Elagabalus is largely known from accounts by the contemporary senatorCassius Dio who was strongly hostile to him,Herodian, who likely relied extensively on Dio, and the much laterHistoria Augusta. The reliability of the accounts of Cassius Dio and theHistoria Augusta, particularly their most salacious elements, has been strongly questioned.[5][6] Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions. He brought the cult of Elagabal (including the largebaetyl stone that represented the god) to Rome, making it a prominent part of religious life in the city. He forced leading members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating this deity, presiding over them in person. According to the accounts of Cassius Dio and theAugusta, he married four women, including aVestal Virgin, in addition to lavishing favours on male courtiers they suggested to have been his lovers,[7][8] and prostituted himself.[9] His behaviour estranged thePraetorian Guard, theSenate, and the common people alike. Amidst growing opposition, at just 18 years of age he was assassinated and replaced by his cousinSeverus Alexander in March 222. The assassination plot against Elagabalus was devised by Julia Maesa and carried out by disaffected members of the Praetorian Guard.
Elagabalus developed a posthumous reputation for extremeeccentricity,decadence, zealotry, and sexual promiscuity. Among writers of the early modern age, he endured one of the worst reputations among Roman emperors.Edward Gibbon, notably, wrote that Elagabalus "abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures with ungoverned fury".[10] According toBarthold Georg Niebuhr, "the name of Elagabalus is branded in history above all others; [...] "Elagabalus had nothing at all to make up for his vices, which are of such a kind that it is too disgusting even to allude to them".[11] An example of a modern historian's assessment isAdrian Goldsworthy's: "Elagabalus was not a tyrant, but he was an incompetent, probably the least able emperor Rome had ever had".[12] Despite near-universal condemnation of his reign, some scholars write warmly about his religious innovations, including the 6th-century Byzantine chroniclerJohn Malalas, as well asWarwick Ball, a modern historian who described him as "a tragic enigma lost behind centuries of prejudice".[13]
Modern scholars have questioned the accuracy of Roman accounts of his reign, with suggestions that the reports of his salacious behaviour and sexual excess likely reflected a desire to politically discredit him in the immediate aftermath of his death, as well as reflecting Roman stereotypes regarding people fromthe Orient as effeminate.[5][6][14]
Elagabalus was born in 203 or 204,[b] toSextus Varius Marcellus andJulia Soaemias Bassiana,[17] who had probably married around the year 200 (and no later than 204).[18][19] Elagabalus's full birth name was probably (Sextus) Varius Avitus Bassianus,[c] the last name being apparently acognomen of theEmesene dynasty.[20] Marcellus was anequestrian, later elevated to asenatorial position.[17][21][18] Julia Soaemias was a cousin of the emperorCaracalla, and there were rumors (which Soaemias later publicly supported) that Elagabalus was Caracalla's child.[21][22]
Elagabalus's family held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the sun godElagabal, of whom Elagabalus was thehigh priest at Emesa (modernHoms) inRoman Syria as part of the ArabEmesene dynasty.[25] The deity's Latin name, "Elagabalus", is a Latinized version of theArabic إِلٰهُ الْجَبَلِIlāh al-Jabal, fromilāh ("god") andjabal ("mountain"), meaning "God of the Mountain",[26] the Emesene manifestation ofBa'al.[27]
Initially venerated at Emesa, the deity's cult spread to other parts of the Roman Empire in the second century; a dedication has been found as far away asWoerden (in theNetherlands), near the Romanlimes.[28] The god was later imported to Rome and assimilated with the sun god known asSol Indiges in the era of theRoman Republic and asSol Invictus during the late third century.[29] In Greek, the sun god isHelios, hence Elagabal was later known as "Heliogabalus", a hybrid of "Helios" and "Elagabalus".[30]
Rise to power
Herodian writes that when the emperorMacrinus came to power, he suppressed the threat to his reign from the family of his assassinated predecessor, Caracalla, by exiling them—Julia Maesa, her two daughters, and her eldest grandson Elagabalus—to their estate at Emesa inSyria.[31] Almost upon arrival in Syria, Maesa began a plot with her advisor and Elagabalus's tutor,Gannys, to overthrow Macrinus and elevate the fourteen-year-old Elagabalus to the imperial throne.[31]
