1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:04,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,680 --> 00:00:09,800 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised. Just a 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: quick content note before I begin. This episode contains some 4 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: sexual content and descriptions of in vague terms of sexual acts. 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: So if that's something that's uncomfortable for you, or something 6 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 1: that you know you'd be sensitive about listening to with 7 00:00:25,079 --> 00:00:31,520 Speaker 1: young children around, just be aware of it. In twenty 8 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:36,600 Speaker 1: twenty three, North Hertfordshire Museum in Hitchin, a town north 9 00:00:36,640 --> 00:00:40,440 Speaker 1: of London, made the decision to edit some of the 10 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: informational text it had on its walls. In referring to 11 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:49,560 Speaker 1: the Roman emperor Eligobolis, the museum would now be using 12 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:56,840 Speaker 1: feminine instead of masculine pronouns, consistent with the interpretation that Eligobolis, 13 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:01,400 Speaker 1: who ruled Rome beginning in two hundred and eighteen, was 14 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:06,639 Speaker 1: a trans woman. Elle Gobles was emperor for just four 15 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,480 Speaker 1: years before her assassination in two hundred and twenty two, 16 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:14,399 Speaker 1: a d at the age of eighteen. During that time, 17 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: she developed a reputation for pushing gender and sexual boundaries. 18 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:25,480 Speaker 1: According to one classical source, she preferred she her pronouns 19 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,919 Speaker 1: and announced on one occasion quote call me not lord, 20 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: for I am a lady. Ancient historians reported that she 21 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: wore makeup, shaved her body, and worked wool, a typically 22 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:45,320 Speaker 1: feminine craft. One ancient historian, Diocassius, said that she would 23 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: stand outside taverns in a wig, soliciting lovers who walked by. 24 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: He further alleged that she had planned to approach a 25 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: physician about performing what today we would describe as a 26 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: vagino plasty. Those accounts led Keith Hoskins, executive member for 27 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: Arts at North Heartz Council, to say in a statement, quote, 28 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:16,360 Speaker 1: Eligobolis most definitely preferred the she pronoun and as such 29 00:02:16,520 --> 00:02:20,800 Speaker 1: this is something we reflect when discussing her in contemporary times. 30 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: It is only polite and respectful to be sensitive to 31 00:02:25,240 --> 00:02:30,359 Speaker 1: identifying pronouns for people in the past. But this decision 32 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: proved controversial among classicists because none of those stories about 33 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: Eligobolus's gender presentation came directly from her. All of them 34 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,080 Speaker 1: came from classical historians with something of a bone to 35 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: pick with the emperor. Dio Cassius, the ancient historian with 36 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: the most details about Eligobolis's femininity, was not a fan. 37 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: He was a senator under the emperor who had murdered her, 38 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,320 Speaker 1: and therefore he had good reason to slander Eligabolis in 39 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 1: his writing. Masculinity was incredibly important to ancient Romans, and 40 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: so it was a common strategy for ancient historians to 41 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:19,639 Speaker 1: depict emperors they didn't like as emasculated or feminine. Other emperors, 42 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: like Nero, Caligula, and even Julius Caesar were accused of 43 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: being too feminine. Nero was said to have worn the 44 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: bridal veil to marry a man, while Roman elder Curio 45 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,840 Speaker 1: once said that Caesar was quote every man's woman. In fact, 46 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: because of his alleged affair with King Nicodemus, the fourth 47 00:03:41,320 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: of Bethenia, Caesar was called the Queen of Bethenia. In 48 00:03:46,720 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: the same way, you wouldn't turn to an attack ad 49 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: to write a political candidate's biography. It would be a 50 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: mistake to take those ancient invectives too literally. In an 51 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: article in The Guardian, Zach HER's, assistant professor of classics 52 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: at the University of Colorado in Boulder, said, quote these 53 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:12,280 Speaker 1: quote unquote biographies of Eligobolis are hit pieces, and that 54 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: he would be inclined to read them as basically fictional. 55 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: Without any narrative accounts of Eligoblists from her perspective, It's 56 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: difficult to know what to make of these competing interpretations. 