Quote Originally Posted by Bardan the Slayer
I believe it was actually encouraged, as it added to the bond of brotherhood between fellow soldiers.

I can't see it working today, somehow ;)
Actually that was a fact in ancient Thebes, a city near Athens. The best troops were selected to form a formidable legion called ‘ieros lohos’ (‘holy legion’ in free translation). They were divided in pares and each pare shared everything (food,bed…) and fought side by side till death. If one died then the other should die too. It was almost a rule that they were sexual partners as well.

One small note about ancient Greeks being gay: It was bisexuality that was common (and in a more platonic way actually…), not pure homosexuality. Also there was a small tendency towards youn boys...