Elagabalus 218-222 AD. GRAPES. Roman Imperial HIGH GRADE

Description: Marcus Aurelius Antoninus(bornSextus Varius Avitus Bassianus,c.204 11/12 March 222), better known by his nicknames "Elagabalus" (/lbls/,EL--GAB--ls) andHeliogabalus(/hili-,-lio-/HEE-lee--, -lee-oh-), wasRoman emperorfrom 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was conspicuous for sex scandals and religious controversy. A close relative to theSeveran dynasty, he came from a prominentArabfamily in Emesa (Homs),Syria, where since his early youth he served as head priest of thesun godElagabal. After the death of his cousin, the emperorCaracalla, Elagabalus was raised to the principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by his grandmotherJulia Maesaagainst Caracalla's short-lived successor,Macrinus. He only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of his god.Later historians suggest Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexualtaboos. He replaced the traditional head of theRoman pantheon,Jupiter, with the deity Elagabal, of whom he had been high priest. He forced leading members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating this deity, presiding over them in person. He married four women, including aVestal Virgin, in addition to lavishing favours on male courtiers thought to have been his lovers. He was also reported to have prostituted himself. His behavior estranged thePraetorian Guard, theSenateand the common people alike. Amidst growing opposition, at just 18 years of age he was assassinated and replaced by his cousinSeverus Alexanderin 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 reputation among his contemporaries for extremeeccentricity,decadence, zealotry and sexual promiscuity. This tradition has persisted; among writers of the early modern age he suffered one of the worst reputations among Roman emperors.Edward Gibbon, notably, wrote that Elagabalus "abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures with ungoverned fury". According toBarthold Georg Niebuhr, "the name Elagabalus is branded in history above all others" because of his "unspeakably disgusting life". 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." Despite near-universal condemnation of his reign, some scholars write warmly about him, including the 6th-century Byzantine chroniclerJohn Malalas, as well asWarwick Ball, a modern historian who described him as innovative and "a tragic enigma lost behind centuries of prejudice". Elagabalus was born in 203 or 204, toSextus Varius MarcellusandJulia Soaemias Bassiana, who had probably married around the year 200 (and no later than 204). Elagabalus's full birth name was probably (Sextus) Varius Avitus Bassianus, the last name being apparently acognomenof theEmesene dynasty. Marcellus was anequestrian, later elevated to asenatorialposition. Julia Soaemias was a cousin of the emperorCaracalla, and there were rumors (which Soaemias later publicly supported) that Elagabalus was Caracalla's child. Marcellus's tombstone attests that Elagabalus had at least one brother, about whom nothing is known.Elagabalus's grandmother,Julia Maesa, was the widow of theconsulJulius Avitus Alexianus, the sister ofJulia Domna, and the sister-in-law of the emperorSeptimius Severus. Other relatives included Elagabalus's auntJulia Avita Mamaeaand uncleMarcus Julius Gessius Marcianusand their sonSeverus Alexander. Elagabalus's family held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the sun godElagabal, of whom Elagabalus was thehigh priestat Emesa (modernHoms) inRoman Syriaas part of the ArabEmesene dynasty. The deity's Latin name, "Elagabalus", is a Latinized version of theArabic Ilh al-Jabal, fromilh("god") andjabal("mountain"), meaning "God of the Mountain", the Emesene manifestation ofBa'al. 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. The god was later imported to Rome and assimilated with the sun god known asSol Indigesin the era of theRoman Republicand asSol Invictusduring the late third century. In Greek, the sun god isHelios, hence Elagabal was later known as "Heliogabalus", a hybrid of "Helios" and "Elagabalus". Rise to power Herodian writes that when the emperorMacrinuscame to power, he suppressed the threat to his reign from the family of his assassinated predecessor, Caracalla, by exiling themJulia Maesa, her two daughters, and her eldest grandson Elagabalusto their estate at Emesa inSyria. 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. Maesa spread a rumor, which Soaemias publicly supported, that Elagabalus was the illegitimate child of Caracalla and so deserved the loyalty of Roman soldiers and senators who had sworn allegiance to Caracalla. The soldiers of theThird LegionGallicaatRaphana, who had enjoyed greater privileges under Caracalla and resented Macrinus (and may have been impressed or bribed by Maesa's wealth), supported this claim. At sunrise on 16 May 218,bElagabalus was declared emperor byPublius Valerius Comazon, commander of the legion. To strengthen his legitimacy, Elagabalus adopted the same name Caracalla bore as emperor, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.Cassius Dio states that some officers tried to keep the soldiers loyal to Macrinus, but they were unsuccessful. Praetorian prefectUlpius 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).Herodian