A woke, liberal museum in England recently made a controversial declaration about the gender identity of a famous third-century Roman emperor. The North Hertfordshire Museum claims that Roman Emperor Elagabalus, also known as Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, was actually transgender. In an act of supposed inclusivity, the museum has elected to refer to the emperor by “she/her” pronouns.
A council decided that a display in the museum showcasing a coin from Emperor Elagabalus’ rule would refer to the leader as “she.” According to reports, the coin will also be used in other LGBT-related displays. However, the council’s decision has been heavily criticized as being predicated on “dubious” historical sources.
Reportedly, the woke council members consulted with the LGBT charity and the LGBT portion of the Unison trade union, subsequently creating suspicion of bias and inaccuracy in the ultimate decision. The apparent evidence of Elagabalus being trans stems from an account of Roman senator and historian Cassius Dio, who alleged that the emperor told a lover to “call me not lord, for I am a lady”.
Other accounts from Dio also suggest that the Elagabalus had been referred to as “wife, mistress, and queen.” The historian also claimed that the young emperor had requested fake female genitalia to be made. However, these historical accounts from Dio have been thoroughly questioned, where many claim he had an allegiance to the successor of Elagabalus, Severus Alexander. This theory implies there was a motive of Dio’s to slander the reputation of the Elagabalus in favor of Alexander.
According to Cambridge Classics Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, “The Romans didn’t have our idea of ‘trans’ as a category, but they used accusations of sexual behaviour ‘as a woman’ as one of the worst insults against men.”
Historian Tom Holland chimed in, “This rests on two pretty dubious assumptions: firstly, that in this one case the notoriously unreliable sources for Elagabalus’ reign are to be trusted; and secondly, that Roman assumptions about gender can be seamlessly mapped onto those of British museum curators in 2023.”
However, Liberal Democrat councilor Keith Hoskins, an executive member for arts on the council, assuredly stated that the emperor “most definitely” would’ve requested to be addressed with the pronouns of a woman. “Elagabalus most definitely preferred the she pronoun, and as such this is something we reflect when discussing her in contemporary times,” Hoskins said.
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Ignoring the criticisms of reputable historians, some of whom hail from incredibly prestigious classics institutions, Hoskins doubled down on the assertion that the council members “know” Elagabalus identified as a woman and preferred female pronouns.
“We try to be sensitive to identifying pronouns for people in the past, as we are for people in the present. It is only polite and respectful. We know that Elagabalus identified as a woman and was explicit about which pronouns to use, which shows that pronouns are not a new thing,” Hoskins added.
In recent times, conservatives have criticized a broader trend of woke efforts to label various historical figures as falling within the modern LGBT umbrella.
Featured image credit: Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Marble_bust_of_Roman_emperor_Elagabalus,_ca._221_AD,_Capitoline_Museums_(20823513035).jpg