In the second century B.C., Gaio Gracchus was sending a message to the Roman audience that since he was not tempted by slaves, he would also not commit any misdeeds against his subordinates, the sons of the Romans.
Williams hit the nail on the head by pointing out that while Gracchus' speech was intended to clear his suspicion of sexual intercourse with Roman citizens in the province, it merely showed that, despite strict adherence to norms in actual behavior, it was reasonable for men to lust for handsome young men in the eyes of the Romans at the time—whether the latter were slaves or citizens.
It can be seen that in the late Republic, citizens' perception of same-sex desires was more profound and common than in the early period, which was undoubtedly based on the social reality of the widespread prevalence of homosexual customs.
Finally, with the Roman conquests of the 2nd century BC, Greek culture became increasingly popular in Rome, which became one of the most important factors driving the development of homosexual customs. The Roman poet Horace once summed it up brilliantly about the extent to which Greek culture influenced Rome: "Conquered Greece conquered the barbaric conquerors and brought art to the coarse Lathium."
In this context, the traditional custom of the Greeks, the love of men, was also introduced to Rome along with the carrier of Greek culture. It is true that because male love occurred within the Greek civic community, the Romans had long rejected it.
But objectively, the introduction of gay customs in Greece promoted the homosexual activities of the Romans to a certain extent. The typical early Romanesque homosexual relationship was the slave owner's assault on the slave, which was a simple pattern of behavior without any emotional factors.
However, since the late Republic, under the influence of Greek culture, homosexual relationships with the meaning of love have gradually become popular. The causes of this situation are the most intuitive account of the causes of this situation. According to Polybius, the Third Macedonian War was a turning point, and since then various Greek vices have been prevalent in Rome.
"Associating with boys" clearly points to a relationship resembling love, which is a serious violation of Roman tradition. In the early years of the Republic, slaves were the only legal sexual objects for male citizens to engage in homosexual acts.
As we all know, the slaves of ancient Rome were only regarded as "talking tools", and the "love" between male citizens and them was undoubtedly intolerable by traditional morality.
However, in the context of the moral decay of society in the 2nd century BC, "self-control" began to be a new connotation of "virtus", which was increasingly valued by Roman men who adhered to tradition, which also included the sexual dimension. Cato Sr., a representative of political conservatives, has always been known for his extreme harshness in moral oversight.
In Plutarch's account, it is evident that he expelled a senator on the grounds of "sexual misconduct" during his tenure as censor, and Cato the Elder cleverly acknowledged the pleasures of sex, but his coercive tactics reflected the moral corruption of Roman sex during this period, so that he had to take this seemingly too harsh measure against the senator to set an example.
Greek romance not only existed among commoners, but also due to the moral degeneration and openness of society in the late Republic, some prominent people were not ashamed to express their feelings for the same sex. In The Night of Attica, Olus Glius records fragments of a love poem written by the consul Quintus Lutasius Catulus in 102 BC.
In addition, sometimes the object of love was not only Gentiles or slaves, Williams even believed that given that "Greek love" was an important part of traditional Greek culture, it is reasonable to believe that under the influence of Greece, the Roman aristocracy began to increasingly accept and practice romantic relationships with free-born young people.
This is not an over-speculation, and in the late Republic there were already literary works dealing with this kind of love between citizens. A typical example is Catulus, the most famous poet of the period, who repeatedly expressed his affection for the boy Juventius.
In addition to the love between men, in the atmosphere of the overall decline of social morality in the late Republic, and under the catalytic effect of Greek male love, the "passives" who were once hidden under the social surface gradually emerged in the public eye.
The two playwrights Lucius Pomponius and Quintus Novius, two playwrights active around the 1st century BC, vividly portray such voluntary, citizenship "passives".
His works belong to the native Italian Atra comedy, which is different from the Plautus comedy based on Greek scripts, but has more authentic ancient Italian cultural characteristics. What is even more surprising is that there are "passives" not only among the common class, but even among the nobility.
According to Maximus, Publius Claudius Pulcher had sexual relations with Roman youths of noble birth, and another case occurred in 52 BC, when several prominent nobles, including Metelus Scipio, who was then a consul, participated in an absurd farce.
Bibliography:
1.Cicero,The Letters to His Friends, I-VI, translated by W.Glynn Williams, Harvard University Press,1928.
2.Cicero,The Verrine Orations, I-II, translated by Leonard Greenwood, Harvard University Press,1928.
3.Cicero,Pro T.Annio Milone, translated by N.H.Watts, Harvard University Press,1931.
