Challenging Gender Norms: Quintus Hortensius, Aulus Gellius Attic Nights I.5.2-3

Hortensius, Out Loud and Proud

Name: Aulus Gellius  Date: 125 – 180 CE Region:  Rome [modern Italy] Citation:  Athenian Nights 1.5.2-3

With the exception of Cicero, Quintus Hortensius was more famous than nearly all of the politicians of his time period. Because he wore lavish, meticulously arranged outfits, and because he used over-the-top hand gestures, he was slandered with curses and accusations of impropriety. A lot of people said that he performed like an actor even when he was in the courthouse and at trial.  There was one time when Lucius Torquatus, a boorish and inelegant man, was working on Sulla’s case, and made a bitter comment about Hortensius in court. Not only did he call him an actor, but also called him the name of the famous actress Dionysia.  Hortensius responded with a soft and condescending tone, “Dionysia? I would rather be Dionysia [loved by Dionysus] than you, Torquatus, who are unloved by the Muses, Aphrodite, or Dionysus.”

Hortensius, Out Loud and Proud

Q. Hortensius omnibus ferme oratoribus aetatis suae, nisi M. Tullio, clarior, quod multa munditia et circumspecte compositeque indutus et amictus esset manusque eius inter agendum forent argutae admodum et gestuosae, maledictis compellationibusque probris iactatus est, multaque in eum, quasi in histrionem, in ipsis causis atque iudiciis dicta sunt. Sed cum L. Torquatus, subagresti homo ingenio et infestivo, gravius acerbiusque apud consilium iudicum, cum de causa Sullae quaereretur, non iam histrionem eum esse diceret, sed gesticulariam Dionysiamque eum notissimae saltatriculae nomine appellaret, tum voce molli atque demissa Hortensius “Dionysia,” inquit “Dionysia malo equidem esse quam quod tu, Torquate, amousos, anaphroditos, aprosdionysos.”

Aulus Gellius [125 – 180 CE] lived during the 2nd century CE. His work, the Attic Nights, are a collection of anecdotes about literature, history, and grammar.  From internal evidence, we can deduce that he was in the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ social circle, having close friendships with Herodes Atticus and Fronto.