Maesa spread a rumor, which Soaemias publicly supported, that Elagabalus was the illegitimate child of Caracalla[22][32] and so deserved the loyalty of Roman soldiers and senators who had sworn allegiance to Caracalla.[33] The soldiers of theThird LegionGallica atRaphana, who had enjoyed greater privileges under Caracalla and resented Macrinus (and may have been impressed or bribed by Maesa's wealth), supported this claim.[21][32][34] At sunrise on 16 May 218,[35] Elagabalus was declared emperor byPublius Valerius Comazon, commander of the legion.[36] To strengthen his legitimacy, Elagabalus adopted the same name Caracalla bore as emperor, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.[37][38] Cassius Dio states that some officers tried to keep the soldiers loyal to Macrinus, but they were unsuccessful.[21]
Reverse of anaureus of Elagabalus, marked:salus antoniniaug· ("the Health of Antoninus Augustus")
Praetorian prefect Ulpius Julianus responded by attacking the Third Legion, most likely on Macrinus's orders (though one account says he acted on his own before Macrinus knew of the rebellion).[39] Herodian suggests Macrinus underestimated the threat, considering the rebellion inconsequential.[40] During the fighting, Julianus's soldiers killed their officers and joined Elagabalus's forces.[37]
Macrinus asked theRoman Senate to denounce Elagabalus as "the False Antoninus", and they complied,[41] declaring war on Elagabalus and his family.[34] Macrinus made his sonDiadumenian co-emperor, and attempted to secure the loyalty of theSecond Legion with large cash payments.[42][43] During a banquet to celebrate this atApamea, however, a messenger presented Macrinus with the severed head of his defeated prefect Julianus.[42][43][44] Macrinus therefore retreated toAntioch, after which the Second Legion shifted its loyalties to Elagabalus.[42][43]
Elagabalus's legionaries, commanded by Gannys, defeated Macrinus and Diadumenian and their Praetorian Guard at theBattle of Antioch on 8 June 218, prevailing when Macrinus's troops broke ranks after he fled the battlefield.[45] Macrinus made for Italy, but was intercepted nearChalcedon and executed inCappadocia, while Diadumenian was captured atZeugma and executed.[42]
That month, Elagabalus wrote to the Senate, assuming the imperial titles without waiting for senatorial approval,[46] which violated tradition but was a common practice among third-century emperors.[47] Letters of reconciliation were dispatched toRome extendingamnesty to the Senate and recognizing its laws, while also condemning the administration of Macrinus and his son.[48]
The senators responded by acknowledging Elagabalus as emperor and accepting his claim to be the son of Caracalla.[47] Elagabalus was made consul for the year 218 in the middle of June.[49] Caracalla and Julia Domna were bothdeified by the Senate, both Julia Maesa and Julia Soaemias were elevated to the rank ofAugustae,[50] and the memory of Macrinus was expunged by the Senate.[47] (Elagabalus's imperial artifacts assert that he succeeded Caracalla directly.)[51] Comazon was appointed commander of the Praetorian Guard.[52][53] Elagabalus was namedPater Patriae by the Senate before 13 July 218.[49] On 14 July, Elagabalus was inducted into the colleges of all the Roman priesthoods, including theCollege of Pontiffs, of which he was namedpontifex maximus.[49]
Elagabalus stayed for a time at Antioch, apparently to quell various mutinies.[54] Dio outlines several, which historianFergus Millar places prior to the winter of 218–219.[55] These included one byGellius Maximus, who commanded theFourth Legion and was executed,[55] and one byVerus, who commanded the Third LegionGallica, which was disbanded once the revolt was put down.[56]
Next, according to Herodian, Elagabalus and his entourage spent the winter of 218–219 inBithynia atNicomedia, and then traveled through Thrace andMoesia to Italy in the first half of 219,[54] the year of Elagabalus's second consulship.[49] Herodian says that Elagabalus had a painting of himself sent ahead to Rome to be hung over a statue of the goddessVictoria in theSenate House so people would not be surprised by his Eastern garb, but it is unclear if such a painting actually existed, and Dio does not mention it.[57][58] If the painting was indeed hung over Victoria, it put senators in the position of seeming to make offerings to Elagabalus when they made offerings to Victoria.[56]
