Passing the test of sanctity: denial of sexuality and involuntary castration

This paper is part of a larger project that seeks to explore the development of eunuchs as a gender category in the Byzantine empire. Eunuchs probably represent the ultimate socially constructed gender category, but we should not assume that the social expectations and roles assigned to this category of individual remained consistent over an extended period of time. In fact, if we trace changes in the way this category was constructed we can gain valuable insights into changing social structures and cultural norms within the Byzantine world.