suggests Macrinus underestimated the threat, considering the rebellion inconsequential. During the fighting, Julianus's soldiers killed their officers and joined Elagabalus's forces. Macrinus asked theRoman Senateto denounce Elagabalus as "the False Antoninus", and they complied, declaring war on Elagabalus and his family. Macrinus made his sonDiadumenianco-emperor, and attempted to secure the loyalty of theSecond Legionwith large cash payments. During a banquet to celebrate this atApamea, however, a messenger presented Macrinus with the severed head of his defeated prefect Julianus. Macrinus therefore retreated toAntioch, after which the Second Legion shifted its loyalties to Elagabalus. Elagabalus's legionaries, commanded by Gannys, defeated Macrinus and Diadumenian and their Praetorian Guard at theBattle of Antiochon 8 June 218, prevailing when Macrinus's troops broke ranks after he fled the battlefield. Macrinus made for Italy, but was intercepted nearChalcedonand executed inCappadocia, while Diadumenian was captured atZeugmaand executed. That month, Elagabalus wrote to the Senate, assuming the imperial titles without waiting for senatorial approval,which violated tradition but was a common practice among third-century emperors. Letters of reconciliation were dispatched toRomeextendingamnestyto the Senate and recognizing its laws, while also condemning the administration of Macrinus and his son. The senators responded by acknowledging Elagabalus as emperor and accepting his claim to be the son of Caracalla.Elagabalus was made consul for the year 218 in the middle of June. Caracalla and Julia Domna were bothdeifiedby the Senate, both Julia Maesa and Julia Soaemias were elevated to the rank ofAugustae, and the memory of Macrinus was expunged by the Senate. (Elagabalus's imperial artifacts assert that he succeeded Caracalla directly.) Comazon was appointed commander of the Praetorian Guard.Elagabalus was namedPater Patriaeby the Senate before 13 July 218. On 14 July, Elagabalus was inducted into the colleges of all the Roman priesthoods, including theCollege of Pontiffs, of which he was namedpontifex maximus. Emperor (218222) Journey to Rome and political appointments Denariusof Elagabalus, inscribed:impantoninus piusaugon the obverse andfortunaeaugon the reverse, showingFortunawith acornucopiaand a rudder on a globe Elagabalus stayed for a time at Antioch, apparently to quell various mutinies.Dio outlines several, which historianFergus Millarplaces prior to the winter of 218219. These included one byGellius Maximus, who commanded theFourth Legionand was executed,and one byVerus, who commanded the Third LegionGallica, which was disbanded once the revolt was put down. Next, according to Herodian, Elagabalus and his entourage spent the winter of 218219 inBithyniaatNicomedia, and then traveled through Thrace andMoesiato Italy in the first half of 219, the year of Elagabalus's second consulship. Herodian says that Elagabalus had a painting of himself sent ahead to Rome to be hung over a statue of the goddessVictoriain theSenate Houseso 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.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. 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. Arriving at the imperial capital in August or September 219, Elagabalus staged anadventus, a ceremonial entrance to the city. In Rome, his offer of amnesty for the Roman upper class was largely honored, though thejuristUlpianwas exiled.Elagabalus made Comazonpraetorian prefect, and laterconsul(220) and prefect of the city (three times, 220222), which Dio regarded as a violation of Roman norms.]Elagabalus himself held a consulship for the third year in a row in 220. Herodian and theAugustan Historysay that Elagabalus alienated many by giving powerful positions to other allies. Dio states that Elagabalus wanted to marry a charioteer namedHieroclesand to declare himcaesar,just as (Dio says) he had previously wanted to marry Gannys and name himcaesar.The athleteAurelius Zoticusis said by Dio to have been Elagabalus's lover andcubicularius(a non-administrative role), while theAugustan Historysays Zoticus was a husband to Elagabalus and held greater political influence. 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.Accordingly, they became the first women allowed into the Senate, 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"). They exercised influence over the young emperor throughout his reign, and are found on many coins and inscriptions, a rare honor for Roman women. Under Elagabalus, the gradual devaluation of Romanaureianddenariicontinued (with the silver purity of thedenariusdropping from 58% to 46.5%), thoughantoninianihad a higher metal content than under Caracalla. Religious controversy Thebaetylusof Elgabal back in its home temple at Emesa, on a coin ofUranius Since the reign ofSeptimius Severus,sun worshiphad increased throughout the Empire. At the end of 220, Elagabalus instatedElagabalas the chief deity of theRoman pantheon, possibly on the date of thewinter solstice. 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'.That a foreign god should be honored aboveJupiter, with Elagabalus himself as chief priest, shocked many Romans. As a token of respect for Roman religion, however, Elagabalus joined eitherAstarte,Minerva,Urania, or some combination of the three to Elagabal as consort. 