On his way to Rome, Elagabalus and his allies executed several prominent supporters of Macrinus, such as Syrian governor Fabius Agrippinus and former Thracian governor C. Claudius Attalus Paterculianus.[59] Arriving at the imperial capital in August or September 219, Elagabalus staged anadventus, a ceremonial entrance to the city.[49] In Rome, his offer of amnesty for the Roman upper class was largely honored, though thejuristUlpian was exiled.[60] Elagabalus made Comazonpraetorian prefect, and laterconsul (220) and prefect of the city (three times, 220–222), which Dio regarded as a violation of Roman norms.[59] Elagabalus himself held a consulship for the third year in a row in 220.[49] Herodian and theAugustan History say that Elagabalus alienated many by giving powerful positions to other allies.[61]
He developed the imperial palace atHorti Spei Veteris with the inclusion of the nearby land inherited from his fatherSextus Varius Marcellus. Elagabalus made it his favourite retreat and designed it (as for Nero's Domus Aurea project) as a vast suburban villa divided into various building and landscape nuclei with theAmphitheatrum Castrense which he built and theCircus Varianus hippodrome[62] fired by his unbridled passion for circuses and his habit of driving chariots inside the villa. He raced chariots under the family name of Varius.[63]
Dio states that Elagabalus wanted to marry a charioteer namedHierocles and to declare himcaesar,[55] just as (Dio says) he had previously wanted to marry Gannys and name himcaesar.[55] The athleteAurelius Zoticus is said by Dio to have been Elagabalus's lover andcubicularius (a non-administrative role), while theAugustan History says Zoticus was a husband to Elagabalus and held greater political influence.[64]
Elagabalus's relationships to his mother Julia Soaemias and grandmother Julia Maesa were strong at first; they were influential supporters from the beginning, and Macrinus declared war on them as well as Elagabalus.[65] Accordingly, they became the first women allowed into the Senate,[66] and both received senatorial titles: Soaemias the established title ofClarissima, and Maesa the more unorthodoxMater Castrorum et Senatus ("Mother of the army camp and of the Senate").[50] They exercised influence over the young emperor throughout his reign, and are found on many coins and inscriptions, a rare honour for Roman women.[67]
Under Elagabalus, the gradual devaluation of Romanaurei anddenarii continued (with the silver purity of thedenarius dropping from 58% to 46.5%),[68] thoughantoniniani had a higher metal content than under Caracalla.[69]
Religious controversy
Reverse of anaureus of Elagabalus, with thebaetyl transported in aquadriga. Inscription:sanct· deo solielagabal· ("to the Holy Sun God El-Gabal")Thebaetyl of Elgabal back in its home temple at Emesa, on a coin ofUranius
Since the reign ofSeptimius Severus,sun worship had increased throughout the Empire.[70] At the end of 220, Elagabalus instatedElagabal as the chief deity of theRoman pantheon, possibly on the date of thewinter solstice.[49] In his official titulature, Elagabalus was then entitled inLatin:sacerdos amplissimus dei invicti Soli Elagabali, pontifex maximus,lit. 'highest priest of the unconquered god, the Sun Elgabal, supreme pontiff'.[49] That a foreign god should be honored aboveJupiter, with Elagabalus himself as chief priest, shocked many Romans.[71]
As a token of respect for Roman religion, however, Elagabalus joined eitherAstarte,Minerva,Urania, or some combination of the three to Elagabal as consort.[72] A union between Elagabal and a traditional goddess would have served to strengthen ties between the new religion and the imperial cult. There may have been an effort to introduce Elagabal, Urania, and Athena as the newCapitoline Triad of Rome—replacing Jupiter,Juno, and Minerva.[73]
He aroused further discontent when he married theVestal VirginAquilia Severa, Vesta's high priestess, claiming the marriage would produce "godlike children".[74] This was a flagrant breach of Roman law and tradition, which held that any Vestal found to have engaged in sexual intercourse was to beburied alive.[75]
