In this post, we will explore how gender could be used as a weapon and we have the perfect case study in Emperor Elagabalus. Elagablus and his gender have become a recent subject of speculation.
An interesting story in the news recently caught my attention. Headlines read: Roman emperor was trans, says museum (The Telegraph). Museum reclassifies Roman emperor as trans woman (BBC News). The Emperor in question was Elagabalus who ruled from 218 to 222 AD.
I must admit, Roman history is not my specialism. I did recognise the name from the history books and also from the famous Horrible Histories number ‘The Evil Emperors’ Song’. Like Horrible Histories, the history books describe Elagabalus as a vile Emperor, a controversial figure who had a taste for cruelty. Thus making him a perfect candidate for Horrible Histories! In ‘The Evil Emperors’ Song’, Elagabalus competes to be the worst Emperor in Roman history. He puts forth his case and competes against fellow infamous Emperors Caligula, Commodus and Nero. The song concludes with Nero being acknowledged as the worst of the Roman Emperors, but children are left with the impression that it was a hard-won contest!
But was Elagabalus as horrible as the children’s TV show would have us believe? And what parts of Elagabalus’ life were too mature for Horrible Histories?
Elagabalus
Elagabalus was born around 203 AD. His father was Roman politician Sextus Varius Marcellus from Syria. And his mother was Julia Soaemias Bassiana. Julia was from a prominent aristocratic family in Syria and cousin to the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, commonly known by his nickname Caracalla, a member of the Severen Dynasty. As a relative of the Severen Dynasty, Elagabalus’ prospects were excellent. He was the high priest of the sun god Elagabal at Emesa in Syria.
Elagabalus was originally named Varius Avitus Bassianus. The work entitled Historia Augusta written by an unknown author or authors perhaps in the 4th century claimed:
The name Varius, some say, was given him by his school-fellows because he seemed to be sprung from the seed of “various” men, as would be the case with the son of a harlot. 1https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/1*.html
It would in fact appear that Elagabalus was only known by this name following his death. 2J. Rantala, ‘Ruling in Purple … and Wearing Make-up: Gendered Adventures of Emperor Elagabalus as seen by Cassius Dio and Herodian’, in A. Surtees and J. Dyer (ed.) Exploring Gender Diversity in the Ancient World, (2020), p. 118. For it was commonly known that he was devoted to the sun god Elagabal throughout his life. When he became Emperor, he took the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus.
Elagabalus came to the Purple as a teenager, aged approximately 14 years of age. According to Cassius Dio, he was proclaimed Emperor on the apparent basis of a rumour that he was the illegitimate son of Caracalla (his mother’s cousin). His mother and grandmother persuaded Roman soldiers stationed nearby to swear loyalty to him and proclaim him Emperor. They then went on to defeat the sitting Emperor Macrinus and Elagablus was declared Emperor by the Empire. 3https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
The Significance of Elagabalus’ Origins
As noted above, Elagabalus was born in Syria. He was also a devotee of the Syrian deity Elagabal. His sense of fashion differed from those in Rome. Elagabalus reportedly rejected Roman fashion. His grandmother, Maesa discovered that he intended to enter Rome in Syrian clothes:
When she saw what Elagabalus was doing, Maesa was greatly disturbed and tried, again and again, to persuade the youth to wear Roman dress when he entered the city to visit the senate. She was afraid that his appearance, obviously foreign and wholly barbaric, would offend those who saw him; they were not used to such garb and considered his ornaments suitable only for women. But Elagabalus had nothing but contempt for the old woman’s warnings, nor did anyone else succeed in convincing him. (He would listen only to those who were like him and flattered his faults.) 4https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/herodian_05_book5.htm
Maesa was not treated kindly by the sources, nevertheless, she offered her grandson some wise counsel on this occasion. She suggests that Elagabalus dons Roman clothes to appease his new people. She is wise enough to foresee potential problems arising from Elagabalus’ origins. Elagabalus was the first Emperor to have originated from Syria. She had concerns that her Grandson’s appearance and dress would be perceived as eccentric stemming from his status as a ‘foreigner’.
Furthermore, Greek and Roman attitudes towards those from the East were largely very negative. Easterners were perceived to be weak and effeminate and lacked the masculine qualities of strength and bravery which were perceived to be innate characteristics of Western men. 5J. Rantala, ‘Ruling in Purple … and Wearing Make-up: Gendered Adventures of Emperor Elagabalus as seen by Cassius Dio and Herodian’, in A. Surtees and J. Dyer(ed.) Exploring Gender Diversity in the Ancient World, (2020), p. 122. Elagablus began his reign with these disadvantages and Maesa tried to advise her grandson to try and counter these stereotypes.
