British Museum Says Roman Emperor Was Trans

The Telegraph revealed on Tuesday that a Roman emperor has been declared transgender by a UK museum.

"The North Hertfordshire Museum has said it will be 'sensitive' to the purported pronoun preferences of the third century AD ruler Elagabalus," The newspaper recounted. "The emperor will be treated as a transgender woman and referred to as she."

The museum consulted the LGBT+ charity Stonewall and the LGBT+ wing of the trade union Unison on best practice for its displays, to ensure that "our displays, publicity and talks are as up-to-date and inclusive as possible".

Keith Hoskins, Liberal Democrat councillor and executive member for arts at the Lib Dem and Labor coalition-run North Herts Council, told the Telegraph: "Elagabalus most definitely preferred the she pronoun, and as such this is something we reflect when discussing her in contemporary times.

"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."

The change came about on the basis of an account by Cassius Dio, a Roman chronicler, who wrote that Elagabalus was "termed wife, mistress and queen", told one lover "Call me not Lord, for I am a Lady", and asked for female genitalia to be fashioned for him.

But, the Telegraph added, some historians believe these accounts may simply have been a Roman attempt at character assassination.

"Historians have said feminine behavior would have been a dishonor to men in Rome, and suggested that accounts of Elagabalus' life are replete with the worst accusations that could be leveled at a Roman because they are character assassinations," Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, a Cambridge classics professor, told the Telegraph.

"The Romans didn't have our idea of 'trans' as a category, but they used accusations of sexual behavior 'as a woman' as one of the worst insults against men."

Prof Christian Laes, a University of Manchester classicist, agreed. "As regards trans, this was of course never seen as a category by the Romans. But it remains the case that in times of troubles and crisis, so-called transgressors of the sexual norms were subject to scapegoating."