A lavish temple called theElagabalium was built on the east face of thePalatine Hill to house Elagabal,[76] who was represented by a black conicalmeteorite from Emesa.[48] This was abaetyl.Herodian wrote "this stone is worshipped as though it were sent from heaven; on it there are some small projecting pieces and markings that are pointed out, which the people would like to believe are a rough picture of the sun, because this is how they see them".[77]
Dio writes that in order to increase his piety as high priest of Elagabal atop a new Roman pantheon, Elagabalus had himselfcircumcised and swore toabstain from swine.[76] He forced senators to watch while he danced circling the altar of Elagabal to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals.[77] Each summersolstice he held a festival dedicated to the god, which became popular with the masses because of the free food distributed on these occasions.[78] During this festival, Elagabalus placed the black stone on achariot adorned with gold and jewels, which he paraded through the city:[79]
A six horse chariot carried the divinity, the horses huge and flawlessly white, with expensive gold fittings and rich ornaments. No one held the reins, and no one rode in the chariot; the vehicle was escorted as if the god himself were the charioteer. Elagabalus ran backward in front of the chariot, facing the god and holding the horses' reins. He made the whole journey in this reverse fashion, looking up into the face of his god.[80]
The most sacred relics from the Roman religion were transferred from their respective shrines to the Elagabalium, including the emblem of theGreat Mother, the fire ofVesta, theShields of theSalii, and thePalladium, so that no other god could be worshipped except in association with Elagabal.[81] Although his native cult was widely ridiculed by contemporaries, sun-worship was popular among the soldiers and would be promoted by several later emperors.[82]
Marriages, sexual orientation and gender identity
Denarius depictingAquilia Severa, the second wife of Elagabalus. The marriage caused a public outrage because Aquilia was aVestal Virgin, sworn by Roman law tocelibacy for 30 years. Inscription:iulia aquilia severaaug·
The question of Elagabalus'ssexual orientation andgender identity is disputed, owing to salacious and unreliable sources.Cassius Dio states that Elagabalus was married five times (twice to the same woman).[57] His first wife wasJulia Cornelia Paula, whom he married prior to 29 August 219; between then and 28 August 220, he divorced Paula, took theVestal VirginJulia Aquilia Severa as his second wife, divorced her,[57][83] and took a third wife, who Herodian says wasAnnia Aurelia Faustina, a descendant ofMarcus Aurelius and the widow of a man Elagabalus had recently executed, Pomponius Bassus.[57] In the last year of his reign, Elagabalus divorced Annia Faustina and remarried Aquilia Severa.[57]
Dio states that another "husband of this woman [Elagabalus] wasHierocles", an ex-slave andchariot driver fromCaria.[8][84] TheHistoria Augusta claims that Elagabalus also married a man namedZoticus, an athlete fromSmyrna, while Dio says only that Zoticus was hiscubicularius.[8][85] Dio says that Elagabalusprostituted himself in taverns and brothels.[9]
Some writers suggest that Elagabalus may have identified as female or beentransgender, and may have soughtsex reassignment surgery.[86][87][88][89][90] Dio says Elagabalus delighted in being called Hierocles's mistress, wife, and queen.[88] The emperor reportedly wore makeup and wigs, preferred to be called a lady and not a lord, and supposedly offered vast sums to any physician who could provide him with a vagina by means of incision (Cassius Dio,Roman History, 80.16.7).[88][91] Some historians, including the classicistsMary Beard, Zachary Herz, and Martijn Icks, treat these accounts with caution, as sources for Elagabalus' life were often antagonistic towards him and largely untrustworthy.[92][93]
Fall from power
Elagabalus stoked the animus of Roman elites and thePraetorian Guard through his perceptibly foreign conduct and his religious provocations.[94] When Elagabalus's grandmother Julia Maesa perceived that popular support for the emperor was waning, she decided that he and his mother, who had encouraged his religious practices, had to be replaced. As alternatives, she turned to her other daughter,Julia Avita Mamaea, and her daughter's son, the fifteen-year-oldSeverus Alexander.[95]
