Was marcus aurelius gay
SO. Despite being queer, this is something I browse less about than I should, because it is kind of a minefield of exhaustion. To initiate, you need to be constantly aware of the huge gaping discourse pits that plague ancient sexuality studies, especially when it comes to male-male relationships:
1. Labeling issues.
Modern sexualities complete not map to ancient ones. This should be kind of obvious as they are separated by 2000+ years of history, but you would be surprised how badly this works out in exercise. The problem here is that after being violently written out of history for basically forever, anything that vaguely sounds appreciate “gay people didn’t endure back then” is obviously inflammatory. (And some gross academics have indeed argued just that.) The basic idea is that there is no neat 1-to-1 translation system of our current sexuality spectrum to the ancient spectrum, and our modern day realities can’t be imported backwards. However, this leads us to…
2. Language issues.
We don’t really have specific terms for much of the ancient spectrum, so we have to use up-to-date words, which results in people applying their current conceptions. But wai
Breath of My Life
The Cherish Letters of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Marcus Cornelius Fronto
Excerpts from My Precious Boy: Gay Love Letters through the Centuries (1998), Edited by Rictor Norton
The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121�80) is not cited as one of the "great queens of history", for he was noted as a model husband and father and an advocate of the virtues of heterosexual marriage. In his famous Meditations, written towards the end of his life, he recorded that he learned from his father "to suppress all passion for youthful men", although as Emperor he instituted no official sanctions against homosexuality, other than to refuse to acknowledge the existence of Antinous, boyfriend of his patron the Emperor Hadrian. But Marcus's life was not always so zealous. Hadrian adopted Marcus in 138 AD after the early death of his father, and appointed Marcus Cornelius Fronto as his tutor. Fronto was born in Numidia around 95 AD, studied in Alexandria, and was to turn into a Consul in 143, becoming famous as an advocate and orator, and a teacher of l The gentleman later generations looked assist to as the utopian Roman emperor had a complicated path to the throne. Born in Rome in AD 121 as Marcus Annius Verus, he came of a family that combined a distinguished record of service to Rome with enormous wealth. His father died when the little boy was only about three and his grandfather took accuse of him. He afterwards wrote that from his father’s reputation and such memories as Marcus had of him he learned manliness and moderation. He said that, before his mother also died new, she taught him to be pious, eat only plain food and steer clear of rich people’s ways. Marcus early attracted the attention of the Emperor Hadrian, who made a pun on the entitle Verus to call him Verissimus (‘most truthful’). Hadrian had been the adopted son of the Emperor Trajan and now, a homosexual, he himself had no son and needed to adopt a successor. In AD 136, to general disapproval, he chose a man named Lucius Aelius as Caesar. To clear the way, Hadrian ordered all other potential claimants to commit suicide. He then had Marcus betrothed to the recent Caesar’s daughter. Aelius Caesar died only tw “Marcus Aurelius in Love is an important text, the significance of which Amy Richlin is the first to fully appreciate. She has discovered something that was lying right out in the open, for anyone who chose to cast a glance in a certain out-of-the-way corner. The neglected letters that survived between the young Marcus Aurelius, the future emperor of Rome, and his tutor in rhetoric, the great orator Marcus Cornelius Fronto, are a register of the passionate care they felt for each other. Richlin’s fine literal translation and eloquent introduction make this collection crucial for any scholar of the history of sexuality or classics.” David Konstan | Brown University “These new translations of letters between the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his mentor Fronto, brilliantly edited by Amy Richlin, throw a tantalizing light on the intimate relations between men in the late Antonine period in Rome, hovering as they do between ardent utterance of affection and playful amorousness.” Louis Crompton | creator of Homosexuality and Civilization “Whether one interprets them as . Marcus Aurelius becomes Emperor of Rome
Marcus Aurelius in Love
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