Sexuality in Ancient Rome and How it Relates to Today

Sexuality in ancient Rome is very similar to how modern western societies treats and avoids certain topics. In Rome the virtue and innocence of women was very highly praised. Women were expected to remain virtuous and dedicated to one man, but in the case where a woman is widowed it is expected that she remarry and remain loyal to that man. The woman's place in Rome was to benefit the man and keep an image of quiet and submissive purity. While the woman is expected to remain pure, men are more or less allowed to have relations with whomever they reasonably want. this occurrence of double standards highlights the inequality and sheer unreasonable expectations of roman, and even modern society; for how are women to remain pure if men are encouraged to explore their own sexuality?

The connotation of homosexuality is also very similar to today's standards, but the values behind the prejudices are somewhat different. Homosexuality in ancient Rome was not necessarily condemned for the sake of being homosexual, but the act of being submissive was. The act of being submissive was thought to have been akin to lowering ones self to the status of being like a woman which, especially among soldiers, was a terrible offence to the point that a man could be put to death for being the submissive one. Conceptually this standard also relates back to the inequality that roman women face.

While ideally in Rome, everyone will follow the strict guidelines off sexuality, the reality of how people actually behaved was much different. Like today, what society says it believes about sexuality, and what realistically happens are two completely different things. Romans were actually quite open about sex, regardless of what was deemed as respectable. There were famous roman poets who openly wrote about explicit sexual acts and homosexuality such as Catullus, and high class individuals would have explicit art in their rooms, and books on sexual acts. This is similar to how people act today; that something will be taboo in one setting but acceptable among another.

source:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hide-and-seek/201206/sexuality-in-ancient-rome