> Can you please provide written proof?

Was wikipedia too much of a hassle?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagoras_(freedman) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elagabalus

If you can understand italian I can suggest you Alessandro Barbero's Podcast, it's a pretty famous historian, there are several episodes about the topic.

I know where you're getting at - Not really the modern equivalent, only for the rich part of the population, contrasting opinions from historian at the time, etc.

But frankly the same objections could be raised even about the equally famous "did Ancient romans have running water in their homes?" question, and yet for some weird reason it's a far less controversial topic.