19/08/2020
In York, there is an unusual second century burial. That was the lesson for Dan Jones who continues his series on “Walking Britain's Roman Roads” on Channel 5Select. The burial is one of three in Britian of a male skeleton buried with very traditionally female grave goods. It is believed that the men whose remains were so interred were probably priests of the cult of Cybele. Originating in the Greek part of the Roman World, the religion saw male priests called Galli who castrated themselves as a sign of devotion to the Goddess and are often referred to in the female pronouns after this ceremony. They were buried with female grave goods. Dan Jones reflected that gender diversity and non confirmity was as much a part of the sophisticated Ancient Roman world as it is in the modern one today.