Herodian also notes the appearance of Elagablus and his strange attire:
‘He went about in barbarian dress, wearing long-sleeved purple tunics embroidered with gold which hung to his feet’. 6https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/herodian_05_book5.htm
Elagabalus was at this time a teenage boy at 14. Youth was associated with recklessness, uncontrollable urges and general immaturity. Certainly not the sort of character required from a Roman emperor. Given Elagabalus’ age, there was an expectation that he would lack experience in all facets of life. The writers then use Elagabalus’ youth to further criticise him, as in the above passage. Elagablus lacked wisodm. He sought counsel not from those who could properly advise him on such matters, but rather from flatterers and those who were unwilling to challenge him.
Devotion to Elagabal
The sources present Elagablus as unpopular during his lifetime. There are numerous possible reasons for his unpopularity. His reign was relatively uneventful. He did not introduce many new radical policy changes. However, he was different. He was young, inexperienced and foreign-born. His devotion to the Syrian god Elagabal was striking:
The offence consisted, not in his introducing a foreign god into Rome, or in his exalting him in very strange ways, but in his placing him before even Jupiter and having himself voted his priest, in his circumcising his foreskin and abstaining from swine’s flesh [on the ground that his devotion would be purer by this means. He had thought of cutting off his genitals altogether, but that was an idea prompted by salaciousness; the circumcision which he actually accomplished was a part of the priestly requirements of Elagabalus. Hence he mutilated in like manner numerous of his associates.] A further offence was his being frequently seen in public clad in the barbaric dress which the Syrian priests employ, a circumstance which had more to do than anything else with his getting the name of “The Assyrian.” 7https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
Here, Cassius Dio claims that it was not necessarily the introduction of a Syrian god which caused offence, but the Emperor carrying out customs in the name of this god, such as circumcision. Such practices were associated with Judaism and decidedly ‘un-Roman’. This criticism is again linked to Elagabalus’ Eastern, ‘foreign’ origins.
A Reign Full of Scandal
Elagabalus came to the Purple on 16th May 218 and was assassinated on 11th March 222. His reign may have been short (even by Roman standards), but his rule was scandalous! Here is a selection of salacious stories from the primary sources.
Cassius Dio: He would go by night, wearing a wig of long hair, into the taverns and ply the trade of a female huckster. He frequented the notorious brothels, drove out the prostitutes, and prostituted himself. Finally, he set aside a room in the palace and there committed his indecencies, standing all the time naked at the door of it, as the harlots do, and shaking the curtain, which was fastened by gold rings, the while in a soft and melting voice he solicited the passers-by. 8Cassius Dio’s Dio’s Rome, Volume 6 Sidenote 13 – https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
Herodian of Antioch: Elagabalus was often seen driving a chariot or dancing. He had no desire to sin in secret, but appeared in public with eyes painted and cheeks rouged; these cosmetics marred a face naturally handsome. 9https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/herodian_05_book5.htm
Historia Augusta: And even at Rome he did nothing but send out agents to search for those who had particularly large organs and bring them to the palace in order that he might enjoy their vigour. Moreover, he used to have the story of Paris played in his house, and he himself would take the rôle of Venus, and suddenly drop his clothing to the ground and fall naked on his knees, one hand on his breast, the other before his private parts, his buttocks projecting meanwhile and thrust back in front of his partner in depravity. He would likewise model the expression of his face on that with which Venus is usually painted, and he had his whole body depilated, deeming it the chief enjoyment of his life to appear fit and worthy to arouse the lusts of the greatest number. 10https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/1*.html
The passages above portray Elagabalus to be debauched, to be sexually promiscuous. To be controlled by his sexual desires rather than by reason. A lack of self-control was associated with effemininity. Elagabalus seemingly portrays himself as a woman. This is something we shall return to later on.
Marriages
His first wife was Cornelia Paula whom he wed in 219. She came from a noble Roman family. Their marriage however was short-lived. Elagablus divorced Cornelia the following year in order to marry his second wife Julia Aquilia Severa. This marriage shocked Rome as Julia was a Vestal Virgin. Elagabalus then divorced her to marry Annia Aurelia Faustina, his thrid wife. He then divorced Annia and returned to Julia claiming their divorce was invalid.
