In his book on the transformation of sexuality in the Roman world brought about by Christianity, Kyle Harper observes that Christianity was experienced as a deeply liberating force by many in the empire. For Romans, the sexual energy of men was assumed to be basically boundless, however because of the chaos that this sexual energy could unleash, outlets needed to be created that lowered the stakes of sexuality, so to speak, by lowering the status and dignity of the people reduced to being sexual outlets.
A system of norms developed that effectively meant propertied Roman men could have as many sexual partners as they desired, provided they did not sleep with the wife of another propertied Roman man, which could create uncertainty about inheritances for that woman’s children. There was also generally a prohibition against same-sex relationships in which the powerful Roman man was the “bottom,” in the pair, as that was thought to diminish his social standing by placing him in the position of being dominated in the sexual act.
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