ELAGABALUS 218AD Amphipolis Macedonia Tyche Authentic Ancient Roman Coin i55758

Description: Item: i55758 Authentic Ancient Coin of: Elagabalus - Roman Emperor : 218-222 A.D. - Bronze 22mm (6.05 grams) of Amphipolis in Macedonia Reference: Varbanov 3293; SNG ANS 201-2 AV K M AVP ANTΩNINOC C, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right. ΑΜΦΙΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ, City-goddess (Tyche) seated left, holding (sacrificing from) patera over fiery altar; fish below. You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity. Tyche (Greek for luck; the Roman equivalent was Fortuna ) was the presiding tutelary deity that governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. Increasingly during the Hellenistic period, cities had their own specific iconic version of Tyche, wearing a mural crown (a crown like the walls of the city). The Greek historian Polybius believed that when no cause can be discovered to events such as floods, droughts, frosts or even in politics, then the cause of these events may be fairly attributed to Tyche. Stylianos Spyridakis concisely expressed Tyche's appeal in a Hellenistic world of arbitrary violence and unmeaning reverses: "In the turbulent years of the Epigoni of Alexander , an awareness of the instability of human affairs led people to believe that Tyche, the blind mistress of Fortune, governed mankind with an inconstancy which explained the vicissitudes of the time." In literature, she might be given various genealogies, as a daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite , or considered as one of the Oceanids , daughters of Oceanus and Tethys , or of Zeus. She was connected with Nemesis and Agathos Daimon ("good spirit"). She was uniquely venerated at Itanos in Crete, as Tyche Protogeneia, linked with the Athenian Protogeneia ("firstborn"), daughter of Erechtheus , whose self-sacrifice saved the city. She had temples at Caesarea Maritima , Antioch , Alexandria and Constantinople . In Alexandria the Tychaeon, the temple of Tyche, was described by Libanius as one of the most magnificent of the entire Hellenistic world. Tyche appears on many coins of the Hellenistic period in the three centuries before the Christian era, especially from cities in the Aegean. Unpredictable turns of fortune drive the complicated plotlines of Hellenistic romances , such as Leucippe and Clitophon or Daphnis and Chloe . She experienced a resurgence in another era of uneasy change, the final days of publicly sanctioned Paganism , between the late-fourth-century emperors Julian and Theodosius I who definitively closed the temples. The effectiveness of her capricious power even achieved respectability in philosophical circles during that generation, though among poets it was a commonplace to revile her for a fickle harlot. In medieval art , she was depicted as carrying a cornucopia , an emblematic ship's rudder, and the wheel of fortune , or she may stand on the wheel, presiding over the entire circle of fate. The constellation of Virgo is sometimes identified as the heavenly figure of Tyche, as well as other goddesses such as Demeter and Astraea . Amphipolis was an ancient Greek city in the region once inhabited by the Edoni people in the present-day periphery of Central Macedonia . It was built on a raised plateau overlooking the east bank of the river Strymon where it emerged from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 m. from the Aegean Sea . Founded in 437 BC, the city was finally abandoned in the 8th century AD. The present municipality Amfipoli, named after the ancient city, occupies the site. Currently, it is a municipality in the Serres Prefecture , Central Macedonia with a population of 3,623 (2001 census). Origins Archaeology has uncovered remains at the site dating to approximately 3000 BC. Due to the strategic location of the site it was fortified from very early. Xerxes I of Persia passed during his invasion of Greece of 480 BC and buried alive nine young men and nine maidens as a sacrifice to the river god. Near the later site of Amphipolis Alexander I of Macedon defeated the remains of Xerxes' army in 479 BC. Throughout the 5th century BC, Athens sought to consolidate its control over Thrace, which was strategically important because of its primary materials (the gold and silver of the Pangaion hills and the dense forests essential for naval construction), and the sea routes vital for Athens' supply of grain from Scythia . After a first unsuccessful attempt at colonisation in 497 BC by the Miletian Tyrant Histiaeus , the Athenians founded a first colony at Ennea-Hodoi (‘Nine Ways’) in 465, but these first ten thousand colonists were massacred