57 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: On one hand, there is no definitive proof of how 58 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: she identified, and contemporary classicists agree that these sources attesting 59 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:42,240 Speaker 1: to her transness were biased, even offensive, political propaganda. But 60 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: at the same time, ancient Rome was an incredibly misogynistic 61 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: and transphobic society that prized a stoic, austere, tough masculinity 62 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: above all else. You could also argue that those sources 63 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: were so insulting because Eligobolis was threatening the gender norms 64 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: of the time. Many historical queer lives have shown up 65 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: in the archives in biased sources intending to smear them. 66 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:20,799 Speaker 1: Given the dearth of transfigures in recorded Western history, Eligobolis 67 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 1: could be an important node in queer history. But given 68 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:30,040 Speaker 1: that Roman visions of gender were so different from our own, 69 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: what does it mean for Eligobolists to have been trans? 70 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: How do we divine whatever Eligobolis's own desires were for 71 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: her gender when the historical record is so murky. I'm 72 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: Dana Schwartz, and this is noble blood. You probably noticed 73 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:57,360 Speaker 1: that I'm also choosing to use feminine pronouns to refer 74 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:01,360 Speaker 1: to Eligobolis. My reasoning is given that there is no 75 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: way of knowing for certain in this situation from more 76 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,039 Speaker 1: than eighteen hundred years ago, I figure there's no harm 77 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:11,839 Speaker 1: in choosing to be more inclusive rather than less. But 78 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: I do want to be very clear my analysis is 79 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: no means prescriptive or even necessarily correct. Given that gender 80 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:26,600 Speaker 1: identity is an incredibly complicated topic, especially from historical eras 81 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 1: that didn't share a modern vocabulary or understanding, I don't 82 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: think we will ever find a definitive, quote unquote right 83 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: answer to how Eligabolis would have wanted to self identify. 84 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: But what we can do is examine her story with 85 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,119 Speaker 1: nuance and try to understand it as best we can 86 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 1: given all the context available to us. Anyway, Eligobolos's rule 87 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,160 Speaker 1: was controversial from the beginning. A little bit of background. 88 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: The previous emperor Macrinus had got the job by assassinating 89 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:06,720 Speaker 1: the other candidate, Karkala, who was Eligabolus's cousin, and then 90 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:12,480 Speaker 1: to ensure that Eligabolis's family wouldn't enact revenge. Macrinus exiled 91 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: the family to Syria, where Eligablis's family was originally from, 92 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 1: but exile did not stop Eligabolis's grandmother from plotting to 93 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 1: overthrow Macrinus. Their family led a religious sect that worshiped 94 00:07:29,160 --> 00:07:34,280 Speaker 1: the sun god eligabel The young Eligabolis, named after the deity, 95 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:37,720 Speaker 1: was the heir to the priesthood of that religious sect, 96 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: even though at this time she was just fourteen. Soldiers 97 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: who visited Syria, many of whom supported the assassinated Caracala 98 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 1: over the new emperor, often stopped to see Eligabolis perform 99 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 1: her priestly rituals. They were purportedly captivated by her good 100 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: looks evocative of those of the young god Dionysus, and 101 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: her sensual dancing. Eligoblis's grandmother took advantage of that, lying 102 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:13,600 Speaker 1: to the soldiers by telling them that Eligobolus was Caracalla's 103 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: illegitimate son and positioning her as the true heir to 104 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: the throne. The grandmother also bribed these soldiers with her 105 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: vast wealth, which these soldiers were excited to receive since 106 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:32,480 Speaker 1: they already resented Macrinus for his stingy wages. These soldiers 107 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 1: declared Eligobolus the emperor and brought her to Antioch, where 108 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: Macrinus was based, to overthrow him and install her as 109 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: his replacement. When they got there, the troops launched an 110 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:50,080 Speaker 1: attack on Macrinus, and they won, executing both Macrinus and 111 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:54,080 Speaker 1: his son. Their severed heads were brought to Eligobolis as 112 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,960 Speaker 1: war trophies, and the Roman senate was forced to accept 113 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: teenage Eligobolis as the new emperor. As Eligoblis made her 114 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:08,959 Speaker 1: way from Antioch to Rome, ancient historian Herodian said that 115 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: Eligoblis had a painting of herself sent