With the establishment of the Roman Empire a series of laws were passed laying down penalties which condemned gay men to capital punishment for the heretical sin of homosexuality. The following is the complete list of these laws.

On the 4th December 342 in Milan, Constantius and Constance issued a Constitution which condemned passive homosexuals to "poenae exquisitae" (exquisite punishment) which was considered to their being burned alive.

On the 6th August 390 Valetinian, Arcadius and Theodosius I issued a Constitution condemning passive homosexual prostitutes to be burned alive. Under this Constitution there is historical evidence of a prosecution by Butheric, the Goth head of the Militia in Thessalonica. He arrested a gladiator who was the people's favourite as well as being a renowned passive homosexual. His arrest provoked the populus to rise to his defence and they killed Butheric, resulting in the garrison slaughtering 3000 people to end the rebellion. This is the only known case in historical records of a prosecution under this Constitution.

In 438 Theodosius II inserted the Constitution of 390 into his Theodosian Code, and confirmed that all passive homosexuals were to be burned alive.

In 506 Alaric II, King of the Visigoths included the Theodosian Code in his own code Breviarium Alaricianum condemning all passive homosexuals and, for the first time in the history of the Empire, active homosexuals to be burned alive.

In 533 Justinian published his Institutions as part of the Corpus Luris Civilis, subsequently publishing in 538 his Constitution, equating homosexuality for the first time as a crime of heresy against God as well as against civil law, quoting also for the first time the mythical story of Sodom as scriptural support. In 559 he published his second Constitution in which he once again cited Sodom, adding Paul of Tarsus in support. This time however he decreed the punishment for homosexuality as being castration followed by death by burning alive.

In conclusion all persecution of homosexuals during the Roman Empire and following its dissolution is cited above and was and is used as confirmation that homosexuality could be prosecuted as a crime of heresy as well as a civil crime.