His figure has always been an object of study for a long time due to his sexual identity, and now the North Hertfordshire Museum, north of London, classifies him as a woman in an exhibition
For centuries, the mysterious sexual identity of Emperor Elagabalus has been the subject of study by researchers who have tried to elucidate his true condition. Now, the North Hertfordshire Museum , located in the city of Hitchin, about 60 kilometers from London, has announced that it will recognize the president as a trans woman in the exhibition it is preparing about his figure.
From now on it will be 'she', in an act of "courtesy and respect", as acknowledged by a spokesperson for the museum, since they intend to "be sensitive when identifying pronouns of people from the past." The decision was made after consultation with LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall with the aim of “exhibitions, advertising and talks being as current and inclusive as possible”.
However, the main reason for this new name is because, after reviewing a classic text by the Roman historian Cassius Dion, from the 3rd century AD , the emperor himself stated that he should not be called lord, “because I am a lady” , according to reports from the BBC .
controversial figure
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was born in Emesa, present-day Homs (Syria), in the year 203 AD. C. He was a Roman nobleman and priest, who became emperor and belonged to the Severa dynasty. He reigned for only four years, from 218 AD. C. until his assassination in 222 AD. C., barely 18 years old. He was a controversial figure and soon earned a bad reputation for his sexual promiscuity.
The chronicles of Dion Cassius, senator and contemporary of Elagabalus, claim that he married five times . Four of them with women and the last with Hiercoles, former slave and charioteer. For this last marriage, 'the emperor' was given in marriage as “wife, lover and queen” .
In any case, Shushma Malik , a professor at the University of Cambridge, stated that “we do not have any direct evidence from Elagabalus, from his own words” and that “there are many examples in Roman literature that used effeminate language and words as a way of criticizing or weaken a political figure,” so references to wearing makeup and wigs or shaving one’s body “may have been written to undermine the unpopular emperor.”
Other voices, such as Hitchin Liberal Democrat councilor Keith Hoskins , believe that Dion Casio's texts show that “Heliogabalus preferred the pronoun 'she'. “She identified as female and was explicit about what pronouns to use, proving that pronouns are not something new.”
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