I thought the author was brave to refer to his subject as the 'Mad Emperor,' as there quite a few of those to choose from. Harry Sidebottom, now there's a name to investigate, offers us deep historical research into this short-lived Emperor from long ago.
The young Emperor came from Emesa in Syria (now known as Homs) and was considered 'Eastern,' by the class-conscious senators in Rome itself. All would be Emperors had to convince the Roman elite before becoming accepted as rightly Emperor.
Elagabalus, the name he is better known as, became Emperor of Rome while aged only 14. This occurred when his pushy Grandmother Julia Maesa claimed he was the son of the murdered Emperor Caracalla.
For information regarding this young man we have to trust a contemporary senator, Cassius Dio, who thought little of him, Herodian, a 'historian,' who relied much on Cassius, and a mostly fictionalised later book, the Historia Augusta. This leads to much speculation as to the quality of their words.
We learn of the stories, real and imagined, of the young Emperor's five marriages, including one, twice, to a Vestal Virgin. Normally, this would end in execution for both. We also read of his perverted sexual activities, the female role in gay sex, his visits to prostitutes, and his misuse of charioteers among others. Other joys included chariot racing, with stories of naked women pulling his chariots, and the games he played upon visitors to his dinners. One, possibly exaggerated story, included masses of flower petals swamping and killing his guests while he and others looked on.
Possibly, his worst mistake was to bring his god into Rome and place him above Jupiter. The Black Stone that represented, or he thought was Elagabal, of which the Emperor was High Priest. He created two temples in Rome for his god, and created fear among many as to the result for Rome itself.
After only four years the inept, spoilt brat of an Emperor was killed by his guards and his body dragged through the streets of Rome and dumped into the Tiber river.
His status as a mere Equestrian, lower than Senator, his, and his grandmothers claim, his wild behaviour and then the marriage to a Vestal Virgin, and the new god did for him. The boy was unwilling to listen to wise counsel, followed his desires, desires that were objectionable in Rome at that time, and was too self obsessed and stupid to realise how the surrounding men considered him. A quick search through some 300 years of Roman Emperors reveals how only about a dozen actually died in their beds. Elgabalus was never going to be one of those.
This book is well researched. The author is keen to offer many differing views on the subject, then like all historians he dismisses them as wrong! Occasionally, it gets confusing as he goes back and forth, however, as this was a man I had never heard off it was important to have a properly researched history of this, er, intriguing character.