by the Thracians . A second attempt took place in 437 BC on the same site under the guidance of Hagnon , son of Nicias . The new settlement took the name of Amphipolis (literally, "around the city"), a name which is the subject of much debates about lexicography . Thucydides claims the name comes from the fact that the Strymon flows "around the city" on two sides; however a note in the Suda (also given in the lexicon of Photius ) offers a different explanation apparently given by Marsyas , son of Periander : that a large proportion of the population lived "around the city". However, a more probable explanation is the one given by Julius Pollux : that the name indicates the vicinity of an isthmus . Furthermore, the Etymologicum Genuinum gives the following definition: a city of the Athenians or of Thrace, which was once called Nine Routes, (so named) because it is encircled and surrounded by the Strymon river. This description corresponds to the actual site of the city (see adjacent map), and to the description of Thucydides. Amphipolis subsequently became the main power base of the Athenians in Thrace and, consequently, a target of choice for their Spartans adversaries. The Athenian population remained very much in the minority within the city. An Athenian rescue expedition led by strategist (and later historian) Thucydides had to settle for securing Eion and could not retake Amphipolis, a failure for which Thucydides was sentenced to exile. A new Athenian force under the command of Cleon failed once more in 422 BC during a battle at which both Cleon and Brasidas lost their lives. Brasidas survived long enough to hear of the defeat of the Athenians and was buried at Amphipolis with impressive pomp. From then on he was regarded as the founder of the city and honoured with yearly games and sacrifices. The city itself kept its independence until the reign of the king Philip II despite several other Athenian attacks, notably because of the government of Callistratus of Aphidnae . Conquest by the Romans In 357 BC, Philip removed the block which Amphipolis presented on the road to Macedonian control over Thrace by conquering the town, which Athens had tried in vain to recover during the previous years. According the historian Theopompus , this conquest came to be the object of a secret accord between Athens and Philip II, who would return the city in exchange for the fortified town of Pydna , but the Macedonian king betrayed the accord, refusing to cede Amphipolis and laying siege to Pydna. After the conquest by Philip II, the city was not immediately incorporated into the kingdom, and for some time preserved its institutions and a certain degree of autonomy. The border of Macedonia was not moved further east; however, Philip sent a number of Macedonians governors to Amphipolis, and in many respects the city was effectively ‘Macedonianized’. Nomenclature, the calendar and the currency (the gold stater , installed by Philip to capitalise on the gold reserves of the Pangaion hills, replaced the Amphipolitan drachma ) were all replaced by Macedonian equivalents. In the reign of Alexander , Amphipolis was an important naval base, and the birthplace of three of the most famous Macedonian Admirals : Nearchus , Androsthenes[6] and Laomedon whose burial place is most likely marked by the famous lion of Amphipolis. Amphipolis became one of the main stops on the Macedonian royal road (as testified by a border stone found between Philippos and Amphipolis giving the distance to the latter), and later on the ‘Via Egnatia’, the principal Roman Road which crossed the southern Balkans. Apart from the ramparts of the low town (see photograph), the gymnasium and a set well-preserved frescoes from a wealthy villa are the only artifacts from this period that remain visible. Though little is known of the layout of the town, modern knowledge of its institutions is in considerably better shape thanks to a rich epigraphic documentation, including a military ordinance of Philip V and an ephebarchic law from the gymnasium. After the final victory of Rome over Macedonia in a battle in 168 BC, Amphipolis became the capital one of the four mini-republics, or ‘merides’, which were created by the Romans out of the kingdom of the Antigonids which succeeded Alexander’s Empire in Macedon. These 'merides' were gradually incorporated into the Roman client state, and later province, of Thracia . Revival in Late Antiquity During the period of Late Antiquity , Amphipolis benefited from the increasing economic prosperity of Macedonia, as is evidenced by the large number of Christian Churches that were built. Significantly however, these churches were built within a restricted area of