Title: Nubit amicus : same-sex weddings in Imperial Rome
Source document: Graeco-Latina Brunensia. 2020, vol. 25, iss. 1, pp. 89-100
Extent
89-100
-
ISSN1803-7402 (print)2336-4424 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2020-1-7
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/142624
Type: Article
Language
License: CC BY-SA 4.0 International
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
This article presents ancient Roman texts dealing with the topic of same-sex weddings with the purpose of examining the reliability of these sources and contributing to the understanding of this element of the ancient tradition. In order to do so, this paper takes literary and historiographical sources and legal aspects into consideration, making use of research by Craig Williams, Bruce Frier, and Michael Fontaine. Apart from a Late Imperial constitutio, our most important sources are historiographical works on two emperors of scandalous reign, namely Nero and Elagabalus; Juvenal's Satire 2; and two epigrams by Martial: 1, 24 and 12, 42. In the closing section of the paper, I suggest a new interpretation for the punchline of the latter poem.
Note
This research was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the project nr. EFOP-3.6.2-16-2017-00007, titled Aspects on the development of intelligent, sustainable and inclusive society: social, technological, innovation networks in employment and digital economy. The project has been supported by the European Union, co-financed by the European Social Fund and the budget of Hungary.
References
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[2] Birley, A. (2006). Rewriting second- and third-century history in late antique Rome: the Historia Augusta. Classica, 19, 19–29. | DOI 10.24277/classica.v19i1.101
[3] Boswell, J. (1980). Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[4] Braund, S. M. (Ed.) (1996). Juvenal: Satires, Book I. Cambridge: University Press.
[5] Breisach, E. (2007). Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[6] Champlin, E. (2003). Nero. Cambridge, MA – London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
[7] Courtney, E. (1980). A commentary on the Satires of Juvenal. London: Athlone.
[8] Fontaine, M. (2015). Straight Talk About Gay Marriage in Ancient Rome [the original online publication is not available anymore; I quoted from the manuscript provided by the author].
[9] Fox, M. (2015). The bisexuality of Orpheus. In M. Masterson, N. Sorkin Rabinowitz, & J. Robson (Eds.), Sex in Antiquity. Exploring Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World (pp. 335–351). London – New York: Routledge.
[10] Frier, B. W. (2004). Roman Same-Sex Weddings from the Legal Perspective [originally published in Classic Studies Newsletter, 10; I used the version on Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/32397943/Roman_Same-Sex_Weddings_from_the_Legal_Perspective].
[11] Gender and Sexual Identity Lexicon (2014). Published by Equitas – International Centre for Human Rights Education [https://equitas.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Gender-lexicon.pdf].
[12] Hersch, K. K. (2010). The Roman Wedding. Ritual and Meaning in the Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[13] Hubbard, T. K. (2003). Homosexuality in Greece and Rome. A Sourcebook of Basic Documents. Berkeley – Los Angeles – London: University of California Press.
[14] Nappa, C. (2017). Making Men Ridiculous. Juvenal and the Anxieties of the Individual. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
[15] Ormand, K. (2009). Controlling Desires. Sexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome (Revised Edition). Austin: University of Texas Press.
[16] Vout, C. (2014). Biography. In T. K. Hubbard (Ed.), A Companion to Greek and Roman Sexualities (pp. 446–462). Malden: Blackwell.
[17] Williams, C. A. (2010). Roman Homosexuality (Second edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
[2] Birley, A. (2006). Rewriting second- and third-century history in late antique Rome: the Historia Augusta. Classica, 19, 19–29. | DOI 10.24277/classica.v19i1.101
[3] Boswell, J. (1980). Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[4] Braund, S. M. (Ed.) (1996). Juvenal: Satires, Book I. Cambridge: University Press.
[5] Breisach, E. (2007). Historiography: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[6] Champlin, E. (2003). Nero. Cambridge, MA – London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
[7] Courtney, E. (1980). A commentary on the Satires of Juvenal. London: Athlone.
[8] Fontaine, M. (2015). Straight Talk About Gay Marriage in Ancient Rome [the original online publication is not available anymore; I quoted from the manuscript provided by the author].
[9] Fox, M. (2015). The bisexuality of Orpheus. In M. Masterson, N. Sorkin Rabinowitz, & J. Robson (Eds.), Sex in Antiquity. Exploring Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World (pp. 335–351). London – New York: Routledge.
[10] Frier, B. W. (2004). Roman Same-Sex Weddings from the Legal Perspective [originally published in Classic Studies Newsletter, 10; I used the version on Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/32397943/Roman_Same-Sex_Weddings_from_the_Legal_Perspective].
[11] Gender and Sexual Identity Lexicon (2014). Published by Equitas – International Centre for Human Rights Education [https://equitas.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Gender-lexicon.pdf].
[12] Hersch, K. K. (2010). The Roman Wedding. Ritual and Meaning in the Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[13] Hubbard, T. K. (2003). Homosexuality in Greece and Rome. A Sourcebook of Basic Documents. Berkeley – Los Angeles – London: University of California Press.
[14] Nappa, C. (2017). Making Men Ridiculous. Juvenal and the Anxieties of the Individual. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
[15] Ormand, K. (2009). Controlling Desires. Sexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome (Revised Edition). Austin: University of Texas Press.
[16] Vout, C. (2014). Biography. In T. K. Hubbard (Ed.), A Companion to Greek and Roman Sexualities (pp. 446–462). Malden: Blackwell.
[17] Williams, C. A. (2010). Roman Homosexuality (Second edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.