This is another of those "heritage" films that I have heard about for years, but never actually viewed -- At the time of its release, 1976, I was still married, and we lived in the outer suburbs of New York City -- It apparently played at only one art house in the city -- This was Director Derek Jarman's first full-length work as a filmmaker -- There is no question that this film would have been a "landmark" gay themed film --
Before seeing this film, I knew almost nothing about Sabastian, except that he was a martyr, and considered a gay icon with a reputation as being a masochist -- As I viewed the film, I became increasingly skeptical that Jarman's depiction of Sabastion's martyrdom should (or could) be viewed historicaly, but rather that it was an expression of Jarman's poetic vision, much as the Sebastion depictions by many visual artists are of the imagination --
I am certainly not very knowledgeable of Roman sexual practices, but recent readings suggest that man-to-man sex was not in itself a taboo -- in fact, the homosexual/heterosexual dichotomy of modern Western culture had no direct parallels in Roman sexual mores (see Links section for further exposition) --
While I would not call the soldiers nudity gratituous (I think it essential to Jarman's vision), it is unlikely that actual Roman soldiers stationed in the middle of a desert would cavort 24-hours a day without clothes, if only to protect themselves from the elements of sun, wind & sand, and insects -- Also, it's hard to believe that the soldiers, especially those more-or-less exiled to the boomdocks, would all look like Los Angeles pretty boys (although they were easy on the eyes), a few gnarly, scarred, bears would have added interest -- And I don't think the slim, trim, perfect body types of the soldiers in the film would have won many battles --
I much enjoyed the film dispite its weaknesses --
BTW -- The historical Sabastion apparently somehow survived the initial execution attempt by arrows -- He was thought dead by his executioners, abandoned still tied to a post, and nursed back to health -- He apparently returned to Rome where it is said he harangued the Emperor in public about the treatment of Christians, whereby he was ordered to be executed by cudgels and thrown in the sewer -- His body was retrieved and interred in the catecombs -- The church at the presumed site of his entombment is called San Sebastiano fuori le mura (Saint Sebastian outside the walls).