the town, sheltered by the walls of the acropolis . This has been taken as evidence that the large fortified perimeter of the ancient town was no longer defendable, and that the population of the city had considerably diminished. Nevertheless, the number, size and quality of the churches constructed between the fifth and sixth centuries are impressive. Four basilicas adorned with rich mosaic floors and elaborate architectural sculptures (such as the ram-headed column capitals - see picture) have been excavated, as well as a church with a hexagonal central plan which evokes that of the basilica of St. Vitalis in Ravenna . It is difficult to find reasons for such municipal extravagance in such a small town. One possible explanation provided by the historian André Boulanger is that an increasing ‘willingness’ on the part of the wealthy upper classes in the late Roman period to spend money on local gentrification projects (which he terms ‘'évergétisme’', from the Greek verb εύεργετέω,(meaning ‘I do good’) was exploited by the local church to its advantage, which led to a mass gentrification of the urban centre and of the agricultural riches of the city’s territory. Amphipolis was also a diocese under the suffragan of Thessaloniki - the Bishop of Amphipolis is first mentioned in 533 AD. From the reduction of the urban area to the disappearance of the city The Slavic invasions of the late 6th century gradually encroached on the back-country Amphipolitan lifestyle and led to the decline of the town, during which period its inhabitants retreated to the area around the acropolis. The ramparts were maintained to a certain extent, thanks to materials plundered from the monuments of the lower city, and the large unused cisterns of the upper city were occupied by small houses and the workshops of artisans. Around the middle of the 7th century AD, a further reduction of the inhabited area of the city was followed by an increase in the fortification of the town, with the construction of a new rampart with pentagonal towers cutting through the middle of the remaining monuments. The acropolis, the Roman baths , and especially the Episcopal basilica were crossed by this wall. The city was probably abandoned in the eighth century, as the last bishop was attested in 787. Its inhabitants probably moved to the neighbouring site of ancient Eion , port of Amphipolis, which had been rebuilt and refortified in the Byzantine period under the name “Chrysopolis”. This small port continued to enjoy some prosperity, before being abandoned during the Ottoman period . The last recorded sign of activity in the region of Amphipolis was the construction of a fortified tower to the north in 1367 by Grand Primicier Jean and the Stratopedarque Alexis to protect the land that they had given to the monastery of Pantokrator on Mount Athos . Archaeology The site was rediscovered and described by many travellers and archaeologists during the 19th century, including E. Cousinéry (1831) (engraver), L. Heuzey (1861), and P. Perdrizet (1894–1899). In 1934, M. Feyel, of the École française d'Athènes , led an epigraphical mission to the site and uncovered the remains of a funeral lion (a reconstruction was given in the, a publication of the EfA which is available on line). However, excavations did not truly begin until after the Second World War. The Greek Archaeological Society under D. Lazaridis excavated in 1972 and 1985, uncovering a necropolis, the rampart of the old town (see photograph), the basilicas, and the acropolis. Amphipolitans Demetrius of Amphipolis , student of Plato's Zoilus (400 BC-320 BC), grammarian, cynic philosopher Pamphilus (painter) , head of Sicyonian school and teacher of Apelles Aetion , sculptor Philippus of Amphipolis , historian Nearchus , admiral Erigyius , general Damasias [disambiguation needed] of Amphipolis 320 BC Stadion Olympics Hermagoras of Amphipolis (c. 225 BC), stoic philosopher ,follower of Persaeus Xena , the Warrior Princess of Amphipolis. Elagabalus - Emperor: 218-222 A.D. Son of Julia Soaemias | Husband of Julia Paula, Aquilia Severa and Annia Faustina | Grandson of Julia Maesa | Nephew of Julia Mamaea | Cousin of Severus Alexander | Second-cousin of Geta and Caracalla (Supposedly a natural son of Caracalla) | Great-nephew of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna | Elagabalus (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, ca. 203 – 11 March 222), also known as Heliogabalus, was Roman Emperor from 218 to 222. A member of the Severan Dynasty , he was Syrian on his mother's side, the son of Julia Soaemias and Sextus Varius Marcellus . In his early youth he served as a priest of the god Elagabal (in Latin, Elagabalus) in