this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2024
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People think that ancient western civilizations were gay friendly. It's a little more complicated than that. You'd have a tough life if you were an adult bottom (unless you/your boyfriend was some king or something).
Even today you have an uphill battle if you want to be dominant in the relationship but also get fucked up the ass.
'Tough life' depends heavily on the era and social class. By the time of the Late Republic and Principate, there was definite prejudice, but 'bottoming' was primarily suicide for one's political (or military) career rather than total social suicide. For citizens without political aspirations and noncitizens, this was largely a nonissue. By the Principate, even, there were conservatives bitching about men getting married with other men as unbecoming of Roman citizens, lmao.