Sexuality in Ancient Rome

Sexuality in ancient Rome was governed by social status, self-control, and traditional norms rather than modern categories like "heterosexual" or "homosexual." Roman attitudes, recorded mainly by elite male authors and preserved in art from Pompeii and Herculaneum, treated sex as a matter of power, moderation, and reputation. Prostitution was legal and widespread, religion promoted fertility, and the primary concern was that a citizen man always play the dominant role without excess.