A UK museum has declared a third-century Roman emperor to be a transgender woman – and will begin referring to the ruler as “she”, although some historians believe it is based on an ancient insult.
The North Hertfordshire Museum said it was “sensitive” to the pronoun priority of Emperor Elagabalus, who came to power at the age of 14 in 281 and died by assassination just 4 years later, according to The Telegraph.
A council-run museum in Hitchin claimed the exchange was based on a classical text showing Elagabalus being asked to be called “woman” and “wife,” The Telegraph first reported.
Likewise it now only uses female pronouns for its display for silver dinar coins minted during the brief reign of a teenage leader known for childish antics involving wild animals and whoopie cushions.
“We know that Elagabalus is identified as a woman and is clear about which pronouns to use, which suggests that pronouns are not new,” said Keith Hoskins, executive member for Industry and Arts at North Herts Council, which runs the museum. . The UK paper said.
Roman emperor Elagabalus was a trans woman, according to a UK museum. Universal Images Group via Getty Images A UK museum has coins minted during the reign of Elagabalus in the third century. Universal Images Group via Getty Images
“We try to be sensitive to identifying pronouns for people in the past, as we are for people in the present,” Hoskins said, calling it “just polite and respectful.”
The idea that Elagabalus identified as a woman comes from the writings of the Roman historian Cassius Dio, who claims that the emperor was “called wife, mistress and queen,” and told a lover, “Call me not God, for I am a Woman.”
According to ancient texts, Elagabalus married several women, but only for the purpose of learning their bedroom habits, and also tied the knot with a male charioteer.
Historians, however, say that the text about Elagabalus is likely an “insult”. Florilegius/Universal Photo Collection via Getty Images
Elagabalus was also known to frequently wear wigs and makeup, allegedly moonlighted as a prostitute in a Roman brothel, and offered large sums of money to any doctor who could perform sex-change surgery by creating a vagina.
But some historians note that Dio, who recorded Elagabalus’ allegedly scandalous conduct, served the emperor’s successor, the Emperor Severus Alexander – suggesting that his lurid account may have been character assassination.
“The Romans don’t have our idea of ’trans’ as a category, but they use the accusation of sexual behavior ‘as a woman’ as one of the worst insults against men.” Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, a Cambridge classics professor, told the Telegraph
Elagabalus came to power at the age of 14 and was killed just 4 years later. Corbis via Getty Images
Professor Christian Laes, a Manchester University classics expert, warned that ancient stories about the emperor’s life should be taken with “a big pinch of salt.”
It wasn’t just Elagabalus’ gender identity and kinky antics that raised eyebrows in Rome during his reign.
The teenage ruler became famous for playing cruel – and often deadly – pranks on dinner guests.
One such stunt involved planting whoopie cushions under unsuspecting diners, which ensured that they would slowly sink to the ground while eating, says historian and author Mary Beard in her latest book, “Emperor of Rome,” published last month. according to a review in The Guardian.
Another painful joke the emperor thought up involved suffocating dinner guests with a cascade of rose petals falling from the ceiling.
Elagabalus was also known to release tamed wild animals into rooms where drunken party goers slept off their hangovers.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
