Well, firstly, the name of Martial’s Lesbia is related to the Greek isle of Lesbos, denizens of which were and are called Lesbians. However, this becomes more complicated because there are two characters by the name of Lesbia in Martial’s epigrams.

The first is actually named after a character from Catullus’ poetry who is herself based on a real woman. This “Lesbia” is identified as Clodia , who was the lover and muse of Catullus, and the daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher (and sister to Clodius Pulcher). Catullus named her in reference to Sappho, a native of Lesbos who was one of the most celebrated lyric poets of Antiquity. One of Catullus’ epigrams about Lesbia (Catullus 51 for the curious) a reworking of Sappho 31. It has been suggested that this reworking of Sappho’s poetry softened homoerotic tones which were by that time controversial, and recast a homoerotic poem in a heteroerotic light (See Gilhuly and Auanger).

Catullus has a much more nuanced view of Clodia, and his poetry chronicles what was a tempestuous and ultimately ill-fated romance between the two. Martial comments on the relationship between “Lesbia” and Catullus quite a few times,

The second Lesbia is much more maligned, and is apparently a prostitute, and the lowest of the low at low. She is generally considered a fictional character, who is described as old and rather unappealing. Martial satirises her for being unattractive and not having the modesty of street prostitutes who had to bring clients to cemeteries for privacy. Martial rather explicitly associates this Lesbia with Roman ideas of sexual deviancy, for example in Epigram 1:34 he more or less describes her as a flagrant exhibitionist and in 2.50 she is a fellatrix (one who gives fellatio).

#The island of Lesbos and sexuality

For a Greek and Roman audience the nickname Lesbia may have had some sexual connotations but they would not be what would come to mind for a modern reader. Women from Lesbos were associated with sexual license, and oral sex in particular.

In Erotic Geographies in Ancient Greek Literature and Culture, Kate Gilhuly actually analyses the associations between place and practice that gave rise to sexual stereotypes which resonate with modern readers even in the present-day. Much of this answer draws from Gilhuly’s book, which contains two chapters on Lesbos (“Lesbians are not from Lesbos” and “Lesbos and the invention of heterosexuality in Longus’ Daphnis and Chloe”). Other sources are listed at the end.

To begin with, it is worth noting that Roman authors (often drawing on the example of Classical Greek authors) assigned various stereotypes, sexual or otherwise, to cities and places. Both the use of terms like these and the association of places or peoples with (often negative or shameful behaviour) helped to create a sense of identity, and to make stereotypes popular. Gilhily concludes that “Lesbians do not come from Lesbos. They come from Athens and Rome.”

For example, Classical Athenian authors portrayed Spartans as being overly fond of anal sex, and Corinth (which they felt was overly feminised and influenced by Eastern cultures) was seen as a city of prostitutes and heterae. Lesbos was associated with promiscuity and fellatio. The verbs lesbiazein and lesbizein even used as a kind of slang term for oral sex, similar to the use of the term laikazein. In simple terms, to “lesbianise” someone was to give head, and the term was heavily loaded with stigmatic innuendo. Other verbs based on place names and demographic terms were similarly employed by Athenian authors, also often negatively.

The 5th Century BCE playwright Aristophanes, associates Lesbian women with the term laikazein in Assemblywomen and uses the term lesbiein in Frogs in allusion to sexual services, probably fellatio. There was another correlation between oral sex and prostitutes or hetarae, since it was considered degrading and amoral. By the Roman period, Lesbos had a strong association with prostitution, something which is attested to in poetry by authors such as Horace and yes, Martial.

There is actually an old and well attested tradition of associating Sappho with promiscuity and sexual relationships with various men such as the poet Alcaeus. These are generally from Athenian comedy and probably both derived from steretypes about Lesbos and helped to inspire later tropes. One legendary tradition describes Sappho throwing herself into the sea for love of a man named Phaon who rejected her, which feeds into Graeco-Roman fears about uncontrollable, deadly, female lust.

Later generations of Graeco-Roman authors claimed that there were two Sapphos, a poet and a courtesan (read hetaera), as a way of reconciling her promiscuous reputation with her status as one of the Archaic Period’s greatest poets by splitting traditions into two figures.

