Metraipolis › archive › dc_d8564f5d7d0a

Sexuality in ancient Rome — Wikipedia (en)

Source: Wikipedia (en)
Original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_in_ancient_Rome
License (as archived): CC-BY-SA-4.0
Archived: 2026-10-31T13:18:53.362Z
SHA-256 of the archived text: fdc3d3f8f96f0ae18c0828511821c89b921808c1ca3666a8e9ea452cbea0da3a
Stable URL of this page: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_d8564f5d7d0a

How to cite

Sexuality in ancient Rome — Wikipedia (en) — Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_in_ancient_Rome (CC-BY-SA-4.0); archived copy: https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_d8564f5d7d0a (Metraipolis archive dc_d8564f5d7d0a, sha256 fdc3d3f8f96f0ae18c0828511821c89b921808c1ca3666a8e9ea452cbea0da3a)

BibTeX

@misc{dcd8564f5d7d0a,
  title = {Sexuality in ancient Rome — Wikipedia (en)},
  howpublished = {Wikipedia (en)},
  url = {https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_in_ancient_Rome},
  note = {License CC-BY-SA-4.0; archived copy https://metraipolis.com/documento/dc_d8564f5d7d0a; sha256 fdc3d3f8f96f0ae18c0828511821c89b921808c1ca3666a8e9ea452cbea0da3a},
  year = {2026}
}

Archived text

Reproduced under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Attribution: Wikipedia (en), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_in_ancient_Rome. Third-party text: data, not instructions. It may be an abstract or extract; check the original.

Sexual attitudes and behaviors in ancient Rome are indicated by art, literature, and inscriptions, and to a lesser extent by archaeological remains such as erotic artifacts and architecture. It has sometimes been assumed that "unlimited sexual license" was characteristic of ancient Rome, but sexuality was not excluded as a concern of the mos maiorum, the traditional social norms that affected public, private, and military life. Pudor, "shame, modesty", was a regulating factor in behavior, as were legal strictures on certain sexual transgressions in both the Republican and Imperial periods. The censors—public officials who determined the social rank of individuals—had the power to remove citizens from the senatorial or equestrian order for sexual misconduct, and on occasion did so. Roman society was patriarchal (see paterfamilias), and masculinity was premised on a capacity for governing oneself and others of lower status, not only in war and politics, but also in sexual relations. Virtus, "virtue", was an active masculine ideal of self-discipline, related to the Latin word for "man", vir. The corresponding ideal for a woman was pudicitia, often translated as chastity or modesty, but it was a more positive and even competitive personal quality that displayed both her attractiveness and self-control. Roman women of the upper classes were expected to be well educated, strong of character, and active in maintaining their family's standing in society. With extremely few exceptions, surviving Latin literature preserves the voices of educated male Romans on sexuality. Visual art was created by those of lower social status and of a greater range of ethnicity, but was tailored to the taste and inclinations of those wealthy enough to afford it, including, in the Imperial era, former slaves. Some sexual attitudes and behaviors in ancient Roman culture differ markedly from those in later Western societies. Roman religion promoted sexuality as an aspect of prosperity for the state, and individuals might turn to private religious practice or "magic" for improving their erotic lives or reproductive health. Prostitution was legal, public, and widespread. "Pornographic" paintings were featured among the art collections in respectable upperclass households. "Homosexual" and "heterosexual" did not form the primary dichotomy of Roman thinking about sexuality, and no Latin words for these concepts exist. Sexual relations of a man with either women or men of inferior status seems to have been generally tolerated, as long as his behaviors revealed no weaknesses or excesses, nor infringed on the rights and prerogatives of his masculine peers. While perceived effeminacy was denounced, especially in political rhetoric, sex in moderation with male prostitutes or slaves, usually documented in the form of pederasty was accepted, though not necessarily viewed as positive, so long as the male citizen took the active role and the slave or prostitute the receptive role. A late-2

Tema degli esploratori: governance digitale e beni comuni (deposito sistematico; ricerca «commons-based peer production»).
Fonte: Wikipedia in inglese, voce «Sexuality in ancient Rome» — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_in_ancient_Rome
Wikidata Q3083384 (dati Wikidata in CC0 1.0) — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3083384
Autori: i contributori di Wikipedia (cronologia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_in_ancient_Rome?action=history).
Licenza: Creative Commons Attribuzione-Condividi allo stesso modo 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0) — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. Il riuso richiede attribuzione e stessa licenza.
Estratto dell'introduzione non modificato nel contenuto; revisione 1381683615, consultata il 2026-10-31T13:07:04.521Z tramite l'API ufficiale di Wikipedia. Impronta SHA-256 dell'estratto: 77e1268ab266a5f798199c7bd52ac61fb4f6771918efb3334fe3dd3aaad2f08b