ahead to be 116 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,360 Speaker 1: hung over a statue of the goddess Victoria in the 117 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,320 Speaker 1: Senate house. She was said to have done this so 118 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: that the people would get to know her as the 119 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: new emperor in advance of her arrival, but many considered 120 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: it an act of hubris. Roman senators making an offering 121 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:34,199 Speaker 1: to the goddess Victoria would have to kneel in front 122 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:38,320 Speaker 1: of the painting of Eligoblis, seeming to put the new 123 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: emperor and the goddess on an equal playing field. Eligobless 124 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 1: finally arrived in Rome in the late summer of two 125 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 1: hundred and nineteen AD, refusing to wear the usual Roman 126 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:58,480 Speaker 1: garb of wool togas. Instead, she donned a luxurious silk robe. 127 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: Given that Eligobles was barely through puberty when she began 128 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:06,080 Speaker 1: her reign, her grandmother treated her as a proxy ruler. 129 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: During her rule, Eligoblus's mother, Julius Semias, and grandmother Julia 130 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:16,520 Speaker 1: Mesa were the first women allowed into the Senate, Soemius 131 00:10:16,640 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 1: was given the senatorial title of Clarissima and Maisa was 132 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:25,839 Speaker 1: deemed Mater castorum et senatus, or mother of the army 133 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 1: camp and of the Senate. Ancient historians noted how unorthodox 134 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: it was for women to be so influential on Eligoblus's rule, 135 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:41,520 Speaker 1: with her mother and grandmother's likenesses printed on coins and inscriptions. 136 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: Another controversial aspect of Aligobolus's rule was her religious beliefs. 137 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: At the end of two hundred twenty, Eligoblus declared Eligobel 138 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:56,080 Speaker 1: to be the central god of the Roman pantheon instead 139 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: of Jupiter, and made herself the quote highest priest of 140 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: the unconquered God, the son Eligabel, supreme Pontiff. Every summer 141 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 1: solstice she put on a festival in Eligobel's honor, distributing 142 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: free food and riding through the streets on a jewel 143 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 1: encrusted chariot. The Roman elites were scandalized that the populace 144 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:26,199 Speaker 1: was worshiping a foreign god, and Eligobolus was to blame. 145 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:31,680 Speaker 1: Eligobolus's love life was just as salacious. She took a 146 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 1: number of lovers, both male and female. Rumor had it 147 00:11:36,440 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: that Eligobolus wanted to marry a male charioteer named Heracles, 148 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:46,079 Speaker 1: declaring him Caesar and herself his wife. She was also 149 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:50,760 Speaker 1: said to have had an affair with athlete Aurelius Zodocus, 150 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: allegedly making him her husband and allowing him to have 151 00:11:54,840 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 1: political influence behind the scenes. Her most controversial relationationship was 152 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:07,480 Speaker 1: with Vestal virgin Aquilia Severa, Vesta's high priestess, who Eligbleis 153 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,200 Speaker 1: was said to have married in order to produce quote 154 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 1: godlike children. This was extremely taboo because any Vestal virgin 155 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: who had sex was supposed to be punished and buried alive. 156 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 1: These relationships were all speculations, but officially speaking, Eligbless would 157 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: end up marrying four times to four different women in 158 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: just four years. The emperor was also known to have 159 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,960 Speaker 1: bizarre dinner parties. She gave her guests strange delicacies, like 160 00:12:42,040 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: camel's heels or flamingo's brains, or all green or all 161 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:50,200 Speaker 1: blue meals. Sometimes she was said to have brought out 162 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: lions or bears to freely wander around the dining room. 163 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:59,040 Speaker 1: One Roman historian alleged that she placed whoopee cushions on 164 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,920 Speaker 1: all of the chairs as a prank, the first recorded 165 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: use of whoope cushions in Western history. These deviations from 166 00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:14,880 Speaker 1: quote normal Roman life made Eligoblis unpopular. When her grandmother, 167 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:20,439 Speaker 1: Julia Mason, noted that Eligabless's reputation had soured, she decided 168 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: to replace her with her other daughter's son, Severus Alexander, 169 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: who was fifteen. Alexander was elevated to caesar in June 170 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:34,559 Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty one, and Eligables and Alexander were 171 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: