Is the past a foreign country? An historical debate over the gender identity of a teenage emperor has hit the mainstream — and could reshape how we see the ancient world.
The Roman emperor who was a trans woman
Bitter end: Elagabalus was murdered by his own soldiers and replaced with his cousin. Glossary
Assassinated - Murdered for political ends. The word is thought to derive from the name given to a Shia Muslim sect based in medieval Persia, the Hashshashin, who carried out high-profile murders of important leaders.
Gender reassignment surgery - A range of surgeries that some transgender people choose to have so that their body matches the gender they identify with.
Vestal Virgin - Roman women who were chosen as children to tend the fire in the temple of the goddess Vesta. They had to serve for 30 years and remain virgins in that time.
Whoopee cushion - A rubber cushion that makes a sound like the breaking of wind when someone sits on it.
Ahistorical - Lacking historical perspective or context.
Anachronistic - Something belonging to the wrong time period.
Courtesans - Women who had sexual relationships with wealthy and powerful men, normally for money.
LP Hartley - A British novelist, born in 1895.
Libel - A false written statement about someone that damages their reputation.
Patriarchal - A society in which adult men have a monopoly on power. In these societies, men tend to hold all political positions, and women and children are also expected to obey the men in their families.
Chauvinists - People who have unreasonable belief in the superiority of their own group, particularly men prejudiced against women.