Thread by @marcyjcook

Who wants a transgender history lesson?

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus was the ruler of Rome from age 14-18, 218 to 222AD. She is frequently listed among the 'most hated Roman rulers'. Why? Four main reasons, but first, four minor reasons:

Age. Racism. Classism. Heritage.
Marcus was too young and initially controlled by her mother who was the force behind Marcus getting pushed to the role of Emperor.
Marcus was the wrong race (Syrian).

Her family was very wealthy but her father was appointed a Senator not born one, they were considered the nouveau riche.
They were also of ... dubious heritage.
Marcus was only cousin to the previous Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus I (Caracalla).

Her mother flat out lied in a bid for power, having relatives back her up and saying Marcus was the brother to Caracalla.

This fake heritage helped swing many of the traditional people in the military and the Senate to back Marcus as Emperor.

The main reasons:

1. Marcus was the wrong religion. She was brought up worshipping Elagabalus by her mother, she was declared a hereditary priest of ‘Elagabalus’. This is the Latinized version of the Syrian sun god, Elah Gabal.

Marcus' grandparents disagreed with this, more on that later. Romans traditionally worshipped the pantheon with Jupiter at its head, this included most of the Senate.

Marcus, or her mother, tried to swiftly change who Roman's worshipped, including changing the alter at the Senate. It didn't go down well with the military, Senate or populace who saw Elagabalus as a barbarian god. Note, Marcus didn't become known as Elagabalus until after death.

Remember that Marcus was just 14 when declared Emperor, she wasn't in control and didn't understand the consequences of some of her, or her mothers, actions.

2. Marcus displayed 'abnormal' sexuality in the eyes of Roman society.

Before we get into this we should talk about Roman societies view of homosexuality as it is different from the modern day.

Society had something of a 'boy fetish'.

In Rome both men and women found boys sexually attractive and venerated them. This was considered socially acceptable.

Latin doesn't have definitive terms for hetero and homosexuality.

Rome was a patriarchal based society.

Social roles were based on the idea of men being active/dominant/masculine & women being passive/submissive/feminine.

Boys were seen as passive/submissive/feminine and only expected to become active/dominant/masculine when they became men.

Remember all those Roman and Greek statues of men with boy genitalia - small genitals, boy genitals, were seen as the prettiest. The social ideal.

It's very different from today to say the least.

It was socially acceptable to be a gay male if you were the top.

It was still socially acceptable if you were an adult male bottom and passive/submissive/feminine; you fit into society's expected roles.

If however you didn't fit into those very specific roles then 'society' saw you as abnormal.

You could not be a bottom and be active/dominant/masculine.

Marcus was bisexual and 'married' five times from age 14-18.

Three times to women and twice to men.

The first man was the athlete Aurelius Zoticus. Marcus' last and only adult marriage was to another man called Hierocles.

Marcus' early marriages were an attempt to appease Rome and build alliances. But given Rome's general lack of acceptance towards Marcus I like to think that Marcus thought 'well, forget this,' and decided to do whatever she wanted.

Hierocles was once a slave, & later a Charioteer, a man much below Marcus' social status. A match rife with problems from the start.

In addition Marcus was expected to be Emperor, leader, active/dominant/masculine - MALE in all capitals. That was her role, one she couldn't meet.

Marcus' mother campaigned hard to have who she saw as her son become emperor. While living in Spain she invited the Roman Third Legion to come and meet Marcus to gain the support of the military. She was 13.

While entertaining and bribing the legion with displays of wealth Marcus was invited to dance for the legion. She put on a dance that was recorded for history by those that saw it.

The soldiers who had a chance to see Marcus dance documented that they were entranced by her (his as written, Romans used male pronouns) beauty as she danced ceremonies to El Gabal. All the ancient authors describe her sensuous robes that she wore while performing.

Remember these soldiers were watching an 13 year old boy dance and declared them a hottie. That was socially okay in Roman times but not now.

The fake hereditary, wealth and the the 'sexy boy' convinced the legion to support Marcus' bid as Emperor.

Only the legion expected Marcus to drop the boyhood passive/submissive/feminine and become the acceptable male active/dominant/masculine

No-one knew that wasn't possible for Marcus until after support had been declared.

3 Marcus was a transgender woman.

She had no desire to fit into the Roman male role of active/dominant/masculine.

Before we get to transgender people in ancient Rome let's talk a little about why Marcus is remembered so poorly.

Marcus was, like many Emperors, killed by her own bodyguards, the Praetorian Guard.

After which Roman news & history has to legitimise the new Emperor.

This is done by smearing the previous Emperors name, making them seem a bad leader, a degenerate, mad, bad, dangerous to know.