Elagabalus did not father any children with these wives. A lack of children is sometimes cited as an indication of a preference for the same sex. However, many men throughout history would have had a preference for other men yet still had children with their wives. Cassius Dio does seem to use Elagablus’ lack of children to criticise his manliness. He wrote:
He espoused Cornelia Paula in order that he might sooner (these are his words) become a father,—he, who could not even be a man. 11https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
Here, Cassius Dio is suggesting that manliness was measured by the ability of one to become a father. The jibe at the end – he who could not even be a man, indicated that because of a lack of manliness, Elagablus was unable to father any children.
Cassius Dio makes the claim that Elagablus had ulterior motives for engaging in sexual intercourse with many different women:
[He married many women] and had liaisons with many more [without any lawful title], yet it was not that he cared about them; he simply wanted to imitate their actions when he should lie with his lovers. 12https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
Elagablus took a fifth spouse, according to Cassius Dio. A man, a chariot racer and a former slave named Hierocles. The language Cassius uses to describe the relationship is revealing:
he [Elagabalus] was bestowed in marriage and was termed wife, mistress, queen. He worked in wool, sometimes wore a hair-net, painted his eyes (daubing them with white lead and alkanet), and once he shaved his chin and celebrated a festival to mark the event. After that he went with smooth face, because it would help him appear like a woman, and he often reclined while greeting the senators. “Her” husband was Hierocles…’ 13https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
As a gender historian, these passages on Elagablus are pure gold.
Cassius Dio is seemingly describing a homosexual relationship. It is important to note that there was no such term as homosexual in the ancient world. Homosexuality was not perceived to be innate and certainly not a lifestyle option. The societal norm was the marriage between a man and a woman for the purpose of bearing children. It then becomes difficult to describe something out of this norm. Contemporaries lacked the language. Cassius Dio describes the relationship between Elagablus and Hierocles as akin to that of a marriage between a man and a woman because this is the only comparable way to discuss their relationship. Homosexual relations were understood to occur between two men in the ancient world, this was not unheard of, this was sodomy and the sexual act was the thing that was being described, not the lifestyle choice.
Cassius Dio understands this is something more than sodomy, this is a relationship. Elagablus is criticised by the author, not necessarily for engaging in the sodomitic act, but for assuming the female position in the sexual act. He is taking on the feminine role thus subverting nature and the natural order.
Elagabalus’ relationship with this man is then discussed further by Dio:
For he [Elagabalus] was anxious to have the reputation of committing adultery, that in this respect, too, he might imitate the most lascivious women; and he would often get caught voluntarily and in the very act. Then, for his conduct, he would be brutally abused by his husband and would be beaten, so that he had black eyes. His affection for this “husband” was no light inclination, but a serious matter and a firmly fixed passion, so much so that he did not become vexed at any such harsh treatment, but on the contrary loved him the more for it and actually wished to appoint him Cæsar. 14https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
Again, note the emphasis on Elagabalus taking on the feminine role. Dio explains Elagablus’ desire to ‘imitate the most lascivious women’. Not only does Elagabalus want to become a woman, but he aspires to be the very worst of women! Women were said to be ruled by their lust and here Elagabluas is similarly unable to control his sexual desires.
Both Dio and the author of the Historia Augusta discuss Elagablus’ relationship with another man named Aurelius Zoticus. Another man of lowly origins, being the son of a cook. The author of the Historia Augusta states:
‘With this man, Elagabalus went through a nuptial ceremony and consummated a marriage…’.15https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Elagabalus/1*.html#ref48
Dio’s description of the relationship is as follows:
This Aurelius had a body that was beautiful all over, as if ready for a gymnastic contest, and he surpassed everybody in the size of his private parts. The fact was reported to the emperor by those who were on the lookout for such features and the man was suddenly snatched away from the games and taken to Rome, accompanied by an immense procession, larger than Abgarus had in the reign of Severus or Tiridates in that of Nero. He was appointed cubicularius before he had been even seen by the emperor, … and entered the palace the centre of a great glare of lights. Sardanapalus [Elagabalus], on seeing him, rose with modesty; the newcomer addressed him, as was usual, “My Lord Emperor, hail!” whereupon the other, bending his neck so as to assume a ravishing feminine pose, and turning his eyes wide open upon him, answered without hesitation: “Call me Not Lord, for I am a Lady.” 16https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
Then Sardanapalus [Elagabalus] immediately took a bath with him, and, finding his guest when stripped to correspond to the report of him, burned with even greater lust, reposed upon his breast, and took dinner, like some loved mistress, in his bosom. Hierocles began to fear that Zoticus would bring the emperor into a greater state of subjection than he himself was able to effect, and that he might suffer some terrible fate at his hands, as often happens in the case of rival lovers. Therefore he had the wine-bearers, who were well-disposed to him, administer some drug that abated the visitor’s ferocity. And so Zoticus after a whole night of embarrassment, being unable to secure an erection, was deprived of all that he had obtained, and was driven out of the palace, out of Rome, and later out of the remainder of Italy; and this saved his life. [However, the emperor drove himself to such a frenzy of lewdness that he asked the physicians to contrive a woman’s vagina in his person by means of an incision, and held out to them the hope of great pay for this achievement.] 17https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
This is an incredibly revealing passage and one which many have pointed to in order to argue that Elagablus was a trans woman. Firstly, Dio describes Aurelius as cubicularius rather than his husband as the author of the Historia Augusta does. Cubicularius refers to a servant of the bedchamber which clearly has sexual connotations in this case. Elagabalus sends for Aurelius after discovering he has a large penis. He then insists Aurelius refers to him as ‘Lady’. Once Aurelius is unable to obtain an erection, Elagabalus asked his physicians to construct a vagina for him.