Prevailing on Elagabalus, she arranged that he appoint his cousin Alexander as his heir and that the boy be given the title ofcaesar.[95] Alexander was elevated tocaesar in June 221, possibly on 26 June.[49] Elagabalus and Alexander were each namedconsul designatus for the following year, probably on 1 July.[49] Elagabalus took up his fourth consulship for the year of 222.[49] Alexander shared the consulship with the emperor that year.[95] However, Elagabalus reconsidered this arrangement when he began to suspect that the Praetorian Guard preferred his cousin to himself.[96]
Elagabalus ordered various attempts on Alexander's life,[97] after failing to obtain approval from the Senate for stripping Alexander of his shared title.[98] According to Dio, Elagabalus invented the rumor that Alexander was near death, in order to see how the Praetorians would react.[99] A riot ensued, and the Guard demanded to see Elagabalus and Alexander in thePraetorian camp.[99]
On 13 March,[d] the emperor complied and publicly presented his cousin along with his own mother, Julia Soaemias. On their arrival the soldiers started cheering Alexander while ignoring Elagabalus, who ordered thesummary arrest and execution of anyone who had taken part in this display of insubordination.[101] In response, members of thePraetorian Guard attacked Elagabalus and his mother:
He made an attempt to flee, and would have got away somewhere by being placed in a chest had he not been discovered and slain, at the age of eighteen. His mother, who embraced him and clung tightly to him, perished with him; their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped naked, were first dragged all over the city, and then the mother's body was cast aside somewhere or other, while his was thrown into theTiber.[102]
Following his assassination, many associates of Elagabalus were killed or deposed. His loverHierocles was executed.[99] His religious edicts were reversed and the stone of Elagabal was sent back toEmesa.[103] Women were again barred from attending meetings of the Senate.[104] The practice ofdamnatio memoriae—erasing from the public record a disgraced personage formerly of note—was systematically applied in his case.[49][105] Several images, including an over-life-size statue of him asHercules now in Naples, were re-carved with the face of Alexander Severus.[106]
The historianCassius Dio, who lived from the second half of the second century until sometime after 229, wrote a contemporary account of Elagabalus. Born into apatrician family, Dio spent the greater part of his life in public service. He was a senator under emperorCommodus and governor ofSmyrna after the death ofSeptimius Severus, and then he served as suffect consul around 205, and as proconsul inAfrica andPannonia.[107]
Dio'sRoman History spans nearly amillennium, from the arrival ofAeneas in Italy until the year 229. His contemporaneous account of Elagabalus's reign is generally considered more reliable than theAugustan History or other accounts for this general time period,[108][109] though by his own admission Dio spent the greater part of the relevant period outside of Rome and had to rely on second-hand information.[107]
Furthermore, the political climate in the aftermath of Elagabalus's reign, as well as Dio's own position within the government of Severus Alexander, who held him in high esteem and made him consul again, likely influenced the truth of this part of his history for the worse. Dio regularly refers to Elagabalus asSardanapalus, partly to distinguish him from his divine namesake,[110] but chiefly to do his part in maintaining thedamnatio memoriae and to associate him with another autocrat notorious for a dissolute life.[111]
Historian Clare Rowan calls Dio's account a mixture of reliable information and "literary exaggeration", noting that Elagabalus's marriages and time as consul are confirmed by numismatic and epigraphic records.[112] In other instances, Dio's account is inaccurate, such as when he says Elagabalus appointed entirely unqualified officials and that Comazon had no military experience before being named to head the Praetorian Guard,[113] when in fact Comazon had commanded the Third Legion.[52][53] Dio also gives different accounts in different places of when and by whom Diadumenian (whose forces Elagabalus fought) was given imperial names and titles.[114] Martin Icks has written that "It is clear that Dio was not attempting an accurate portrayal of the emperor", an assessment endorsed by Josiah Osgood, who described it as "put[ting] it mildly".[5]
Herodian
Reverse of anaureus of Elagabalus, marked: fides exercitus ("the Faith of the Army")