Why do we see so many Roman Emperors as 'mad'? False history.

It's created to support the present not accurately document the past - that's history.

During his reign Marcus was not cruel or mad. His name was destroyed by the immediate Roman history on his death and later by the offended the sensibilities of historians, particularly Victorian. They were appalled by the fact that a trans teen had been acclaimed emperor of Rome.

So what remains is a cisgender hetero-normative lens through which history is recorded:

“The name Elagabalus is branded in history above all others [because of his] unspeakably disgusting life.” – Barthold Georg Niebuhr, 1776 – 1831

Yet Roman gender and sexuality was different and fluid. As long as you met the defined social roles you could be openly gay, openly trans, and it wasn't an issue.

The taboo was behaviour, not sexuality or identity.

This can be shown by the story of Iphis and Ianthe by the Roman poet Ovid. Iphis is born female but raised male. Iphis’ parents arrange for her to marry a girl named Ianthe; the pair falls in love. Iphis’ mother prayers are answered and Iphis is transformed into a young man.

So to defame Marcus Roman scribes spoke to his breaking of roles: A male in power who acted as the 'lowest female'

"He would go to the taverns at night wearing a wig, woman's clothes and makeup and ply the trade of a prostitute."

"Finally, he set aside a room in the palace and there committed his indecencies, always standing nude at the door of the room, as the harlots do, and shaking the curtain which hung from gold rings, while in a soft and melting voice he solicited the passers-by."

If you think these tales written by people promoting the new Emperor over Marcus are true then I have a bridge to sell you.

There are other examples of Roman trans people in the tale of Cinaedus. This is a name and term used by Rome/Greece/Egypt to refer to people that do not fit into the social roles. In this case, a huge male soldier that acts effeminate.

Phaedrus tale says a barbarian is threatening the troops of the military leader, Pompey the Great. All are afraid to challenge this fierce opponent until Cinaedus steps forward to volunteer for combat.

After pleading from his commander-in-chief, the trans man 'Cinaedus' steps into battle. He quickly severs the barbarian’s head and, with army agog, is summarily rewarded by Pompey.

BTW if you want a trans timeline see the woefully incomplete cbc.ca/doczone/featur…

Sidenote: If you think transgender or intersex people are 'new' then you have a lot of history and science to catch up on.

Take for example this DNA tested intersex skeleton from a Britain living around 50 to 70 AD, dug up in London in 1979.

Back to Marcus.

When we last left her she was Emperor, transgender, pushing a new religion on Rome and unpopular, right?

Well, not quite.

She was unpopular with the military and the Senate, she became popular with the masses.

Marcus lavished gifts & games on the Roman people. She had a Temple built to Elagabal, restored the Flavian Amphitheatre (the Colosseum) that had been damaged by fire and completed the construction of the public baths of Caracalla in the Vicus Sulplicius.

She also had built a palace complex, the Horti Variani, with an amphitheatre, a circus, a bath, and audience hall.

She also tackled the economic crisis in Rome by cutting the amount of silver used in currency and removing the devalued Antoninianus.

However Marcus never became active/dominant/masculine and wanted to be seen as a woman which angered the military and the Roman elite.

We know this as historical records from the time note that Marcus referred to herself as an Empress, Priestess, Wife.

Marcus removed all body hair, wore make-up and dressed as a Roman woman.

Marcus is also documented as offering a significant monetary reward for any physician that could provide her with female genitalia:

"Dio recounts an exchange between Marcus & Aurelius Zoticus: Zoticus addressed the emperor as 'my lord,' Marcus responded, 'Don't call me lord, I am a lady.' Dio concludes this by recording that Marcus then asked his physicians to give him the equivalent of a woman's vagina."

Marcus asked the Senate to declare his husband Hierocles Caesar. This would have fixed the male/female role dichotomy as Hierocles could be the dominant male and Marcus could be effeminate and Roman morals would be satisfied.

The Senate refused, Hierocles was an ex-slave.

Marcus' grandmother, remember she was pissed at how religious her daughter and Marcus were, saw that the military tide had turned against Marcus. She turned to her other daughter's son, Severus.

No not that Severus.

The Praetorian Guard approved of Severus Alexander & demanded that Marcus and Severus appear before them. Of course Marcus mother went along too.

Marcus argued that the people loved her, that she was fixing the economy and unifying Rome.

Alexander said I'm all man, he won.

The Praetorian Guard killed Marcus and her mother, after that the destruction of her name began.

All because of toxic masculinity and the plotting of a grandmother to keep the family on top even if it meant killing sections of the family off.

I said there were 4 main reasons why Marcus was considered one of the worst Roman Emperors of all time:

4. History lies to you all the time