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Romans

Romosexuality: Queer Love in Ancient Times

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roman centurion in front of the Colosseum - deposit photos

Greek homosexuality has been set upon a pedestal, deemed a worthy and respectable model for romance by philosophers, writers and lovers alike. The reality is, though, that love and sex for the queer community owe more to the ancient Romans. Their approach was grittier, dirtier and sometimes just as romantic. However, it’s an outlook on sex and love we are only now coming to embrace. Ancient Greece’s appeal to gay men is much better known. Pioneering activists such as John Addington Symonds (1840-1893) and George Cecil Ives (1867-1950) turned to Greece as a respectable model. It offered them a legitimising … Read more

Possible Roman Sex Toy Found in Ancient Roman Fort in Northern England

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roman sex toy?

A six-and-half-inch wooden penis discovered at a Roman fort in northern England could be the first-known example of a dildo – rather than as a darning needle, as archaeologists first assumed. The carved member was discovered in a ditch alongside dozens of shoes and dress accessories from the 2nd century, at Vindolanda – a Roman auxiliary fort in Northumberland – in 1992. Originally, the artefact was catalogued as a darning needle but new analysis by experts at Newcastle University and University College Dublin suggest it might have been used during sex. Research by the scientists has revealed that both ends … Read more