The ''Lex Scantinia'' (less often ''Scatinia'') is a poorly documented

Roman law Roman law is the law, legal system of ancient Rome, including the legal developments spanning over a thousand years of jurisprudence, from the Twelve Tables (), to the (AD 529) ordered by Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. Roman law also den ...

that penalized '' stuprum'' (criminalized sexual behavior or "sex crime") against a freeborn male minor ('' ingenuus'' or '' praetextatus''). The law may also have been used to prosecute adult male citizens who willingly took a passive role in having sex with other men. It was thus aimed at protecting the citizen's body from sexual abuse but did not prohibit homosexual behavior as such, as long as the passive partner was not a citizen in good standing. The primary use of the ''Lex Scantinia'' seems to have been harassing political opponents whose lifestyles opened them to criticism as being passive homosexuals or pederasts in the Hellenistic manner. The law may have made ''stuprum'' against a minor a capital crime, but this is unclear: a large fine may have been imposed instead, as executions of Roman citizens were rarely imposed by a court of law during the

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. The conflation of the ''Lex Scantinia'' with later or other restrictions on sexual behaviors has sometimes led to erroneous assertions that the Romans had strict laws and penalties against homosexuality in general.

Background

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

has no words that are straightforwardly equivalent to "homosexual" and "heterosexual." The main dichotomy within Roman sexuality was active/dominant/masculine and passive/submissive/"feminized." The adult male citizen was defined by his ''libertas'', "liberty," and allowing his body to be used for pleasure by others was considered servile or submissive and a threat to his integrity. A Roman's masculinity was not compromised by his having sex with males of lower status, such as male

prostitutes Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-p ...

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

, as long as he took the active, penetrating role. Same-sex relations among Roman men thus differed from the Greek ideal of homosexuality among freeborn men of equal social status, but usually with some difference in age (see " Homosexuality in ancient Greece" and " Pederasty in ancient Greece"). The adult Roman male who enjoyed receiving

anal sex Anal sex or anal intercourse principally means the insertion and pelvic thrusting, thrusting of the Erection, erect human penis, penis into a person's Human anus, anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex inform ...

or performing

oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth). Cunnilingus is oral sex performed on the vu ...

was thought to lack ''

virtus () was a specific virtue in ancient Rome that carried connotations of valor, masculinity, excellence, courage, character, and worth, all perceived as masculine strengths. It was thus a frequently stated virtue of Roman emperors, and was perso ...

'', the quality that distinguished a man (''vir''). The protective amulet ('' bulla'') worn by freeborn Roman boys was a visible sign that they were sexually off-limits. Puberty was considered a dangerous transitional stage in the formation of masculine identity. When a boy

came of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can be ...

, he removed his ''bulla'', dedicated it to the household gods, and became sexually active under the patronage of

Liber In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion and Roman mythology, mythology, Liber ( , ; "the free one"), also known as Liber Pater ("the free Father"), was a god of viticulture and wine, male fertility and freedom. He was a patron de ...

, the god of both political and sexual liberty. Pederasty among the Romans involved an adult male citizen and a youth who was typically a slave between the ages of 12 and 20.

The law

John Boswell John Eastburn Boswell (March 20, 1947December 24, 1994) was an American historian and a full professor at Yale University. Many of Boswell's studies focused on the issue of religion and homosexuality, specifically Christianity and homosexuality ...

has noted, "if there was a law against homosexual relations, no one in

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

's day knew anything about it." Although the ''Lex Scantinia'' is mentioned in several ancient sources, its provisions are unclear. It penalized the debauchery (''stuprum'') of a youth, but may also have permitted the prosecution of citizens who chose to take the pathic ("passive" or "submissive") role in homosexual relations.

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

mentions the law in the context of punishments for those who are "unchaste," which for male citizens often implies pathic behavior;

Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; ) was a Latin literature, Roman poet and Education in ancient Rome, teacher of classical rhetoric, rhetoric from Burdigala, Gallia Aquitania, Aquitaine (now Bordeaux, France). For a time, he was tutor to the future E ...

has an epigram in which a ''semivir'', "half-man," fears the ''Lex Scantinia''. It has sometimes been argued that the ''Lex Scantinia'' was mainly concerned with the rape of freeborn youth, but the narrowness of this interpretation has been doubted. The law may have codified traditional sanctions against ''stuprum'' involving men, as a forerunner to the ''

Lex Julia de adulteriis coercendis A ''lex Julia'' (plural: ''leges Juliae'') was an ancient Roman law that was introduced by any member of the gens Julia. Most often, "Julian laws", ''lex Julia'' or ''leges Juliae'' refer to moral legislation introduced by Augustus in 23 BC, ...