the hometown of his mother's family, Emesa . As a private citizen, he was probably named Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus. Upon becoming emperor he took the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. He was called Elagabalus only after his death. In 217, the emperor Caracalla was assassinated and replaced by his Praetorian prefect , Marcus Opellius Macrinus . Caracalla's maternal aunt, Julia Maesa , successfully instigated a revolt among the Third Legion to have her eldest grandson (and Caracalla's cousin), Elagabalus, declared emperor in his place. Macrinus was defeated on 8 June 218, at the Battle of Antioch . Elagabalus, barely fourteen years old, became emperor, initiating a reign remembered mainly for sexual scandal and religious controversy. Later historians suggest Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos. He replaced the traditional head of the Roman pantheon , Jupiter , with the deity of whom he was high priest, Elagabal . He forced leading members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating this deity, over which he personally presided. Elagabalus was married as many as five times, lavished favors on male courtiers popularly thought to have been his lovers, employed a prototype of whoopee cushions at dinner parties, and was reported to have prostituted himself in the imperial palace. His behavior estranged the Praetorian Guard , the Senate , and the common people alike. Amidst growing opposition, Elagabalus, just 18 years old, was assassinated and replaced by his cousin Alexander Severus on 11 March 222, in a plot formulated by his grandmother, Julia Maesa, and carried out by disaffected members of the Praetorian Guard. Elagabalus developed a reputation among his contemporaries for extreme eccentricity , decadence and zealotry . This tradition has persisted, and in writers of the early modern age he suffers one of the worst reputations among Roman emperors. Edward Gibbon , for example, wrote that Elagabalus "abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures and ungoverned fury." According to B.G. Niebuhr , "The name Elagabalus is branded in history above all others" because of his "unspeakably disgusting life." Family and priesthood Roman imperial dynasties Severan dynasty Chronology Septimius Severus 193 –198 -with Caracalla 198 –209 -with Caracalla and Geta 209 –211 Caracalla and Geta 211 –211 Caracalla 211 –217 Interlude: Macrinus 217 –218 Elagabalus 218 –222 Alexander Severus 222 –235 Dynasty Severan dynasty family tree Category:Severan dynasty Succession Preceded by Year of the Five Emperors Followed by Crisis of the Third Century Elagabalus was born around the year 203 to Sextus Varius Marcellus and Julia Soaemias Bassiana . His father was initially a member of the equestrian class, but was later elevated to the rank of senator . His grandmother Julia Maesa was the widow of the Consul Gaius Julius Avitus Alexianus, the sister of Julia Domna , and the sister-in-law of the emperor Septimius Severus . His mother, Julia Soaemias, was a cousin of the Roman emperor Caracalla . Other relatives included his aunt Julia Avita Mamaea and uncle Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus , and their son Alexander Severus . Elagabalus's family held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the sun god Elagabal, of whom Elagabalus was the high priest at Emesa (modern Homs) in Syria . The deity Elagabalus was initially venerated at Emesa. This form of the god's name is a Latinized version of the Syrian Ilāh hag-Gabal, which derives from Ilāh ("god") and gabal ("mountain" (compare Hebrew : גבל‎ gəbul and Arabic : جبل‎ jabal)), resulting in "the God of the Mountain" the Emesene manifestation of the deity. The cult of the deity spread to other parts of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century; a dedication has been found as far away as Woerden (Netherlands). The god was later imported and assimilated with the Roman sun god known as Sol Indiges in republican times and as Sol Invictus during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. In Greek the sun god is Helios , hence "Heliogabalus", a variant of "Elagabalus". Rise to power When the emperor Macrinus came to power, Elagabalus' mother suppressed the threat against his reign by 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 in Syria . Almost upon arrival in Syria she began a plot, with her advisor and Elagabalus' tutor Gannys, to overthrow Macrinus and elevate the fourteen-year-old Elagabalus to the imperial throne. His mother publicly declared that he was the illegitimate son of Caracalla, therefore due the loyalties of Roman soldiers and senators who had