While a man could only take one wife (at a time) under Roman law, most people of higher status were pretty much expected to be sleeping around with concubines, slaves, or just friends… The men and the women. We’re talking about the civilization that gave us the orgy.
Concubinage in Rome was actually not recognized except for unmarried folk, and then concubinage was still a (legally) monogamous contract that did not acknowledge one man with multiple concubines, while a man sleeping with his male friends would have been frowned upon - because a friendship is founded between equals, while Romans saw sexual penetration as inherently involving the domination of one party over the other. Sleep with actors and male prostitutes, like a decent citizen!
While a man could only take one wife (at a time) under Roman law, most people of higher status were pretty much expected to be sleeping around with concubines, slaves, or just friends… The men and the women. We’re talking about the civilization that gave us the orgy.
I mean, orgies predate Rome.
Concubinage in Rome was actually not recognized except for unmarried folk, and then concubinage was still a (legally) monogamous contract that did not acknowledge one man with multiple concubines, while a man sleeping with his male friends would have been frowned upon - because a friendship is founded between equals, while Romans saw sexual penetration as inherently involving the domination of one party over the other. Sleep with actors and male prostitutes, like a decent citizen!