ABSTRACT
The three cases that have been selected throw light on different aspects of transvestism in Rome at the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire. The first two Clodius' and Mark Antony's cases illustrate the political use made against adversaries of an accusation of transvestism. It may also be postulated that Clodius' and Mark Antony's disguises, whether real or imaginary, underline their vice-ridden and passionate natures, thus precluding them from taking their place among their peers in the honourable political assembly. The content that M. Tullius Cicero intends to transmit, aware that the public's willingness to reject Clodius or Mark Antony depends largely on his ability to present them as dangerous and undesirable. At that time, the most effective way to achieve this was to put together a story in which transvestism emerges as an adversary's lifestyle choice. The interpretation given to Nero's behaviour is less straightforward.