The relationship between Lesbos and sexuality, especially fellatio, is very likely related to the portrayal of the Lesbia whose sexual life and career as a prostitute was described so disdainfully by Martial.

#Lesbians vs lesbians

Use of the term “lesbian” to refer to female homosexuality dates back to the 19th Century CE, thousands of years after the death of Martial. Generally, the connection between Lesbians (inhabitants of the isle of Lesbos) and lesbians (women who love other women) is attributed to the Greek poet Sappho’s reputation. Sappho’s poetry may be the most well known example of female homoeroticism in ancient literature, and she may be one of the most iconic historical figures associated with homosexuality.

While most historians agree that many fragments of her poetry are homoerotic, it is difficult to really reconstruct the context of these poems. The earliest known reference to Sappho’s homosexuality is from a 2nd Century CE papyrus based on Chamaeleon’s 4th Century BCE treatise On Sappho, which states that she has been (in his eyes wrongfully) accused of being “a woman-lover”. From the Roman period onwards, Sappho is strongly associated both with sexual license and with bisexual behaviour (for example, Ovid, Heroides 15:199-205).

Although Sappho and her poetry wasa key part of the conflation of Lesbos with homosexuality, it may not be the only reason for this association. It is uncertain whether Sappho’s reputation as a lover of women was shared by her countrywomen in the late Archaic period.

For example, the 5th Century BCE poet Anacreon complained that an attractive girl from Lesbos was not interested in him:

But she, for she is from well-built Lesbos, Finds fault with my hair, for it is white, and she gapes at some other.

The exact translation of the term translated as “another” or “some other” has been debated, but refers either to a girl or to dark pubic hairs as this would pair up with a feminine verb for hair.

If we flash forward a few centuries, Roman authors typically associated homosexuality with women of Greek backgrounds, but it could very well just be that the Romans projected behaviour they considered aberrant onto foreigners. Romans also equated homosexuality between men with Greeks, but then there is at least a clear tradition of pederasty.

As early as the 2nd Century CE, Lesbos was associated specifically with homosexuality and gender fluidity in Lucian’s comedic Dialogues With Hetaerae. This was written perhaps a century after Martial’s epigrams, and associates Lesbians with lesbians, but does not refer to Sappho in any way. In one mime from Dialogues, a heterai named Klonarion questions her friend Laena about rumours that she is living with a wealthy woman named Megilla from Lesbos, and a Corinthian woman named Demonassa. The Dialogue is an oft-cited source on sexuality in the ancient Mediterranean, but I am going to focus on the mime which is most relevant to your question.

Klonarion, Laena’s companion, probes her about the details of her menage a trois and asks somewhat prurient questions which Laena avoids. Given the comic and often voyeuristic nature of Lucian’s Dialogues, Klonarion likely acts as a (possibly more naïve) stand in for the audience. Moreover, the fact that the characters of Klonarion and Laena are hetaerae is significant because it maintains the distinction between proper sexual conduct (and conversation), and the behaviour of disreputable women.

Klonarion’s reply to Laena’s story is interesting, because she attributes Megilla’s unusual desires to the customs of Lesbos

I do not understand what you are saying, unless she happens to be some hetairistria. For they say that on Lesbos there are man-faced women, they don't like to take it from men, but they get close to women as though they are men.

The distinct probability that the audience would recognise the stereotype of the masculine woman from Lesbos, means that a connection between Lesbians and lesbians was already in the making. For Lucian’s audience, the masculine sexual appetites of Lesbian women is part of the joke. Demonassa the Corinthian, is another stereotype on account of Corinth’s reputation as a place of indulgent femininity and sexual license.

Also interesting is the fact that Klonarion uses a very rarely attested term, hetairistria to describe stereotypically masculinised women from Lesbos. As far as I know, and I am fairly confident in this assessment, the only other use of this term in Greek literature comes from Plato’s Symposium, where Aristophanes uses it to describe women who are only attracted to other women. This was probably another deliberate call-back, this time to one of Plato’s dialogues.

All in all, there is scattered evidence that Lesbos may have begun to acquire an association with homosexuality by the Roman period. It is very unlikely in my opinion that these tropes would have impacted Martial at the time he was writing, and as you note, they seem to have no bearing in his portrayal of either Lesbia.

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