sworn allegiance to Caracalla. After Julia Maesa displayed her wealth to the Third Legion at Raphana they swore allegiance to Elagabalus. At sunrise on 16 May 218, Publius Valerius Comazon Eutychianus , commander of the legion, declared him emperor. To strengthen his legitimacy through further propaganda, Elagabalus assumed Caracalla's names, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. In response Macrinus dispatched his Praetorian prefect Ulpius Julianus to the region with a contingent of troops he considered strong enough to crush the rebellion . However, this force soon joined the faction of Elagabalus when, during the battle, they turned on their own commanders. The officers were killed and Julianus' head was sent back to the emperor. Macrinus now sent letters to the Senate denouncing Elagabalus as the False Antoninus and claiming he was insane. Both consuls and other high-ranking members of Rome's leadership condemned Elagabalus, and the Senate subsequently declared war on both Elagabalus and Julia Maesa. Macrinus and his son, weakened by the desertion of the Second Legion due to bribes and promises circulated by Julia Maesa, were defeated on 8 June 218 at the Battle of Antioch by troops commanded by Gannys. Macrinus fled toward Italy , disguised as a courier, but was later intercepted near Chalcedon and executed in Cappadocia . His son Diadumenianus , sent for safety to the Parthian court, was captured at Zeugma and also put to death. Elagabalus declared the date of the victory at Antioch to be the beginning of his reign and assumed the imperial titles without prior senatorial approval, which violated tradition but was a common practice among 3rd-century emperors nonetheless. Letters of reconciliation were dispatched to Rome extending amnesty to the Senate and recognizing the 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. Caracalla and Julia Domna were both deified by the Senate, both Julia Maesa and Julia Soaemias were elevated to the rank of Augustae , and the memory of both Macrinus and Diadumenianus was condemned by the Senate. The former commander of the Third Legion, Comazon, was appointed commander of the Praetorian Guard. Emperor (218–222) Elagabalus and his entourage spent the winter of 218 in Bithynia at Nicomedia , where the emperor's religious beliefs first presented themselves as a problem. The contemporary historian Cassius Dio suggests that Gannys was in fact killed by the new emperor because he was forcing Elagabalus to live "temperately and prudently." To help Romans adjust to the idea of having an oriental priest as emperor, Julia Maesa had a painting of Elagabalus in priestly robes sent to Rome and hung over a statue of the goddess Victoria in the Senate House . This placed senators in the awkward position of having to make offerings to Elagabalus whenever they made offerings to Victoria. The legions were dismayed by his behaviour and quickly came to regret having supported his accession. While Elagabalus was still on his way to Rome, brief revolts broke out by the Fourth Legion at the instigation of Gellius Maximus , and by the Third Legion, which itself had been responsible for the elevation of Elagabalus to the throne, under the command of Senator Verus . The rebellion was quickly put down, and the Third Legion disbanded. When the entourage reached Rome in the autumn of 219, Comazon and other allies of Julia Maesa and Elagabalus were given powerful and lucrative positions, to the outrage of many senators who did not consider them worthy of such privileges. After his tenure as Praetorian prefect , Comazon would serve as the city prefect of Rome three times, and as consul twice. Elagabalus soon devalued the Roman currency . He decreased the silver purity of the denarius from 58% to 46.5% — the actual silver weight dropping from 1.82 grams to 1.41 grams. He also demonetized the antoninianus during this period in Rome. Elagabalus tried to have his presumed lover, the charioteer Hierocles , declared Caesar , while another alleged lover, the athlete Aurelius Zoticus, was appointed to the non-administrative but influential position of Master of the Chamber, or Cubicularius . His offer of amnesty for the Roman upper class was largely honored, though the jurist Ulpian was exiled. The relationships between Julia Maesa, Julia Soaemias, and Elagabalus were strong at first. His mother and grandmother became the first women to be allowed into the Senate, and both received senatorial titles: Soaemias the established title of Clarissima, and Maesa the more unorthodox Mater Castrorum et Senatus ("Mother of the army camp and of the Senate"). While Julia Maesa tried to position herself as the power behind the