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Christianity's Influence On Attitudes Toward Homosexuality In The Roman Empire, Jennie Jiang
Christianity's Influence On Attitudes Toward Homosexuality In The Roman Empire, Jennie Jiang
Young Historians Conference
Attitudes towards sexuality are deeply influenced by the intricate interplay between religion and social values. How do polytheistic and monotheistic societies differ in how they view sexuality? In the pre-Christian days of the early Roman Empire, polytheism fostered a remarkable tolerance toward both same-sex relations and various expressions of sexuality, as evident in social expectations, literature, and written law. In contrast, a closer examination of the Roman Empire’s transition from a polytheistic to Christian society in the 4th and 5th centuries reveals that the rise of Christianity corresponded with, and likely contributed to, increasingly strict attitudes towards homosexuality.
The Dichotomy Of Pudicitia, Amber L. Harvey
The Dichotomy Of Pudicitia, Amber L. Harvey
Young Historians Conference
The lives of women in the Roman Republic were incredibly restricted and controlled by their male counterparts, yet key counters to this restriction are often overlooked, mainly that of a woman’s pudicitia. Pudicitia was a defining moral quality that encompassed state, familial, sexual, and other duties, a woman held in society. These qualities, are shown in the mythical Rape of the Sabines, and allow female participation in the Conflict of the Orders and the defiance of the Vestal Virgins. These allowances are countered by aspects of pudicitia that restricted rights and participation, ultimately yielding a system that paradoxically encouraged …