The story of the Roman Emperor Elagabalus is one of the most unambiguously trans stories to come from the ancient Mediterranean.
Having ascended to the throne in the year 218 CE, at just fourteen years old, things were never going to go well for her.
But what is it exactly that gives her such a famously bad historical reputation?
Are the stories of her murdering babies true?
Was she really as depraved as her reputation suggests?
What exactly was it that made her so hated by her contemporaries?
Was she even actually trans?
Trans people have always existed, but was Elagabalus one of us?
In this episode of We Have Always Existed, we explore the life of Elagabalus through a queer lens, why the Romans thought she was so terrible, why she might not have actually been trans, and the parallels between her treatment and the treatment of modern trans people.