The British Museum recognized the Roman emperor as transgender
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The British Museum has decided to recognize the Roman emperor Elagabalus as transgender. He will be called “she”, after it was revealed that the emperor asked to be called “lady”.
The North Hertfordshire museum said it would be “sensitive” to the alleged preferences of the third-century AD ruler Elagabalus, reports The Telegraph.
The emperor will be treated as a transgender woman and referred to as “she”.
Elagabalus was chosen to use feminine pronouns based on classical texts which claim that the emperor asked to be called “Lady”.
| Engraving of Elagabalus, to whom the North Hertfordshire Museum has given feminine pronouns. Photo: Leemage/Corbis Historical |
The museum’s holdings include a silver denarius minted during the reign of Elagabalus, who ruled Rome from 218 AD until his assassination at the age of 18 in 222 AD. This coin was used at exhibitions on the LGBT theme, where the emperor was called “she”.
Historians have argued that female behavior would have been a disgrace to men in Rome, and have suggested that accounts of Elagabalus’ life are filled with the worst accusations that could be leveled against the Romans.
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Professor of Classics at Cambridge, notes:
“The Romans didn’t have our idea of ’trans’ as a category, but they used comparison to a woman as one of the worst insults against men.”
He added that since Elagabalus was a Syrian and not a Roman, this might have been due to racial prejudice.
Professor Christian Laes, a classicist at the University of Manchester, believes that ancient accounts of the emperor’s life should not be taken literally.
“Most of them are connected with the aristocratic and senate contempt for the eastern origin and beliefs of the emperor. As for trances, of course the Romans never considered them as a category. But the fact remains that in times of troubles and crises, the so-called violators of sexual norms became extreme,” – he says
Read also: The Vatican announced that transgender people can be baptized and be godparents
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