expected to rule together over the following year. Eligobless went 172 00:13:39,840 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: along with it at first, but she grew disillusioned with 173 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 1: being a co emperor. When she started noticing that the 174 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:52,880 Speaker 1: Imperial Roman army liked Alexander better. She petitioned the Senate 175 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: to depose Alexander, and when they refused, she tried to 176 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: have him assassinated to no avail. According to ancient historian 177 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,960 Speaker 1: Cassius Dio, Eligablis started a rumor that Alexander was about 178 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: to die to make sure the Imperial army wasn't on 179 00:14:10,760 --> 00:14:15,000 Speaker 1: his side. A riot broke out, with many soldiers trying 180 00:14:15,080 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: to throw Eligabolis into the barracks. On March thirteenth, two 181 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 1: hundred twenty two, Eligableis appeared to step down, she and 182 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: her mother performing a ceremony where they officially passed the 183 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: torch to Alexander. Upon hearing the soldiers cheer louder for 184 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: Alexander than they did for her, she was incensed and 185 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:42,160 Speaker 1: immediately changed her mind. She called for the arrest and 186 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: execution of everyone there. The imperial army responded by attacking 187 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: Eligabilis and her mother. They tried to flee, but she 188 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: was found her mother holding her tight. They were both killed, 189 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:00,400 Speaker 1: with their heads cut off and their bodies stripped, naked 190 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: and dragged across Rome. Not everything in that story, compiled 191 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:11,680 Speaker 1: together from various and all very biased sources, can be verified. 192 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: Modern classicists have confirmed only the basics that Eligabolis was 193 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 1: the head priest of the worship of the Sun god. 194 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:24,920 Speaker 1: Eligabel arrived from Syria to violently take over the Roman 195 00:15:24,960 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 1: government when she was fourteen, ruled for four years, married 196 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: four times, and was executed and succeeded by her cousin Alexander. 197 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: The most lurid details, including unfortunately planting whoopee cushions on 198 00:15:41,160 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: unsuspecting dinner guests, were all possibly fabricated. Many of the 199 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: most controversial aspects of her rule were related to her 200 00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: gender and sexuality, from dancing sensually to posing as a 201 00:15:56,160 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: sex worker outside of a bar, to marrying a vestal 202 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: virgin and proposing to a male charioteer. But where did 203 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:10,160 Speaker 1: those details come from and why would ancient historians have 204 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 1: invented or exaggerated them. Why was Eligobolis's gender and sexuality 205 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: such an issue for ancient historians? As I mentioned earlier, 206 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:28,280 Speaker 1: Eligabolists reigned during a time when Rome had extremely strict 207 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 1: standards for masculinity. The ideal Roman citizen exhibited masculine characteristics 208 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: like valor, excellence, courage, dominance, and an austere presentation, as 209 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 1: opposed to women who were considered decadent, soft, and extravagant. 210 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: Men who didn't fit the masculine ideal were considered to 211 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,680 Speaker 1: be afflicted with molita, a Latin term which can be 212 00:16:55,760 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 1: translated as softness or effeminacy. Those with mantilla were considered 213 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:06,879 Speaker 1: to be preoccupied with their appearances. They shaved their bodies, 214 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: wore perfume, and rouged their cheeks. They were also seen 215 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 1: as overly indulgent, eating rich foods and seeking out sex. 216 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:23,000 Speaker 1: These tropes almost perfectly describe ancient historians' depictions of Eligobolis. 217 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:27,960 Speaker 1: Eligobolus was considered to have molita, uniting her love of 218 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: lavish dinner parties, expensive robes, and voracious sexual appetites. The 219 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: term molita also gives us a clue as to why 220 00:17:38,800 --> 00:17:45,280 Speaker 1: Eligabolis's sexuality and gender were such huge issues for ancient historians. 221 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:51,920 Speaker 1: Because sexuality was so deeply tied to Roman ideals, molita 222 00:17:52,119 --> 00:17:57,439 Speaker 1: was typically assigned to outsiders, especially from the quote East. 223 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:05,159 Speaker 1: Romans viewed Persians and Syrians as overly extravagant, feminine, sexual, 224 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:10,280 Speaker 1: and servile. A common trope of Molita was the mythical 225 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: Sardanopoulis of Assyria. Allegedly, Sardanopoulos lived as a woman during 226 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:21,160 Speaker 1: his rule, hanging out with his concubines, putting on cosmetics, 227 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 1: speaking with a higher tone, wearing women's clothing, and spinning wool. 228 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:31,800 Speaker 1: He also drank heavily and pursued both men and women 229 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,840 Speaker 1: without a care for his reputation, much to the chagrin 230 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: of Roman authors. Many of those same tropes also show 231 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:44,760 Speaker 1: up in descriptions of Eligabolis, who was also said to 232 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: have affected a quote soft and melting voice to sound 233 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,840 Speaker 1: more like a woman where eyeshadow, work with wool, and 234 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: hang out with sex workers. Cassius Dio, the ancient historian 235 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:02,280 Speaker 1: who had the most issues with eligablo alleged femininity, even 236 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:09,119 Speaker 1: called Eligoblis Sardanopoulos. According to contemporary historian martin Ix, many 237 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:15,719 Speaker 1: Romans nicknamed her the Assyrian. Ancient historian Herodian also ties 238 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: Eligoblis's femininity to her status as a foreigner, especially as 239 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:26,679 Speaker 1: the high priestess of an unfamiliar religion. Herodian emphasizes that 240 00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:32,920 Speaker 1: Eligobolus performed orgiastic dances in the temple of Amisia in Syria, 241 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,920 Speaker 1: and then brought those dances to perform in altars around 242 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:41,720 Speaker 1: Rome and even in the theater, embodying a sensual foreign 243 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: sensibility inappropriate for the leader of Rome. He also suggests 244 00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 1: that Eligoblis's Syrian origins caused her to reject standard Roman 245 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:57,679 Speaker 1: men's clothing, preferring silk dresses with gold embroidery and gem 246 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:03,880 Speaker 1: covered golden tiaras, which Herodian associates with the Phoenicians, as 247 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:08,359 Speaker 1: opposed to the plain wool clothes worn by most Roman men. 248 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:14,400 Speaker 1: Eligoblis's foreign femininity was such a problem for ancient historians 249 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: because the emperor, as the most powerful person in Rome, 250 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:25,040 Speaker 1: was expected to embody their version of ideal manliness. The 251 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:30,080 Speaker 1: perfect Roman man was expected to dominate in his relationships 252 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:33,680 Speaker 1: with women or boys, but also on a wider scale 253 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 1: with foreigners. The emperor being a foreigner herself not only 254 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 1: meant that she didn't care to be the ideal Roman man, 255 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:47,880 Speaker 1: but also that she wasn't advancing Roman cultural dominance by 256 00:20:48,119 --> 00:20:54,879 Speaker 1: embodying absolute masculinity. This helps us to explain another aspect 257 00:20:55,240 --> 00:21:01,879 Speaker 1: of Eligboless's transness, her stereotypically feminine and passive role in sex. 258 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,360 Speaker 1: In her sexual life, she was said to quote recreate 259 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:12,840 Speaker 1: female characteristics within the male. The Historia Augusta presents Eligabolis 260 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:16,960 Speaker 1: as quote taking the role of Venus in her private 261 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: re enacting of the story of the Judgment of Paris, 262 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:24,240 Speaker 1: even going so far as to quote model the expression 263 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 1: on her face onto which that Venus is usually painted. 264 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: Cassius Dio adds that she slept with women to learn 265 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 1: to quote imitate their actions when she should lie with 266 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:40,119 Speaker 1: her male lovers. She was said to have hired agents 267 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:44,160 Speaker 1: to find and bring well endowed men to her quarters, 268 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:50,160 Speaker 1: occasionally seeking them out herself at public baths. Ancient Romans 269 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:56,119 Speaker 1: saw gender and sexuality as inexorably intertwined. They had a 270 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,880 Speaker 1: gender binary, but one's gender identity was determined by someone's 271 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: birth sex, as well as the role they played in 272 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: sexual encounters. One half of the binary was the penetrators, 273 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:14,439 Speaker 1: who were seen as strong, stoic, aggressive, and masculine, and 274 00:22:14,640 --> 00:22:19,719 Speaker 1: the other half were the penetrated, who were seen as weak, frivolous, 275 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: vein and feminine. If you were a penetrator. Who you 276 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:27,199 Speaker 1: were attracted to didn't matter. You could have sex with 277 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: men or women, and you would still be considered masculine 278 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:34,520 Speaker 1: as long as you took the active role during sex. 279 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 1: On the other hand, if you took a passive role 280 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: during sex, that would fundamentally change your gender identity. Women 281 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:47,720 Speaker 1: and men who were penetrated in sexual encounters were both 282 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,040 Speaker 1: considered to be feminine. As long as your sexual role 283 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: aligned with your societal role. Men being the penetrators and 284 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:02,840 Speaker 1: women being the penetrated, you'd fit within Roman gender norms. 285 00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:07,359 Speaker 1: If you deviated from those norms, most commonly by being 286 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:11,160 Speaker 1: a man that also wanted to be penetrated, you would 287 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:16,040 Speaker 1: be humiliated and insulted for being too womanly. It also 288 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:19,400 Speaker 1: went the other way around. If a man were thought 289 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:23,000 Speaker 1: of as too womanly or soft, he would be assumed 290 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:27,480 Speaker 1: to be the passive partner in sex. Who was allowed 291 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: to be the passive partner in sex depended not only 292 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: on one's gender, but also on their societal role. Women, 293 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: being the quote inferior gender, had to always occupy a 294 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 1: sexually passive role. Boys, slaves, and foreigners were also permitted 295 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: to be sexually passive. In their relationships with adult men. 296 00:23:52,960 --> 00:23:57,480 Speaker 1: This dynamic shows up in historical accounts of eligobolists. It 297 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: was fine for Eligoblists to do sexy dances as a 298 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,880 Speaker 1: young attractive boy, but she was expected to age out 299 00:24:04,920 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: of it in her adulthood. It was extra scandalous that 300 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,479 Speaker 1: she was sexually passive, given that she was the ruler 301 00:24:12,600 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: of Rome, expected to dominate everyone at all times. Contemporary 302 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: classicist Zachary Hurs alludes to another Roman trope to describe 303 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 1: why Eligabolis was depicted as sexually passive, the Canidis. This 304 00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:36,160 Speaker 1: word does not have a direct translation, It functions as 305 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: a kind of slur that describes foreign born men who 306 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:46,880 Speaker 1: dance sensually and like to be anally penetrated, which nearly 307 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:52,159 Speaker 1: exactly lines up with depictions of Eligabolis. Given that the 308 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:57,880 Speaker 1: Canidis only shows up in politically charged smear campaigns, historians 309 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: tend to think of the Canidis as more of a 310 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:05,680 Speaker 1: concept character or trope than an actual identity. Hers calls 311 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:09,639 Speaker 1: the Cannidis a quote public identity, comparing the concept to 312 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 1: the contemporary idea of the stereotypical welfare queen. While the 313 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 1: character could describe real individuals. It functioned more as a 314 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: rhetorical tool, intended to draw the public's attention to dangers 315 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: to the status quo. Hers read depictions of Eligobolus's canidis 316 00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:36,959 Speaker 1: like sexual passivity as an expression of anxiety about the 317 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:42,199 Speaker 1: state of Roman political life. Emperors previously had been chosen 318 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: from an elite class of senators and died peacefully after 319 00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:52,160 Speaker 1: a successor had already been determined. But Eligabolis was symptomatic 320 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 1: of a new status quo in which military support mattered 321 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:01,480 Speaker 1: more than senatorial support, and new two emperors, most of 322 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:04,199 Speaker 1: whom had barely gone through puberty by the time they 323 00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 1: came to power, rose to the throne violently. Cassius Dio 324 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:14,199 Speaker 1: and Marius Maximus, senators who wrote popular histories of Eligobolis, 325 00:26:14,560 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: would have been salty about losing power in that new system, 326 00:26:18,720 --> 00:26:23,160 Speaker 1: and they used the power of their pens to denigrate Eligabolis. 327 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: The stock character of the Canidis was a powerful tool, 328 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: not only because the Canidis was viewed in derogatory terms, 329 00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:38,760 Speaker 1: but because canidie never spoke for themselves. Lacking the political 330 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:44,359 Speaker 1: upper hand, ancient historians took the rhetorical one. As Hers 331 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:48,119 Speaker 1: put it Quote Doo and Maximus could no longer govern, 332 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:54,639 Speaker 1: but they still could write ancient historians bias against Eligobolists 333 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 1: could partly explain why she was feminized in the historical record. 334 00:27:00,080 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: As we mentioned earlier in the episode, it was common 335 00:27:03,440 --> 00:27:08,359 Speaker 1: practice for ancient historians to call leaders quote too feminine 336 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:13,360 Speaker 1: as a means to discredit them. But still, even considering 337 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: that tradition, Eligobolis remains an outlier. Other leaders like Julius, Caesar, Nero, 338 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:26,040 Speaker 1: and Caligula were all alleged to be keneidie, wearing women's clothing, 339 00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:30,640 Speaker 1: acting passively during sex, and shaving their bodies, but none 340 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 1: of them have been reconsidered by contemporary historians to be 341 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: trans women. What makes Eligobolis so different. What's so striking 342 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:48,480 Speaker 1: about Eligobolus's gender presentation is that she bucked traditional Roman 343 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:52,760 Speaker 1: understandings of sex and gender. While Caesar may have been 344 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: every man's wife and Nero was said to have acted 345 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: as a bride in a marriage ceremony to one of 346 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:04,240 Speaker 1: his freedmen, Elligoblis asked to be treated as a woman 347 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: throughout her life, not just during sex or in relation 348 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 1: to a male partner. She appeared to have a remarkably 349 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:17,720 Speaker 1: modern view of gender as an identity separate from her 350 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:23,400 Speaker 1: sexual role, but whether or not Eligblis actually represented herself 351 00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:28,440 Speaker 1: as a woman remains up for debate. Unlike many historical 352 00:28:28,520 --> 00:28:33,680 Speaker 1: queer figures, Eligoblis, as the ruler of Rome, had power 353 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: over how she represented herself through statues and coins she 354 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 1: commissioned as official representations of her and her reign. According 355 00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:49,600 Speaker 1: to scholar Eric R. Varner, imperial portraits and coins were 356 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 1: actually at times a space in which rulers blurred gender 357 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:59,719 Speaker 1: boundaries in their self presentation. Beginning with Augustus, male rulers, 358 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:05,240 Speaker 1: ais and goddesses were visually conjoined. For example, on certain coins, 359 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:10,400 Speaker 1: Augustus's face was put on the goddess Diana's body, with 360 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: her hair cascading from his head. There's also an example 361 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 1: of a statue of Marcus Aurelius with his head added 362 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 1: to a female body dressed in an ornate toga. That said, 363 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:27,560 Speaker 1: even with that precedent for gender bending in Roman imperial representations, 364 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:33,640 Speaker 1: Eligoblus's portraits adhered to masculine standards. This isn't to say 365 00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 1: that her coins were typical, fitting the rest of her 366 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:42,080 Speaker 1: norm flouting rein Her coins are strange. Roman coins typically 367 00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 1: have a head's side with a portrait of an important 368 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:49,280 Speaker 1: person and a tail's side with a scene including Roman 369 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:54,160 Speaker 1: gods or a personification of Rome, intended to reinforce the 370 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,479 Speaker 1: dominance of Rome and the legitimacy of the current ruler. 371 00:29:58,120 --> 00:30:03,480 Speaker 1: In Eligobolus's coins, the quote tales side has a chariot 372 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,360 Speaker 1: pulling a meteorite with an eagle on top of it, 373 00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: an image utterly unique to her rule. On the head's side, 374 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:16,680 Speaker 1: her portraits depict her wearing her sacred robes, again flouting 375 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:21,760 Speaker 1: Roman norms of austere dress. Even though these coins break 376 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:26,400 Speaker 1: from conventions in most ways, they do portray her as male, 377 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 1: with sideburns and a mustache. That said, she could have 378 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:36,400 Speaker 1: publicly identified as male and expressed her transness in private, 379 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: or she could have tried to persuade the members of 380 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:43,719 Speaker 1: her court for her coins to represent her as a woman, 381 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:48,400 Speaker 1: and they could have refused. It remains unclear whether and 382 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 1: to what extent Eligabolis wanted to be seen as a woman, 383 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:57,440 Speaker 1: given that the one source that attests to her requesting 384 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: to be referred to by feminine pronouns and requesting a 385 00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:06,040 Speaker 1: vaginoplasty come from one source with every intention to slander 386 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 1: her and her feminine qualities. It's hard to argue that 387 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:13,640 Speaker 1: that is inherently an accurate rendering of her wishes to 388 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 1: be treated as a woman. There's no evidence that explicitly 389 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 1: refutes that framing, but there's nothing that directly supports it either. 390 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:27,640 Speaker 1: With the evidence we do have, it seems most likely 391 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:32,560 Speaker 1: that she was, at least to a certain extent, transfeminized 392 00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:37,600 Speaker 1: by a society hostile to any form of gender nonconformity. 