Regarding that cultural practice
Submitted by A.I. Watcher on January 20 2002 17:56:48
In reply to Re: The Centurion's Servant and the Greek 'Malakoi' submitted by Nate on January 20 2002 16:39:36
|
I actually thnk it's highly unlikely that a centurian would have kept a catamite. Roman history of that era is a particular area of expertise for me and I can tell you that the mores of the time were very complicated. First, the Greeks certainly practiced man/boy sex and did so unapologetically. But the Romans' behavior was far more nuanced. And while we often read about Roman debauchery, what most people don't undnerstand is that Roman moral standards underwent a dramatic change after the the reigns of the Julio-Claudians. During the time of Augustus, and therefore of Jesus, homosexuality was looked down upon by Romans who considered themselves to be of good stock. Romans took pride in the things that made them different from the Greeks and Hellenized peoples. The legions were, much like the army today, very, very conservative. A centurian, who filled a function equivilent to today's non-commissioned officers probably represented the most conservative element of the legions. The penalty, according to Julius Ceasar's memoirs, for homosexual behavior among legionaries was death. And there are records from the era we are discussing that document executions in the legions for homosexual activity. So I think it's pretty unlikely that a typical centurian would have kept a catamite - unless he secretly had sex with his slave, which would have been possible, of course - just not very likely. At least it's possible to say that one would not be able to assume that a centurian was having sex with a male slave unless there was specific evidence that explained why such an atypical activity would have been going on. |
Follow ups: