The Romans, although they took over much of the Greek culture, had a somewhat different appreciation of nakedness. To appear nude in public was considered inappropriate except in certain places and contexts: the public baths (originally open to both sexes) and even public latrines were as popular meeting places for all as the forum.
Athletic exercises by free citizens (no longer required to serve as soldiers since Marius' army reform)were partly replaced by gladiatorial games performed in amphitheatres. The gladiators were mainly recruited among slaves, war captives and death row convicts – the very lowest, who had no choice – but occasionally a free man chose this fast lane to fame and riches. When fighting in the arena, against one another or against wild beasts, they would be armed with swords, shields etc., but would otherwise be partly or totally naked (see Gladiator for particulars).
In Roman-occupied Jerusalem, Jews using the gymnasium would wear prosthetic foreskins made from sheep gut in order to avoid being ridiculed for being circumcised.
Gladiatorial contests were one of many features, especially religious, that Rome inherited from its Etruscan neighbours. This ancient,non Indo-European (possibly originating from Asia Minor) culture even depicts warriors fighting completely nake.
Western ChristianityWhen Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, gladiatorial games were soon abandoned, and the Christian view of post-pubescent nudity as a sin took root. This view spread with the spread of Christianity, until it became normative in Europe.
However, until the beginning of the 8th century, Christians in Western Europe were baptised naked. "The disappearance of baptism by immersion in the Carolingian era gave nudity a sexual connotation that it has previously lacked for Christians". About the same time it became common to represent Christ on the Cross wearing a long tunic, the colobium.
In the 6th century, Saint Benedict of Nursia advised the monks in his Rule to sleep fully dressed in the dormitory.
European men wore long tunics until the 15th century, when codpieces, tights and tight trousers gradually came into use; these all covered the male genitals but at the same time drew attention to them. Read Full Content >
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