393 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: Her religious dancing and silk robes threatened Roman norms of masculinity, 394 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 1: especially for emperors. Ancient historians interpreted this as evidence that 395 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:53,120 Speaker 1: she presented herself as a woman, both in terms of 396 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: her appearance and her sexual role. They portrayed her this 397 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 1: way not necessarily because they took any interest in how 398 00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,640 Speaker 1: she understood herself, but in order to emphasize the danger 399 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:08,840 Speaker 1: of her foreign influence. It was a kind of trans 400 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: panic about excessive femininity at the center of Roman life, 401 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 1: conflating male femininity with sex, work, decadence, and irresponsibility. But 402 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:25,960 Speaker 1: this portrait of Eligobolis as a decadent, opulent emperor has 403 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:30,720 Speaker 1: also kept her alive in the literary imagination. Her flounting 404 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: the status quo made her an inspirational figure to many 405 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: artists and writers. In the nineteen sixties, a number of 406 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: queer writers created fictional portraits of her reign, from boddice 407 00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: rippers like Child of the Sun to literary fiction like 408 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 1: the novel Family Favorites. At a time when homosexuality was 409 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:58,240 Speaker 1: still criminalized right before the Stonewall Riots, those more sympathetic 410 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: depictions of Eligobolis situated her as a node in a 411 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:09,320 Speaker 1: longer queer lineage. We may never know exactly who Eligobolis 412 00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 1: was or how she saw herself, but she opens up 413 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 1: the possibility to consider queer life in other eras, and 414 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:22,240 Speaker 1: she allows us to examine the complexities of how ancient 415 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: Romans viewed sex and gender. That's the end of the 416 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:36,160 Speaker 1: story of Eligobolis, but stick around after a brief sponsor 417 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:40,640 Speaker 1: break to see how Eligbolis inspired Oscar Wilde's picture of 418 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:56,720 Speaker 1: Dorian Gray. Oscar Wilde learned about Eligobolis while honeymooning in Paris, 419 00:33:57,120 --> 00:33:59,920 Speaker 1: where he picked up a copy of Yours Karl Heusmann 420 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 1: book a reboir that had just come out. Araboar was 421 00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: a novel that celebrated decadence, centering around an eccentric dandy 422 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:14,080 Speaker 1: who retreats into his own esthetic world. Heismans brings up 423 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 1: Eligobolis as a fellow aesthete, a figure that transcended her 424 00:34:19,080 --> 00:34:24,360 Speaker 1: everyday life by focusing on beauty and excess. That book 425 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:28,960 Speaker 1: inspired Oscar Wilde to write the Picture of Dorian Gray 426 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:32,880 Speaker 1: to such a degree actually, that both texts were cited 427 00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:38,200 Speaker 1: in Wild's eighteen ninety five trial for gross indecency as 428 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:43,520 Speaker 1: evidence of his degeneracy. In the original manuscript of Dorian Gray, 429 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:48,640 Speaker 1: Wild cites Eligabolus as a true esthete in his musings 430 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:52,680 Speaker 1: about the nature of art, writing quote the young Priest 431 00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:55,480 Speaker 1: of the Sun, while yet a boy had been slain 432 00:34:55,560 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 1: for his sins, used to walk in jeweled shoe on 433 00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:03,680 Speaker 1: dust of gold in silver. This reference to Eligbolis and 434 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,880 Speaker 1: any reference to Aragua was cut from the final text. 435 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:12,760 Speaker 1: It's unclear why Eligabolis didn't make it into the final draft, 436 00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:18,040 Speaker 1: but scholar Nicholas Frankel suggests that editor John Marshall Stoddart 437 00:35:18,320 --> 00:35:24,239 Speaker 1: quote oversaw the elimination of anything that's smacked generally of decadence, 438 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:40,319 Speaker 1: and Eligbolis certainly fit the bill. Noble Blood is a 439 00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:44,920 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. 440 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:49,640 Speaker 1: Noble Blood is hosted by me Danish Forts, with additional 441 00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:55,040 Speaker 1: writing and researching by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Courtney Sender, 442 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,640 Speaker 1: Julia Milani, and Armand Cassam. The show is edited and 443 00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:04,080 Speaker 1: perdue used by Noahmy Griffin and rima Il Kahali, with 444 00:36:04,239 --> 00:36:10,160 Speaker 1: supervising producer Josh Thain and executive producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, 445 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:14,920 Speaker 1: and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the 446 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:19,319 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 447 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:20,080 Speaker 1: favorite shows.