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→‎Same-sex marriage: I don't think this section contains OR; it's just badly put together and misrepresents its sources; Gellérfi flatly states that he's writing about same-sex weddings and that "no legal marriages could be created" from these, but he takes them as serious expressions of intent and commitment
→‎Same-sex marriage: trying to clean this up a bit without too much investment; but this is covered more coherently at Homosexuality in ancient Rome#Marriage between males , though Gellérfi's sympathethic view helps; however, there's a sentence fragment in a paragraph so obscurely expressed that I don't know how to correct it, and McElduff seems to be self-published
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{{More|Homosexuality in ancient Rome#Marriage between males}}
 
In the Imperial era, there are several references to same-sex weddings between male partners. While these weddings were generally treated with mockery in literary sources such as [[Martial]], [[Juvenal]], and imperial biographers, the feelings of the participants are not recorded. There is no evidence to contradict an interpretation that the men were expressing a meaningful commitment; even so, a quasi marital union between two men would not have been a valid marriage ''(iustum matrimonium)'' in Roman law.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gellérfi|first=Gergő|title=Nubit amicus: Same-sex weddingsin Imperial Rome|publisher=University of Szeged|year=2020|location=Hungary}}</ref>
Same-sex ceremonies or weddings are incredibly scarce. The text found within the ''Codex Theodosianus'' can allude to the references to a homosexual relationship and its representation of marital binding. The legal process of prohibiting a wedding ceremony between two men is clearly illustrated in the imperial ''constitutio,'' which justifies that weddings took place in ancient Roman society.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Gellérfi |first=Gergő |date=2020 |title=Nubit amicus : same-sex weddings in Imperial Rome |journal=Graeco-Latina Brunensia |pages=89–100 |doi=10.5817/glb2020-1-7 |s2cid=226739384 |language=en|doi-access=free }}</ref>
 
According to accounts, [[Sporus]], a young enslaved person, was castrated and treated like the emperorNero's wife.<ref name=":2" /> A dowry was given, and the marriage ceremony was a public affair. Sporus is frequently portrayed as looking like Nero's late second wife, but the wedding could have served as a theatrical performance for the emperor following the passing of his wife rather than an actual wedding. Nero also may have had a legitimate husband named Pythagoras; Tacitus (''Annals'' 15.37) briefly discusses Nero's marriage ceremony with him.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Tacitus |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Annals_(Tacitus)/Book_15#37 |title=The Annals}}</ref>
 
In [[Juvenal]]'s [[Satires (Juvenal)|Satiresecond No. 2satire]], two men have a homosexual relationship, with one man taking the woman's role and wearing the bridal garb. Phaedrus' description of the creation of men has been repeatedly utilized to argue the conception of female same-sex relationships.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=McElduff |first=Siobhán |title=Same Sex Desire: Women |url=https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/unromantest/chapter/samesexdesire/ |language=en-ca}}</ref> Frequently illustrated as a couple with one appearing more masculine while the other is more feminine.<ref name=":0" /> However, whether this reflected a contemporary practice or was merely a work of fiction is uncertain.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gellérfi|first=Gergő|title=Nubit amicus: Same-sex weddingsin Imperial Rome|publisher=University of Szeged|year=2020|location=Hungary}}</ref>
 
There areAmong notable examples of same-sex relationshipsunions in Rome. Theare those of the emperor [[Elagabalus]], who is said to have married either an enslaved [[Chariot racing|chariot driver]] named [[Hierocles (charioteer)|Hierocles]] or a [[Smyrna]]ean athlete named Zoticus;<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chrysanthou |first=Chrysanthos S. |date=2020-08-14 |title=Sex and Power in Cassius Dio's Roman History: The Case of Elagabalus |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/mnem/74/4/article-p598_3.xml |journal=Mnemosyne |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=598–625 |doi=10.1163/1568525X-12342753 |s2cid=225474880 |issn=0026-7074}}</ref> according to Cassius Dio, in these relationships Elagabalus was named [[wife]], [[Mistress (lover)|mistress]], and queen.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Osgood |first=Josiah |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004335318/B9789004335318_011.xml |title=Cassius Dio's Secret History of Elagabalus |date=2016-01-01 |pages=177–190 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-33531-8 |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004335318_011}}</ref> It is unlikely Elagabalus legitimately married.{{clarify|date=November 2020|reason=What does "legitimately" mean here? What is an "illegitimate marriage"? Does it mean that these marriages would have been illegal, or that he was probably never married to a woman?}}
 
There is evidence of same-sex marriagesweddings from the ''[[constitutionconstitutio]]'' of [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] and [[Constans]] in the ''[[Codex Theodosianus]]''. The Codex refers to a man marrying in the manner of a bride.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuefler |first=Mathew |date=October 2007 |title=The Marriage Revolution in Late Antiquity: The Theodosian Code and Later Roman Marriage Law |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0363199007304424 |journal=Journal of Family History |language=en |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=343–370 |doi=10.1177/0363199007304424 |s2cid=143807895 |issn=0363-1990}}</ref> The contexttext isfound unclear:within itthe could''Codex describeTheodosianus'' eithercan allude to the references to a same-sexhomosexual relationship orand its representation of marital binding. The legal process of prohibiting a lawwedding banningceremony between two men is clearly illustrated in the imperial ''constitutio,'' which justifies that weddings took place in ancient Roman society.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Gellérfi |first=Gergő |date=2020 |title=Nubit amicus : same-sex relationshipsweddings in Imperial Rome |journal=Graeco-Latina Brunensia |pages=89–100 |doi=10.5817/glb2020-1-7 |s2cid=226739384 |language=en|doi-access=free }}</ref>
 
==See also==
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