Arrizabalaga writes that Herodian is in most ways "less detailed and punctilious than Dio",[116] and he is deemed less reliable by many modern scholars, though Rowan considers his account of Elagabalus's reign more reliable than Dio's[112] and Herodian's lack of literary and scholarly pretensions are considered to make him less biased than senatorial historians.[117] He is considered an important source for the religious reforms which took place during the reign of Elagabalus,[118] which have been confirmed bynumismatic[119][120] andarchaeological evidence.[121]
Augustan History
The source of many stories of Elagabalus's depravity is theHistoria Augusta, which includes controversial claims.[122] It is most likely that theHistoria Augusta was written towards the end of the fourth century, during the reign of emperorTheodosius I.[123] The account of Elagabalus in theHistoria Augusta is of uncertain historical merit.[124] Sections 13 to 17, relating to the fall of Elagabalus, are less controversial among historians.[125] The author of the most scandalous stories in theHistoria Augusta concedes that "both these matters and some others which pass belief were, I think, invented by people who wanted to depreciate Heliogabalus to win favour with Alexander".[13] TheHistoria Augusta is widely regarded to have been written by a single author who used multiple pseudonyms throughout the work, and has been described as a "fantasist" who invented large parts of his historical accounts.[6]
For readers of the modern age,The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire byEdward Gibbon (1737–1794) further cemented the scandalous reputation of Elagabalus. Gibbon not only accepted and expressed outrage at the allegations of the ancient historians, but he might have added some details of his own; for example, he is the first historian known to claim thatGannys was aeunuch.[126] Gibbon wrote:
To confound the order of the season and climate, to sport with the passions and prejudices of his subjects, and to subvert every law of nature and decency, were in the number of his most delicious amusements. A long train of concubines, and a rapid succession of wives, among whom was a vestal virgin, ravished by force from her sacred asylum, were insufficient to satisfy the impotence of his passions. The master of the Roman world affected to copy the manners and dress of the female sex, preferring the distaff to the sceptre, and dishonored the principal dignities of the empire by distributing them among his numerous lovers; one of whom was publicly invested with the title and authority of the emperor's, or, as he more properly styled himself, the empress's husband. It may seem probable, the vices and follies of Elagabalus have been adorned by fancy, and blackened by prejudice. Yet, confining ourselves to the public scenes displayed before the Roman people, and attested by grave and contemporary historians, their inexpressible infamy surpasses that of any other age or country.[127]
The 20th-century anthropologistJames George Frazer (author ofThe Golden Bough) took seriously the monotheistic aspirations of the emperor, but also ridiculed him: "The dainty priest of the Sun [was] the most abandoned reprobate who ever sat upon a throne ... It was the intention of this eminently religious but crack-brained despot to supersede the worship of all the gods, not only at Rome but throughout the world, by the single worship of Elagabalus or the Sun".[128]The first book-length biography wasThe Amazing Emperor Heliogabalus[129] (1911) by J. Stuart Hay, "a serious and systematic study"[130] more sympathetic than that of previous historians, which nonetheless stressed theexoticism of Elagabalus, calling his reign one of "enormous wealth and excessive prodigality, luxury and aestheticism, carried to their ultimate extreme, and sensuality in all the refinements of its Eastern habit".[131]
Some recent historians paint a more favourable picture of the emperor's rule. Martijn Icks, inImages of Elagabalus (2008; republished asThe Crimes of Elagabalus in 2011 and 2012), doubts the reliability of the ancient sources and argues that it was the emperor's unorthodox religious policies that alienated the power elite of Rome, to the point that his grandmother saw fit to eliminate him and replace him with his cousin. He described ancient stories pertaining to the emperor as "part of a long tradition of 'character assassination' in ancient historiography and biography".[132]
