Romans & dIVERSITY
The Roman Kingdom, Commonwealth and then Empire were, in many ways, deeply misogynistic and modern sexual/gender identities cannot be applied to people existing at a time and in a culture with its own separate conceptions of these elements of human nature.
Roman Society gave us the concept of patriarchy
Claimants to the Empire were blinded, purposefully, to disqualify them from taking the throne
In Primary school materials Rome can seem like, religious pluralism aside, a period very distant from our modern society:
Where able-bodied, neurotypical, white men in togas and monogamous marriages,
strutted about winning battles and making western society…
But, that isn’t the whole story; Roman History has many powerful women, many men unable to exercise any authority
Whether it’s getting divorced three times by the age of 22, living in a thruple or marriage across class and ethnic divisions some Romans did it and left us the records