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 Triadof Romereplacing Jupiter,Juno, and Minerva. He aroused further discontent when he married theVestal VirginAquilia Severa, Vesta's high priestess, claiming the marriage would produce "godlike children". 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. A lavish temple called theElagabaliumwas built on the east face of thePalatine Hillto house Elagabal, who was represented by a black conicalmeteoritefrom Emesa. This was abaetylus.Herodianwrote "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". Dio writes that in order to increase his piety as high priest of Elagabal atop a new Roman pantheon, Elagabalus had himselfcircumcisedand swore toabstain from swine.He forced senators to watch while he danced circling the altar of Elagabal to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals.Each summersolsticehe held a festival dedicated to the god, which became popular with the masses because of the free food distributed on these occasions.During this festival, Elagabalus placed the black stone on achariotadorned with gold and jewels, which he paraded through the city: 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. 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, theShieldsof theSalii, and thePalladium, so that no other god could be worshipped except in association with Elagabal. Although his native cult was widely ridiculed by contemporaries, sun-worship was popular among the soldiers and would be promoted by several later emperors. Marriages, sexual orientation and gender identity Roman denarius depictingAquilia Severa, the second wife of Elagabalus. The marriage caused a public outrage because Aquilia was aVestal Virgin, sworn by Roman law tocelibacyfor 30 years. Inscription:iulia aquilia severaaug The question of Elagabalus'ssexual orientationandgender identityis confused, owing to salacious and unreliable sources. Cassius Dio states that Elagabalus was married five times (twice to the same woman). 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 Severaas his second wife, divorced her, and took a third wife, who Herodian says wasAnnia Aurelia Faustina, a descendant ofMarcus Aureliusand the widow of a man Elagabalus had recently had executed, Pomponius Bassus.In the last year of his reign, Elagabalus divorced Annia Faustina and remarried Aquilia Severa. Dio states that another "husband of this woman [Elagabalus] wasHierocles", an ex-slave andchariotdriver fromCaria. TheAugustan Historyclaims that Elagabalus also married a man named Zoticus, an athlete fromSmyrna, while Dio says only that Zoticus was hiscubicularius.Dio says that Elagabalusprostitutedhimself in taverns and brothels. Dio says Elagabalus delighted in being calledHierocles's mistress, wife, and queen.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. For this reason, the emperor is seen by some writers as an earlytransgenderfigure and one of the first on record as seekingsex reassignment surgery. Fall from power Elagabalus stoked the animus of Roman elites and thePraetorian Guardthrough his perceptibly foreign conduct and his religious provocations.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. Prevailing on Elagabalus, she arranged that he appoint his cousin Alexander as his heir and that the boy be given the title ofcaesar. Alexander was elevated tocaesarin June 221, possibly on 26 June. Elagabalus and Alexander were each namedconsul designatusfor the following year, probably on 1 July. Elagabalus took up his fourth consulship for the year of 222. Alexander shared the consulship with the emperor that year. However, Elagabalus reconsidered this arrangement when he began to suspect that the Praetorian Guard preferred his cousin to himself. Elagabalus ordered various attempts on Alexander's life, after failing to obtain approval from the Senate for stripping Alexander of his shared title. According to Dio, Elagabalus invented the rumor that Alexander was near death, in order to see how the Praetorians would react.]A riot ensued, and the Guard demanded to see Elagabalus and Alexander in thePraetorian camp. Assassination Statue of Elagabalus as Hercules, re-faced as his successor,Alexander Severus(National Archaeological Museum, Naples) The emperor complied and on 11 or 12 March 222 he publicly presented his cousin along with his own mother, Julia Soaemias. On their arrival the soldiers started cheering Alexander while ignoring Elagabalus, who ordered the summary arrest and execution of anyone who had taken part in this display of insubordination. In response, members of thePraetorian Guardattacked 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. Following his assassination, many associates of Elagabalus were killed or deposed. His loverHierocleswas executed.His religious edicts were reversed and the stone of Elagabal was sent back toEmesa. Women were again barred from attending meetings of the Senate. The practice ofdamnatio memoriaeerasing from the public record a disgraced personage formerly of notewas systematically applied in his case. Several images, including an over-life-size statue of him asHerculesnow in Naples, were re-carved with the face of Alexander Severus

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