throne and thus the most powerful woman in the world, Elagabalus would prove to be highly independent, set in his ways, and impossible to control. Religious controversy Since the reign of Septimius Severus , sun worship had increased throughout the Empire. Elagabalus saw this as an opportunity to install Elagabal as the chief deity of the Roman pantheon . The god was renamed Deus Sol Invictus , meaning God the Undefeated Sun, and honored above Jupiter . As a token of respect for Roman religion, however, Elagabalus joined either Astarte , Minerva , Urania , or some combination of the three to Elagabal as wife. Before constructing a temple in dedication to Elagabal, Elagabalus placed the meteorite of Elagabal next to the throne of Jupiter at the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. He caused further discontent when he himself married the Vestal Virgin Aquilia Severa , 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 be buried alive . A lavish temple called the Elagabalium was built on the east face of the Palatine Hill to house Elagabal, who was represented by a black conical meteorite from Emesa. 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". In order to become the high priest of his new religion, Elagabalus had himself circumcised. He forced senators to watch while he danced around the altar of Deus Sol Invictus to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Each summer solstice he held a festival dedicated to the god, which became popular with the masses because of the free food distributed on such occasions. During this festival, Elagabalus placed the Emesa stone on a chariot adorned 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 the Great Mother , the fire of Vesta , the Shields of the Salii and the Palladium , so that no other god could be worshipped except in company with Elagabal. Sex/gender controversy Roman denarius depicting Aquilia Severa , the second wife of Elagabalus. The marriage caused a public outrage because Aquilia was a Vestal Virgin , sworn by Roman law to celibacy for 30 years. Elagabalus' sexual orientation and gender identity are the subject of much debate. Elagabalus married and divorced five women, three of whom are known. His first wife was Julia Cornelia Paula ; the second was the Vestal Virgin Julia Aquilia Severa . Within a year, he abandoned her and married Annia Aurelia Faustina , a descendant of Marcus Aurelius and the widow of a man recently executed by Elagabalus. He had returned to his second wife Severa by the end of the year. According to Cassius Dio, his most stable relationship seems to have been with his chariot driver, a blond slave from Caria named Hierocles , whom he referred to as his husband. The Augustan History claims that he also married a man named Zoticus, an athlete from Smyrna, in a public ceremony at Rome. Cassius Dio reported that Elagabalus would paint his eyes, epilate his hair and wear wigs before prostituting himself in taverns, brothels, and even in the imperial palace: Finally, he set aside a room in the palace and there committed his indecencies, always standing nude at the door of the room, as the harlots do, and shaking the curtain which hung from gold rings, while in a soft and melting voice he solicited the passers-by. There were, of course, men who had been specially instructed to play their part. For, as in other matters, so in this business, too, he had numerous agents who sought out those who could best please him by their foulness. He would collect money from his patrons and give himself airs over his gains; he would also dispute with his associates in this shameful occupation, claiming that he had more lovers than they and took in more money. Herodian commented that Elagabalus enhanced his natural good looks by the regular application of cosmetics. He was described as having been "delighted to be called the mistress, the wife, the queen of Hierocles" and was reported to have offered vast sums of money to any physician who could equip him with female genitalia. Elagabalus has been characterized by some modern writers as transgender , perhaps transsexual . Fall from power By 221 Elagabalus' eccentricities, particularly his relationship with Hierocles, increasingly provoked the soldiers of the Praetorian Guard . When Elagabalus' 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 thirteen-year-old Severus Alexander . Prevailing on Elagabalus, she arranged that he appoint his cousin Alexander as his heir and be given the title of Caesar. 