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Spartans, Ancient Greeks, and Romans all had no sexual orientation taboos!. to them, homosexuality was just as normal as heterosexuality!. So, men often had homosexual relationships with each other!. (it was seen as normal)!.

though, since the population was small at the time, all men were expected to have a wife and family only for the goal of reproducing!. this is what makes it hard to know whether or not someone in those times was "straight", or "gay"!. MANY DID have homosexual relationships!.

Many Roman (male) Aristocrats and royalty were known to have male sex slaves!.

it is known that Homosexuality in the Roman and Greek armies was accepted and even encouraged!. Generals thought that the closer the soldiers bonds, the more likely they would be to sacrifice themselves, and the harder they would work to protect each other; and they would be able to work as a unit better!. The Roman and Greek Armies were the best of their time!.

The "Sacred Band of Thebes" was a military unit made of hand-picked homosexuals!. "The Sacred Band of Thebes was a troop of picked soldiers, numbering 150 age-structured pairs which formed the elite force of the Theban army in the 4th century BC!. it played a crucial role in the Battle of Leuctra!.

Plutarch reports that the Sacred Band consisted of homosexual couples and the reason was that lovers would fight more fiercely and more cohesively at each other's sides than would strangers with no bonds!. So according to Plutarch (in his Life of Pelopidas), the inspiration for the Band's formation came from Plato’s Symposium, wherein the character Phaedrus remarks:

"And if there were only some way of contriving that a state or an army should be made up of lovers and their loves, they would be the very best governors of their own city, abstaining from all dishonour, and emulating one another in honour; and when fighting at each other's side, although a mere handful, they would overcome the world!. For what lover would not choose rather to be seen by all mankind than by his beloved, either when abandoning his post or throwing away his arms!? He would be ready to die a thousand deaths rather than endure this!. Or who would desert his beloved or fail him in the hour of danger!?"


now, what does this have to do with Spartans, well-- the Spartans were very similar to the Greeks, so most likely, as the Greeks, the Spartans would have encouraged homosexuality among soldiers (for the same reasons as the Greek army)!. The chance of this is even higher because the Spartan life revolved greatly around being a soldier, more than that of a Greek; and the Spartan army spent more time together!.

"In the city-state of Athens, the gay pattern of sexuality involved inter-generational 'sponsoring' or Mentoring; a mature or well-established man would take the sons of his neighbors and friends "under his wing" to teach them not only about the birds and the bees, but also about living as a free man outside the family unit!. Sex between these Mentors and their Charges was expected to be largely 'touching;' massage, wrestling, bathing together and laying naked together while enjoying each other's bodies until they each ejaculated!. Anal sex was considered 'socially incorrect' in Athens; mutual masturbation was the Athenian Way!. Not so, in Sparta! Sparta was a strongly military city-state; every citizen was expected to participate in the defense of the realm!. Boys were actually raised in military barracks, acting as orderlies, housekeepers, waiters AND sexual companions of adult officers and soldiers who guarded the Spartan society!. Anal as well as oral sex was common, though probably most often by mutual consent!. It is an interesting tidbit of military history (red-facedly admitted to by even the stodgiest homophobic military historians) that the Spartan Army was universally considered the best and most courageous in the entire Hellenic world!. Plato, writing in his famous "Republic," used the Spartan Army as the model for his Ideal Society!.!. in which gay sexuality would be the "glue" the holds-together the military of his Utopia!. In his opinion, the LOVE between the men-at-arms of Sparta gave them extra reason to protect and defend their own troops (for who would NOT fight for the life of one's Lovers!?!)"




(PS-- sorry for all the writing!.!.!. there is a lot of information on the subject!.!.!. i've tried to condense it as much as possible)Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Yes, yes they were!.
Old Greek is actually all very gay!.
Particularly Sparta, though, who believed love was between a man and a young boy!.
There was actually a few practical reasons for this though!.
1) The older man would help the young boy, helping him with training and even finding a wife!. Typically the older man became a mentor and a father figure to the younger!.

2) This made being close to men comfortable!.
Spartans typically don't have alot of contact with women, so Spartans typically dressed, ate, and slept together!. This all requires a high degree of intimacy which nowadays would be considered an affront to the men's sexuality!. But because that was most of their sexualities, and those who weren't were raised along side them without qualm, this was not a problem at all!.
The perfect example is a phalanx: the favored battle tactic in Spartan warfare!. This required all of the hoplytes (heavily armored Spartan warriors) had to jam all together into a tight rectangle form!. This required aLOT of physical contact between them!. To have even a tiny bit more space could break the formation, making it no longer a near invincible tactic in weapon warfare!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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They weren't gay!.
When they were still boys in the agoge they had 'mentors' and to an extent there was a degree of homosexuality there, that wasn't looked down apon!. It helped to strengthen the relationship between the boys to spur them on further in battle!. With their methods, it was beyond important that you protected eachother, so the extra will to do so was obviously a good thing!.

That said, they still had wives, albeit neglected ones for the most part!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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There was no such thing as "gay" back then so the reason for same sex relationships aren't what we would impose from 2008!. They used to "do" pedastry, where an older guy would take a young boy (12 onwards) and take them as a lover- they were fined if they didn't!. The older guy would become their patron!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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No they were not gay,they were angry men!.Ha ha !.I'm sure one or two of them were of a different orientation,homosexuality has been around for a very long time,why the freaky question!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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They weren't gay although homosexuality was not looked down upon!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

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WHAT!? are you ******* serious I did not know this till now that's nastyWww@QuestionHome@Com

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