum, refers to the period and territory ruled by the Romans. It was established when Augustus Caesar proclaimed himself the first emperor of Rome in 31 BC. Its territory included parts of Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. Roman society was highly patriarchal and hierarchical. For instance, the adult male head of a household possessed special legal powers, granting him jurisdiction over all other members of the household. The Roman society was divided into six complex classes based on property ownership, where the more you owned, the higher your status. Besides wealth, social differences were pronounced, distinguishing between freeborn individuals and those enslaved from birth or later freed.

Although there's much more fascinating information about life in the Roman Empire, that summary should suffice for now (check out the links at the bottom of this page for more details).

Now, let's return to our original question: Was there queer life in the Roman Empire, and if so, what did it look like?

Historians broadly agree on the existence of homosexuality during the Roman Empire. Yes, there was "homosexuality," but why the quotation marks? Because the representation and perception of homosexuality, as understood today, had little in common. Unlike today, homosexuality was closely tied to the dynamics of power and authority. In the Latin language, there is no word for heterosexual or homosexual. Instead, partners in a sexual relationship were portrayed as either active, synonymous with masculinity, or passive and thus feminine, regardless of the individuals' gender. Free-born male Romans had the civic freedom to engage in sexual activities as they pleased, and Roman men having homosexual sex was not controversial as long as it stayed within certain parameters.

As mentioned, the Roman Empire was patriarchal, hierarchical, and hegemonic. Conquest and dominance were highly desirable male traits in Rome, given its strong militarized state. Men were free to enter homosexual relationships as long as they were the active partner with penetrative power, and the submissive partner was socially considered lower than them. For instance, a free Roman man would not face discrimination for engaging in sexual acts with a male slave, former slave, prostitute, or actor. However, intercourse with another man of the same social class was taboo, as the act of penetration was seen as an intrusion into a man's integrity and compromised his status.

Young men between the ages of 12 and 20 were considered entirely acceptable sexual partners for a Roman man, and to some extent, older Romans were even expected to seek these relationships. However, young free men were off-limits. Essentially, a person's status and associated class were much more significant factors in choosing a sexual partner than gender.

There are numerous accounts of homosexual relationships from that time, and the tales of none other than Julius Caesar should be familiar. Julius Caesar, the ruler of the Republic who transformed the Roman Republic into an empire, was a soldier, politician, professional speaker, military commander, and dictator. And he was interested in men. Scandalous. According to accounts, Julius Caesar took on the passive role in a sexual act with Nicomedes, the King of Bithynia. This caused a scandal in Roman society, earning Caesar the title "the Queen of Bithynia." (To be quite honest, not the worst drag name I've heard.) There is even a satirical poem about this scandal, translated as "Caesar conquered Gaul, Nicomedes conquered Caesar." The tea was hot back then, let me tell you.

In summary, the question of whether there was queer life in the Roman Empire can be answered with a "yes," but it would be far-fetched to claim that it had anything to do with today's understanding of homosexuality, let alone "queerness." While knowledge about sex between men is well-known among historians, information about sexual intercourse or love between women is rather sparse. Whether one can even speak of love in this context is another matter, as homosexuality in ancient Rome was more about the communication of power and status than attraction and feelings, with sex serving as a means of exercising privileges and dominance. With all that information in mind, maybe you're beginning to think about the Roman Empire a bit more often now. At least, I do.