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The Queen of Bithynia ( la, Bithynica regina) was a mock ancient
epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
of
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
referencing his alleged homosexual relationship with King Nicomedes IV of Bithynia. The epithet and related rumour have been repeatedly invoked by several Caesar's contemporaries, such as
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...
, Licinius Calvus,
Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus (c. 102 – 48 BC) was a politician of the Roman Republic. He was a plodding conservative and upholder of the established social order who served in several magisterial positions alongside Julius Caesar and conceived a ...
and Gaius Memmius. Caesar himself denied such allegation under oath.


Background

Around 80 BC, Caesar, then a young man, joined the staff of Marcus Minucius Thermus in Asia for military training. Thermus had been engaged in bringing
Mytilene Mytilene (; el, Μυτιλήνη, Mytilíni ; tr, Midilli) is the capital of the Greek island of Lesbos, and its port. It is also the capital and administrative center of the North Aegean Region, and hosts the headquarters of the University of ...
under Roman control via a siege, and dispatched Caesar to solicit a fleet from allied Bithynian king
Nicomedes IV Nicomedes IV Philopator ( grc-gre, Νικομήδης Φιλοπάτωρ) was the king of Bithynia from c. 94 BC to 74 BC. (''numbered as III. not IV.'') He was the first son and successor of Nicomedes III of Bithynia. Life Memnon of Heraclea wro ...
. According to Suetonius, Caesar dawdled at the Bithynian court, so that a rumour emerged of sexual relationship with Nicomedes. Caesar successfully completed his task of summoning an allied fleet. The rumour was spread further when a few days after his task, Caesar returned to Bithynia. In Roman
rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate partic ...
, with modesty (''
pudicitia Pudicitia ("modesty" or "sexual virtue") was a central concept in ancient Roman sexual ethics. The word is derived from the more general ''pudor'', the sense of shame that regulated an individual's behavior as socially acceptable. ''Pudicitia' ...
'') at the forefront, allegations of passive homosexual activity, along with other
sexual misconduct Sexual misconduct is misconduct of a sexual nature which exists on a spectrum that may include a broad range of sexual behaviors considered unwelcome. This includes conduct considered inappropriate on an individual or societal basis of morality, s ...
, were commonly used against young men, or the youthful period of a man's life. Another example was the trial of
Marcus Caelius Rufus Marcus Caelius Rufus (28 May 82 BC – after 48 BC) was an orator and politician in the late Roman Republic. He was born into a wealthy equestrian family from Interamnia Praetuttiorum (Teramo), on the central east coast of Italy. He is best know ...
, where one of the prosecutors, Sempronius Atratinus, called him a "pretty-boy Jason" (''pulchellus Iason'').


Contemporary uses

Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus used the epithet in the
edicts An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchism, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement". ''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum. Notable edicts * Telepinu Proc ...
he issued during his joint
consulship A consul held the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic ( to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the second-highest level of the ''cursus honorum'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politic ...
with Caesar.
Octavian Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
at a public assembly addressed Pompey as "king" and Caesar as "queen" in their presence. At a debate in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the ...
, when Caesar recalled some benefits Rome had received from Nicomedes, Cicero interrupted him with "we all know what he gave you and what you gave him in return". Consul Gaius Scribonius Curio called Caesar "every man's wife and every woman's husband".Neill, p. 201 Caesar's own soldiers upon victorious return from the
Gallic Wars The Gallic Wars were waged between 58 and 50 BC by the Roman general Julius Caesar against the peoples of Gaul (present-day France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland). Gallic, Germanic, and British tribes fought to defend their ho ...
sang in parade that "Caesar conquered Gaul, but Nicomedes conquered Caesar".


Modern scholarship

Modern biographers of Caesar, such as
Matthias Gelzer Matthias Gelzer (19 December 1886, Liestal – 23 July 1974, Frankfurt am Main) was a Swiss-German classical historian, known for his studies of the Roman Republic in regard to its politics and society. He was the author of highly regarded biog ...
,
Christian Meier Christian Dietrich Meier Zender (born June 23, 1970), best known as Christian Meier, is a Peruvian actor and singer in Latin America, the US Hispanic market, and around the Spanish speaking world. Biography Meier was born in Lima, Peru, the yo ...
or Antony Kamm acknowledge the episode, mainly supporting Suetonius' notion that Caesar's stay at the Nicomedes' court directly caused allegations of a sexual relationship.
Adrian Goldsworthy Adrian Keith Goldsworthy (; born 1969) is a British historian and novelist who specialises in ancient Roman history. Education Adrian Goldsworthy attended Westbourne School, Penarth. He then read Ancient and Modern History at St John's College, ...
characterized it as "a very good piece of gossip, playing on well-established Roman stereotypes".


References

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See also

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Caesar's wife must be above suspicion Pompeia ('' fl.'' 1st century BC) was the second or third wife of Julius Caesar. Biography Early life Pompeia's parents were Quintus Pompeius Rufus, a son of a former consul, and Cornelia, the daughter of the Roman dictator Sulla. Marriage Cae ...
*
Homosexuality in ancient Rome Homosexuality in ancient Rome often differs markedly from the contemporary West. Latin lacks words that would precisely translate "homosexual" and "heterosexual". The primary dichotomy of ancient Roman sexuality was active/ dominant/masculine ...
Julius Caesar Epithets Satire Sexuality in ancient Rome Ancient LGBT history Gay history