The lovers of Modena, as they have been called, are two late Roman skeletons. Buried hand in hand, they were found in 2009 in an archaeological excavation. At the time of the discovery, it was not possible to immediately ascertain its sex. Therefore, everyone thought about them as a man and a woman. After years of testing, in 2019, it turned out that they were instead two men. Could it be the first homosexual couple documented in Italy?
The lovers of Modena were found in a series of tombs dated between the 4th and 6th centuries A.D. All the tombs contained only one skeleton, except for one adult buried with his child and the lovers. The ethnicity of these people is unclear. It’s assumed that they were of Germanic origin because of the type of burial and the fact that at the time many Germanic people lived in the area.
The choice to be buried together hand in hand must surely have been consensual. Modern techniques of analysis show, in fact, that they were buried at the same moment. First the man on the left and then the man on the right. Then, someone intertwined their fingers, probably at their request or being aware of the bond that united them.
Many people today are questioning the nature of that bond. They certainly weren’t father and son, since they were both about 30 when they died. It cannot be completely excluded that they were brothers or friends, but it seems unlikely. Since the dawn of time the shared tomb has been a symbol of eternal love. So, their love must have been renown and accepted.
Anyway, the lovers of Modena would not be the first gay couple in history. This primacy goes to Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum, two Egyptians who lived around 2400 B.C.