Leonardo de Arrizabalaga y Prado, inThe Emperor Elagabalus: Fact or Fiction? (2008), is also critical of the ancient historians and speculates that neither religion nor sexuality played a role in the fall of the young emperor. Prado instead suggests Elagabalus was the loser in a power struggle within the imperial family, that the loyalty of the Praetorian Guards was up for sale, and that Julia Maesa had the resources to outmaneuver and outbribe her grandson. In this version of events, once Elagabalus, his mother, and his immediate circle had been murdered, a campaign of character assassination began, resulting in a grotesque caricature that has persisted to the present day.[133] Other historians, including Icks, criticized Prado for being overly skeptical of primary sources.[134]
Warwick Ball, in his bookRome in the East, writes an apologetic account of the emperor, arguing that descriptions of his religious rites were exaggerated and should be dismissed as propaganda, similar to how pagan descriptions of Christian rites have since been dismissed. Ball describes the emperor's ritual processions as sound political and religious policy, arguing thatsyncretism of eastern and western deities deserves praise rather than ridicule. Ultimately, he paints Elagabalus as a child forced to become emperor who, as expected of the high-priest of a cult, continued his rituals even after becoming emperor. Ball justified Elagabalus's executions of prominent Roman figures who criticized his religious activities in the same way. Finally, Ball asserts Elagabalus's eventual victory in the sense that his deity would be welcomed by Rome in itsSol Invictus form 50 years later. Ball claims that Sol Invictus came to influence the monotheist Christian beliefs ofConstantine, asserting that this influence remains in Christianity to this day.[135]
Cultural references
Despite the attempteddamnatio memoriae, stories about Elagabalus survived and figured in many works of art and literature.[136] In Spanish, his name became a word for "glutton",heliogábalo.[136][137] Due to the ancient stories about him, he often appears in literature and other creative media as a decadent figure (becoming something of an anti-hero in theDecadent movement of the late 19th century, and inspiring many famous works of art, especially by Decadents)[89] and the epitome of a young, amoralaesthete. The most notable of these works include:[138]
Fiction
Illustration byAuguste Leroux for the 1902 edition ofJean Lombard'sL'agonie showing the migration of thebaetyl of Elgabal, though with the emperor riding rather than leading the god's chariot
The Legends, a dance performed bySebastian Droste as Heliogabalus, as part of theDances of Vice, Horror and Ecstasy performance staged by Droste andAnita Berber in 1923[146]
Artaud (1973), an album released by Argentine bandPescado Rabioso, particularly the track "Cantata de Puentes Amarillos", was heavily influenced by Antonin Artaud's book,Héliogabale ou l'Anarchiste couronné, as well as the life of Heliogabalus.[149]
The Pale Emperor (2015), an album by American musicianMarilyn Manson, was inspired by the life of Heliogabalus and more specifically Antonin Artaud's book[150][151]
The Roses of Heliogabalus (1888), by the Anglo-Dutch academician SirLawrence Alma-Tadema, depicts one of the most notorious incidents laid to Elagabalus's account, an extravagant dinner party in which guests were smothered under a mass of "violets and other flowers" dropped from above.[152]
In "He 'Digesteth Harde Yron'" American poetMarianne Moore describes a banquet at which Elagabalus served six hundred ostrich brains, a detail she found in George Jennison's bookAnimals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome.
Elagabalus is the subject of the 1911 French short historical dramaA Roman Orgy, in which he sets a pride of lions on an unfortunate slave.[154][155][156]
^The first known instance is in theChronograph of 354, in the list of emperors in the section titledChronica Urbis Romae, where he is called "Antoninus Elagaballus".[4]
^Herodian, who lived during Elagabalus' reign, writes that he and Alexander were "about fourteen and ten, respectively" in May 218.[15] TheEpitome de Caesaribus, written over a century later, states that "he lived sixteen years", while Alexander died in his "twenty-sixth year".[16] Only the latter figure coincides with Herodian, and it is unclear if they are using regular orinclusive counting.
