Unmanly Men and Manly Women Crossing the gender boundaries in ancient Rome

Things the Romans found unmanly

Women the Romans found manly

Catullus 16 I'll jam it up your butt and down your throat, effeminate Aurelius and unmanly Furius, you who've deduced from my little poems, because they're somewhat soft and sensual, that I'm not quite proper. I'll admit that the dutiful poet ought to be modest of behavior himself, but there's no need for his poems to be — those only have wit and charm if they are somewhat soft and sensual and not quite proper and have something in them that might arouse an itch, not in boys, but in those shaggy gray-beards who can scarcely move their sluggish members. You two, because of what you read about those many thousands of kisses, do you think me less than a man? I'll jam it up your butt and down your throat.

Catullus 16.1-2 “I'll jam it up your butt and down your throat, effeminate Aurelius and unmanly Furius,” Aurelius and Furius are cinaedi Cinaedi = unmales = what a man should not be, someone who deviated from the norm Liked to be passive or unmasculine in sex Not an ordinary Roman male, not a homosexual, but a sexual deviant

Catullus 16.4-8 “you who've deduced from my little poems, because they're somewhat soft and sensual, that I'm not quite proper. I'll admit that the dutiful poet ought to be modest of behavior himself, but there's no need for his poems to be —” Catullus is responding to claims his poetry is “soft” and “sensual” by offering to show both men he is the real man

Catullus 16.9-14 “and have something in them that might arouse an itch, not in boys, but in those shaggy gray-beards who can scarcely move their sluggish members. You two, because of what you read about those many thousands of kisses, do you think me less than a man? I'll jam it up your butt and down your throat.” According to Catullus, passive roles in sexual activity are not acceptable

Agrippina, the wife of Claudius From this point, the empire was changed. All obeyed a woman. But this was a woman without feminine frivolity. She was openly severe and often arrogant. Agrippina's dominance was almost masculine. Tacitus

Agrippina, wife of the emperor Claudius Rejected femimine ideals of virtue Seized power directly Founded her own colony

Agrippina, the mother of the emperor Nero Claudius was served a dish of poisoned mushrooms. He collapsed, teetering on the brink of death, then amazingly began to recover. Horrified, Agrippina quickly enlisted the Emperor's own physician in her crime. While pretending to help Claudius vomit his tainted food, the doctor put a feather dipped in poison down the Emperor's throat.