'' that criminalized

adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...

involving women. The early Christian poet

Prudentius Aurelius Prudentius Clemens () was a Roman Christian poet, born in the Roman province of Tarraconensis (now Northern Spain) in 348.H. J. Rose, ''A Handbook of Classical Literature'' (1967) p. 508 He probably died in the Iberian Peninsula some ...

makes a scathing joke that if

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

had been subject to Roman law, he could have been convicted under both the Julian and the Scantinian laws. Only youths from freeborn families in good standing were protected under the law; children born or sold into slavery, or those who fell into slavery through military conquest, were subject to prostitution or sexual use by their masters. Male prostitutes and entertainers, even if technically "free," were considered '' infames'', of no social standing, and were also excluded from the protections afforded the citizen's body. Although male slaves were sometimes granted freedom in recognition of a favored sexual relationship with their master, in some cases of genuine affection they may have remained legally slaves, since under the ''Lex Scantinia'' the couple could have been prosecuted if both were free citizens.

Prosecutions

The infrequency with which the ''Lex Scantinia'' is invoked in the literary sources suggests that prosecutions during the Republican era were aimed at harassing political opponents, while those during the reign of

Domitian Domitian ( ; ; 24 October 51 – 18 September 96) was Roman emperor from 81 to 96. The son of Vespasian and the younger brother of Titus, his two predecessors on the throne, he was the last member of the Flavian dynasty. Described as "a r ...

occurred in a general climate of political and moral crisis. Two letters written to Cicero by Caelius indicate that the law was used as a "political weapon"; ancient Rome had no public prosecutors, and charges could be filed and prosecuted by any citizen with the legal expertise to do so. Abuse of the courts was reined in to some extent by the threat of '' calumnia'', a charge of

malicious prosecution Malicious prosecution is a common law intentional tort. Like the tort of abuse of process, its elements include (1) intentionally (and maliciously) instituting and pursuing (or causing to be instituted or pursued) a legal action ( civil or crim ...

, but retaliatory charges motivated by politics or personal enmity, as Caelius makes clear in this case, were not uncommon. In 50 BC, Caelius was engaged in a feud with Appius Claudius Pulcher, the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

of 54 BC and a current censor who had refused to lend him money and with whose sister Caelius had a disastrous love affair. Appius's term as censor was a moral "reign of terror" that stripped multiple senators and

equestrians Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

of their rank; sometime during the fall of that year he indicted Caelius, a sitting

curule aedile Aedile ( , , from , "temple edifice") was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings () and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public orde ...

, under the ''Lex Scantinia''. Caelius was happy to respond in kind. Both cases were presided over by the

praetor ''Praetor'' ( , ), also ''pretor'', was the title granted by the government of ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected ''magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to disch ...

Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus—ironically, in the view of Caelius, since Drusus himself was "a notorious offender"—and evidently came to nothing. "Few people," Eva Cantarella observed, "were completely free of suspicion in this area." Although the law remained on the books, it had been largely ignored until Domitian began to enforce it as part of his broad program of judicial reform. The crackdown on public morals included sexual offenses such as adultery and illicit sex ('' incestum'') with a Vestal, and several men from both the senatorial and equestrian order were condemned under the ''Lex Scantinia''.

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician born in Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quin ...

refers to a fine of 10,000 sesterces for committing ''stuprum'' with a freeborn male, sometimes construed as referring to the ''Lex Scantinia'', though the law is not named in the passage.

Name

A Roman law (''lex'', plural ''leges'') was typically named after the official who proposed it, and never after a

defendant In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case. Terminology varies from one juris ...

. In 227 or 226 BC, Gaius Scantinius Capitolinus was put on trial for sexually molesting the son of

Marcus Claudius Marcellus Marcus Claudius Marcellus (; 270 – 208 BC) was a Roman general and politician during the 3rd century BC. Five times elected as Roman consul, consul of the Roman Republic (222, 215, 214, 210, and 208 BC). Marcellus gained the most prestigious a ...

; a certain irony would attend the ''Lex Scantinia'' if in fact he had been its proposer. It may be that a relative of Scantinius Capitolinus proposed the law in a display of probity to disassociate the

family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

from the crime. The law has also been dated to 216 BC, when a Publius Scantinius was

pontifex In Roman antiquity, a pontiff () was a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term ''pontiff'' was later applied to any hi ...

, or 149 BC. The earliest direct mention of it occurs in 50 BC, in the correspondence of Cicero, and it appears not at all in the '' Digest''.Phang, ''Roman Military Service'', p. 279.

References

External links

* in Smith, ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' *

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' or ''Facta et dicta memorabilia''). He worke ...

(translated by Henry J. Walker)
The story of Scantinius
(from ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'') later resulting in the passing of ''Lex Scantinia'' named after Scantinius the aedile {{Italic title Roman law Sexuality in ancient Rome LGBTQ-related legislation Sex laws Ancient LGBTQ history