A "shield-mate" is a term used by long-ago soldiers to indicate personal and often sexual bonds between two (men) in times of war. They would utilise these bonds to protect one another and one another's kin and it was often accepted as a sociatal norm especially in the days of the Roman Empire. These bonds were often literal in that there would be something like a 'sash' tied across their waist to indicate that they belonged to another. Many of these warriors had wives and children, but in the context of prolonged absences from their dwellings they would use these concepts to allow for release of tension and to maintain clan memberships (see 'clan'). One man once stated it was a 'bond of brothers, and of friends,' but he was unknown in name nor origin and was not tracked down again. Others believe that it is a way to fortify familial sectors. These concepts no longer exist especially with current homophobia in militant organisations (such as the 'army').
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