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 above himself. Following the failure of various attempts on Alexander's life, Elagabalus stripped his cousin of his titles, revoked his consulship, and circulated the news 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 the Praetorian camp . Assassination The emperor complied and on 11 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 the Praetorian Guard attacked Elagabalus and his mother: So 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 18. 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, then the mother's body was cast aside somewhere or other while his was thrown into the [Tiber]. Following his assassination, many associates of Elagabalus were killed or deposed, including Hierocles and Comazon. His religious edicts were reversed and the stone of Elagabal was sent back to Emesa . Women were again barred from attending meetings of the Senate. The practice of damnatio memoriae —erasing from the public record a disgraced personage formerly of note—was systematically applied in his case. Sources Augustan History The source of many of these stories of Elagabalus's depravity is the Augustan History (Historia Augusta), which includes controversial claims. The Historia Augusta was most likely written toward the end of the 4th century during the reign of emperor Theodosius I . The life of Elagabalus as described in the Augustan History is of uncertain historical merit. Sections 13 to 17, relating to the fall of Elagabalus, are less controversial among historians. Cassius Dio Sources often considered more credible than the Augustan History include the contemporary historians Cassius Dio and Herodian. Cassius Dio lived from the second half of the 2nd century until sometime after 229. Born into a patrician family, he spent the greater part of his life in public service. He was a senator under emperor Commodus and governor of Smyrna after the death of Septimius Severus . Afterwards he served as suffect consul around 205, and as proconsul in Africa and Pannonia . Alexander Severus held him in high esteem and made him his consul again. His Roman History spans nearly a millennium , from the arrival of Aeneas in Italy until the year 229. As a contemporary of Elagabalus, Cassius Dio's account of his reign is generally considered more reliable than the Augustan History, although by his own admission Dio spent the greater part of the relevant period outside of Rome and had to rely on second-hand accounts. Furthermore, the political climate in the aftermath of Elagabalus' reign, as well as Dio's own position within the government of Alexander, likely influenced the truth of this part of his history for the worse. Dio regularly refers to Elagabalus as Sardanapalus , partly to distinguish him from his divine namesake, but chiefly to do his part in maintaining the damnatio memoriae enforced after the emperor's death and to associate him with another autocrat notorious for a debauched life. Herodian Medal of Elagabalus, Louvre Museum . Another contemporary of Elagabalus was Herodian , who was a minor Roman civil servant who lived from c. 170 until 240. His work, History of the Roman Empire since Marcus Aurelius, commonly abbreviated as Roman History, is an eyewitness account of the reign of Commodus until the beginning of the reign of Gordian III . His work largely overlaps with Dio's own Roman History, but both texts seem to be independently consistent with each other. Although Herodian is not deemed as reliable as Cassius Dio, his lack of literary and scholarly pretensions make him less biased than senatorial historians. Herodian is considered the most important source for the religious reforms which took place during the reign of Elagabalus, which have been confirmed by numismatic and archaeological evidence. Edward Gibbon and other, later historians For readers of the modern age, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1737–94) further cemented the scandalous reputation of Elagabalus. Gibbon not only accepted and expressed outrage at the allegations of the ancient historians, but might have added some details of his own; he is the first historian known to state that Gannys was a eunuch, for example. 