When we think about Rome the first thing that usually comes to mind is gladiators, power, emperor and many stories that fascinates us but when you do research in to it you will find that there is a part of their history that is not so glamorous. A history full of what many will call evil acts against humanity preform by does who were in charge of the safety of the people, the emperors them self. Acts that went anywhere from rape to virgins to using innocent children as human sacrifices. An example of this is one of Rome’s youngest emperors Elagabalus. Elagabalus is considered by many as one of the most bizarre Emperor s of Rome history. He was the nephew of Emperor Caracalla and was raise by his grandmother after his mother and her lover where caught plotting against the throne in an effort to make him Rome’s Emperor.
Ha His original name was Varius Avitus Bassianus, he began to be known as Elagabalus after he became the priest of the deity El-Gabal, a Syrian phallic-oriented cult which he attempted to introduce in Rome once he became emperor this was one of many crazy ideas and ideologies that his ruling will bring. His sexuality has been a source of debate since he was known to be a transvestite and a masochist, who often toyed with the idea of castrating himself but ultimately opted for only having himself circumcise. He was also well known for his sexual excesses an example of this was that he broke into the secret sanctuary of Vesta and raped Aquilia Severa, a chaste Vestal Virgin. By Roman law any Vestal who had any sexual interaction had to be buried alive, but Elagabalus decided to married her, in hopes for ‘god-like children’. They divorce soon after although he will go on to married four other women also ending their relationships in divorce, many say his sexuality play a role in this decision. He enjoyed dressing as a woman and used make up to paint his eyes and rouge his cheeks and he also used to depilate all over his body.
It was also knowing that Elagabalus was bisexual and, something that was not uncommon back in does days since Emperors in that era were well known to associated them self with boys young age as a sideline to their heterosexual activities. He was also known as an evil man because of the terrible and evil nature crimes supposedly committed by him like used of children as human sacrifice. There are allegations that Elagabalus had claimed that he did not killed kids for his own benefit but instead he did it to get the favor of the gods for everyone who was part of Roman Empire. Other crimes were allowing the practice of gladiatorial games instead of banding the use of this barbaric activity. Another practice he allowed Romans to have was slavery, instead he allowed slave owners to continue buying new slaves without any consequences.
And last but not least, he had no problems allowing parents to kill their own children whenever they felt like it especially if the child was an unwanted one. In March 13 of 222, after four years of cruelty Romans had enough of Elagabalus evilness and had him and his mother executed, they were beheaded, dragged through the streets of Rome and subsequently dumped into the Tiber. He was only eighteen-years-old and at the time. (Donald 2013)
References
- Wasson D. (October, 2013) Elagabalus, Ancient History Encyclopedia
- Weingarten J. (November 2011) The crimes of Elagabalus: The life and legacy of Rome’s decadent boy emperor, The World University Ranking