^Dio, 80.3.3 writes that he ruled "three years, nine months and four days during which he ruled,—reckoning from the battle in which he gained the supreme power". However, he's most likely not counting to Elagabalus' death, but to the official accession of his successor. Alexander was proclaimedimperator by the army in 13 March and was namedaugustus by the Senate in 14 March, as attested in theFeriale Duranum. Given Dio's account, Elagabalus' murder and Alexander's first acclamation almost certainly took place on 13 March.[100]
^The Journal of Juristic Papyrology, volume 23, p. 116: "und mit palmyrenischer Inschrift "Gott Berg" steht die umstrittene Etymologie des Namens "Elagabal" (ilah ha-gabal) fest"
^abBenario, Herbert W. (1959). "The Titulature of Julia Soaemias and Julia Mamaea: Two Notes".Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association.90. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 90:9–14.doi:10.2307/283691.JSTOR283691.
^Barbera, M. (2000). "Dagli Horti Spei Veteris al Palatium Sessorianum," in Aurea Roma: Dalla Città Pagana alla Città Cristiana, eds S. Ensoli and E. La Rocca (Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider, 104–112.
^abcVarner, Eric (2008). "Transcending Gender: Assimilation, Identity, and Roman Imperial Portraits".Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. Supplementary Volume.7. Ann Arbor:University of Michigan Press:200–201.ISSN1940-0977.JSTOR40379354.OCLC263448435.Elagabalus is also alleged to have appeared as Venus and to have depilated his entire body. ... Dio recounts an exchange between Elagabalus and the well-endowed Aurelius Zoticus: when Zoticus addressed the emperor as 'my lord,' Elagabalus responded, 'Don't call me lord, I am a lady.' Dio concludes his anecdote by having Elagabalus asking his physicians to give him the equivalent of a woman's vagina by means of a surgical incision.
^abGodbout, Louis (2004)."Elagabalus"(PDF).GLBTQ: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture. Chicago: glbtq, Inc.Archived(PDF) from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved6 August 2007.
^Maggie L. Popkin,The Architecture of the Roman Triumph (2016), p. 170: "[of] Cassius Dio, Herodian, and theHistorian Augusta[,] Dio is generally considered our most reliable source for this period [the Severan era]"
^Martin M. Winkler,The Fall of the Roman Empire: Film and History (2012), p. 63: "Dio, a close contemporary [of Aurelius] and generally considered the most reliable source for his own time"
^Leonardo de Arrizabalaga y Prado,Varian Studies Volume One: Varius (2017), p. 131
^Sorek (2012, p. 202): "Modern scholars have regarded Herodian as unreliable. However, [...] his lack of literary and scholarly pretensions make him less biased than the senatorial historians".
^Cohen, Henry (1880–1892).Description Historiques des Monnaies Frappées sous l'Empire Romain. Paris. p. 40.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^abPaul Chrystal,In Bed with the Romans (2015), p.337: "Despite thedamnatio, many works of art and literature have been spawned by the emperor's memory. He lives on in the Spanish wordheliogábalo"
^Gilbert, Sky (2002).Heliogabalus: A Love Story. Toronto: Cabaret Theatre Company.
^Giorgio Lotti, Raul Radice, John Gilbert,La Scala (1979), p. 232: "InHeliogabale, created for the Yantra Ballet (Ballet of the Twentieth Century) and performed for the first time at the Shiraz Festival, Béjart drew inspiration from three sources—African music, used to conjure up the magical atmosphere surrounding Heliogabalus; Italian opera, reflecting the grandeur of Imperial Rome; and Verdi's Macbeth, expressing the power of the feminine will".
^Mel Gordon,The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber (2006), p. 175
^Spinetta, Luis Alberto (2014).Spinetta : crónica e iluminaciones. Eduardo Berti (Enlarged, corrected and updated ed.). C.A.B.A. p. 44.ISBN978-950-49-4055-5.OCLC905840105.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Kienast, Dietmar. "Heliogabalus, a Monster on the Roman Throne: The Literary Construction of a 'Bad' Emperor," in Ineke Sluiter and Ralph M. Rosen (eds),Kakos: Badness and Anti-value in Classical Antiquity (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2008) (Mnemosyne: Supplements. History and Archaeology of Classical Antiquity, 307.
Sidebottom, Harry (2022).The mad emperor : Heliogabalus and the decadence of Rome. London.ISBN978-0861542536.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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