We have many accounts about roman sexuality from art especially from Pompei and from literature. There are abundant scenes depicting roman morality and it was pretty advanced and showed signs of decadence throughout centuries.
Let me explain.
Roman society was patriarchal (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 a masculine ideal of self-discipline, related to the Latin word for “man”, vir. The corresponding ideal for a woman was pudicitia, translated as chastity or modesty.
Prostitution
Prostitution was legal, public, and widespread. “Pornographic” paintings were featured among the art collections in respectable upper class households. It was considered natural and unremarkable for men to be sexually attracted to teen-aged youths of both sexes, and pederasty was condoned as long as the younger male partner was not a freeborn Roman.
Effeminacy
No moral censure was directed at the man who enjoyed sex acts with either women or males of inferior status, 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 was not regarded as improper or vitiating to masculinity, if the male citizen took the active and not the receptive role.
Hypersexuality, however, was condemned morally and medically in both men and women.
Priapus was the god of masculinity and virility and he gave the name of priapism, medical condition with painful and prolonged erection.
Few scholars believe that in the early Imperial period some male couples were celebrating traditional marriage rites in the presence of friends. Male–male weddings are reported by sources that mock them.
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