What many have overlooked is the way in which gender was used in the ancient world to criticise men and women, such as Elagabalus. The way to cause the greatest offence to a man and to his memory was to suggest he wasn’t a man at all, that he was effeminate and more woman-like than man-like. The authors use gender in this way superbly with Elagabalus – initially, he is ruled by the women in his life – his mother and grandmother. Indeed, his mother is accused of sexual deviance herself. He lacks the manliness to make his own decisions and thus must rely on the counsel of women (and in his mother’s case, the worst sort of woman!).
His youth made matters worse – he was inexperienced in life and prone to following poor counsel. Furthermore, he was a foreigner with a devotion to a foreign god. Elagabalus is unable to control his sexual desires – like a woman, he is controlled by his sexual desires. It is interesting to note that Dio comments that Elagalbus’ antics with Aurelius are in many ways the final straw for those who sought his downfall:
‘For his acting in this way and for making himself the object of these actions he became hated by the populace and by the soldiers to whom he was most attached, and at last he was slain by them in the very camp.’ 18https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
So, in essence, Elagablus was murdered by his own soldiers and bodyguards, the Praetorian Guard, because he was effeminate. Because he was debauched, he was unable to control his sexual desires. In sexual acts with men, he took on the role of a woman. All this was made public. An unacceptable way for an Emperor to behave.
It is noteworthy that Elagablus had a taste for lowly-born men. These male lovers then climbed the social ladder due to Elagablus’ care for them. Dio includes a few sentences in his account of Elaglabus’ relationship with Hierocles which are incredibly revealing and perhaps explain why Elagalbus received such a hostile review:
Consequently, his [Hierocles] influence became even greater than his patron’s and it was thought a small thing that his mother, while still a slave, should be brought to Rome by soldiers and be numbered among the wives of ex-consuls. Certain other persons, too, were not seldom honoured by the emperor and became powerful, some because they had joined in his uprising and others because they committed adultery with him. 19https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12061/pg12061-images.html
And here we have it – Elagablus promoted those whom he was intimate with to the annoyance of the Senatorial class. These lowly-born men had reached heights many could only have dreamt of due to their sexual relationship with Elagablus. They had the Emperor’s ear, they could persuade him, they could in effect run the Empire. Elagablus’ inability to control his sexual urges could be responsible for the downfall of the Emperor and he simply had to go.
Elagablus was easy pickings, he died childless and young. His reign was largely uneventful. Elagabalus was deeply unpopular, according to the sources. However, as always, we must use caution when approaching these sources. Dio and Herodian were writing in the years immediately following Elagablus’ death. Following Elagablus’ assassination, many of his supporters were killed. Thus distancing oneself from the unpopular Elagabalus and using gender to criticise him was wise.
Was Elagabalus a trans woman? We are unable to accurately represent the life of Elagablus, we are relying heavily on sources hostile to the young Emperor. The evidence would suggest Elagablus was attracted to men. But with an understanding of the complexities of how gender was used to criticise individuals in the ancient world, it is hard to argue that Elagabalus should be now treated as a trans woman by historians and museums. Perhaps Elagablus was trans, however, with a lack of language to describe an individual in the ancient world, we cannot reach any conclusion about his gender identity. What we can be sure of is that Elagablus was treated harshly by contemporaries who have shaped our perception of the Emperor and have perhaps succeeded in their aim to ensure that he was remembered not as a manly Emperor, but as a woman.
For a similar post from me, see Where Did Ideas About Medieval Gender Come From?
Featured Image: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
