Fisting Throughout the Ages
There's just something about a hole. Men are aroused by them, whether it's the vagina, mouth, hand, or ass, they are tempted to insert their cock. It's biological. Men are also tempted to simulate penetration consciously and subconsciously in our cultures. In foreplay, this happens via fingers. Fisting arises from this desire and has been discovered and rediscovered by gay men throughout the ages.
Fisting Requirements
There are only three items needed for fisting. Since all of these items have been available from the dawn of recorded history, even across socio-economic classes, it is safe to assume that fisting occurred throughout the ages. These three items are:
- Sexual Partners
- A Fist
- Lube - (Lard / Oil)
It is noteworthy that the general practice of fisting has always had a limiting factor: shit. Fecal material can be so limiting that interfemoral sex fucking between the upper thighs, without any penetration of the anus or vagina was a common homosexual practice prior to the sexual revolution. Without a way to overcome this barrier, anal sex and fisting remained uncommon activities in the realm of human sexuality, and were generally practiced in secrecy or extreme privacy.
Enter anal cleansing. Documented use of enemas (anal douching) appears as early as ancient Egypt; however, the equipment to perform shallow or deeper enemas didn't become ubiquitous until the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. After the equipment became available and was perfected, fisting and deep fisting increased to today's levels. Regardless of the development of the enema, there are references to fisting throughout history appearing in common cultural mediums.
Historical References and Innuendos
Caligula (40 AD)
The 1979 cult classic Caligula has a fisting screen off camera (the rape of Proculus). This scene originally had Caligula sodomizing Proculus; however, Malcolm McDowell refused to fuck (or simulate fucking) a guy in the movie. In actuality, there is no historical record of Caligula fisting anybody.

Caligula - Wedding Presents[1]
Freyr (1000 AD)
In some ancient Norse societies and cultures, the ithyphallic deity Ithyphallic Deity (n)
a god that was typically represented artistically with an erect penis and God of Fuck was named Freyr. Three animals were sacred to him: the stag, the stallion, and the boar (a male pig).

It is rumored that Freyr's priesthood was made up of men who had sex with men, under the cultural norms of practicing gay sex in ancient times. As a member of this priesthood, your magical powers originated from being penetrated or fucked by Freyr. Since another man's cock was not an adequate stand-in for the God of Fuck, a dildo fashioned from a stuffed horse penis or a fist was used in sexual rituals. It is unclear how often fisting was used in comparison to dildo penetration in these ceremonies.
It's an interesting coincidence that over a thousand years ago, the god, whose symbol was a pig, had priests who fisted each other in sacred communion. Certainly, the very first Nasty Pigs.
Chaucer (1400 AD)
Queer theorists have argued that the Summoner's Tale from the work Canterbury Tales (~1386 - 1400 A.D.) contains a 'scene of eroticized male-male groping, of a male hand entering a male anus:'[3].

"Now wel," quod he, "and somwhat shall I yive Unto youre hooly covent while I lyve; And in thyn hand thou shalt have it anon, On this condicion, and oother noon, That thou departe it so, my deere brother, That every frere have also muche as oother. This shaltou swere on thy professioun, Withouten fraude or cavillacioun." "I swere it," quod this frere, "by my feith" And therewithal his hand in his he leith, "lo, heer my feith; in me shal be no lak." "Now thane, put in thyn hand doun by my bak," Seyde this man, "and grope wel bihynde. Bynethe my buttok there shaltow fynde A thyng that I have hyd in pryvetee." "A!" thoghte this frere, "That shal go with me!" And doun his hand he launcheth to the clifte In hope for to fynde there a yifte. And whan this sike man felt this frere Aboute his tuwel grope there and here, Amydde his hand he leet the frere a fart."
Michelangelo (1540 AD)
The lower right-hand quadrant of Michelangelo's The Last Judgement inside the Sistine Chapel supposedly portrays a sodomite being fisted. At least that's what some individuals have anachronized. Technically, it's some heavy-duty ball yanking; but I'll let you decide.