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. Two hundred years after the age of Pliny, the use of pure, or even of mixed silks, was confined to the female sex, till the opulent citizens of Rome and the provinces were insensibly familiarized with the example of Elagabalus, the first who, by this effeminate habit, had sullied the dignity of an emperor and a man. Some recent historians argue for a more favorable picture of his life and reign. Martijn Icks in Images of Elagabalus (2008; republished as The Crimes of Elagabalus in 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. Leonardo de Arrizabalaga y Prado, in The Emperor Elagabalus: Fact of 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, who was simply the loser in a power struggle within the imperial family; the loyalty of the Praetorian Guards was up for sale, and Julia Maesa had the resources to outmaneuver and outbribe her grandson. According to this version, once Elagabalus, his mother, and his immediate circle had been murdered, a wholesale propaganda war against his memory resulted in a vicious caricature which has persisted to the present, repeated and often embellished by later historians displaying their own prejudices against effeminacy and other vices which Elagabalus had come to epitomize. Legacy Elagabalus on a wall painting at castle Forchtenstein Due to the ancient tradition about him, Elagabalus became something of an (anti-)hero in the Decadent movement of the late 19th century. He often appears in literature and other creative media as the epitome of a young, amoral aesthete. His life and character have informed or at least inspired many famous works of art, by Decadents, even by contemporary artists. The most notable of these works include: Poems, Novels, and Biographies Joris-Karl Huysmans 's' À rebours (1884), one of the literary touchstones of the Decadent movement, describes in chapter 2 the ingenuity behind a banquet designed by Des Esseintes, the protagonist, consisting solely of black foodstuffs, intended as a kind of perverse memorial to his lost virility. The episode is partly inspired by the highly artificial, monochromatic feasts that Elagabalus is said to have contrived (Historia Augusta, Life of Elagabalus, chapter 18). L'Agonie (Agony) (1888), the best known novel by the French writer Jean Lombard , featuring Elagabulus as the protagonist In 1903 Georges Duviquet published what purports to be a faithful biography of the emperor: Héliogabale: Raconté par les historians Grecs et Latins, [avec] dix-huit gravures d'après les monuments original. The previous pair of works inspired the Dutch writer Louis Couperus to produce his novel De Berg van Licht (The Mountain of Light) (1905), which presents Elagabalus in a sympathetic light. Algabal (1892–1919), a collection of poems by the German poet Stefan George The Sun God (1904), a novel by the English writer Arthur Westcott The Amazing Emperor Heliogabalus (1911), a biography by the Oxford don John Stuart Hay Héliogabale ou l'Anarchiste couronné (Heliogabalus or The Anarchist Crowned) (1934) by Antonin Artaud , combining essay, biography, and fiction Family Favourites (1960), a novel by the Anglo-Argentine writer Alfred Duggan in which Heliogabalus is seen through the eyes of a faithful Gaulish bodyguard and depicted as a gentle and charming aesthete, personally lovable but lacking political skills. Child of the Sun (1966), a novel by Lance Horner and Kyle Onstott , better known for writing the novel that inspired the movie Mandingo Super-Eliogabalo (1969), a novel by the Italian writer Alberto Arbasino Boy Caesar (2004), a novel by the English writer Jeremy Reed Roman Dusk (2008), a novel in the vampire Count Saint-Germain series by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro Plays Zygmunt Krasiński . "Irydion" (1836), in which Elagabalus is portrayed as a cruel tyrant Mencken , H.L. and Nathan, George Jean . Heliogabalus A Buffoonery in Three Acts. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1920 de Escobar Fagundes, C.H. Heliogabalo: O Sol é a Pátria. Ed. Devir. Rio de Janeiro, 1980 Gilbert, S. Heliogabalus: A Love Story. Toronto, Cabaret Theatre Company, 2002 Ferreyra, Shawn. Elagabalus, Emperor of Rome , 2008 Arelis. Heliogabalus (2008) Paintings The Roses of Heliogabalus , Lawrence Alma-Tadema , 1888. Heliogabalus, High Priest of the Sun (1866), by the English decadent Simeon Solomon One of the most notorious incidents laid to his account is immortalized in the 19th-century painting The Roses of Heliogabalus (1888), by the Anglo-Dutch academician Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema . It shows guests at one of his extravagant dinner parties smothered under a mass of "violets and other flowers" dropped from above. Lui (1906), by Gustav-Adolf Mossa Heliogabalus (1974), by Anselm Kiefer Antonin Artaud Heliogabalus (2010–11), by Anselm Kiefer Music Eliogabalo , an opera by Venetian Baroque composer Francesco Cavalli (1667) Heliogabale, an opera by French composer Déodat de Séverac (1910) Heliogabalus Imperator (Emperor Heliogabalus), an orchestral work by the German composer Hans Werner Henze (1972) Six Litanies for Heliogabalus , by the composer and saxophonist John Zorn (2007) Dance Héliogabale, a contemporary dance choreographed by Maurice Béjart Film Héliogabale , a 1909 '); document.write(' '); } //--> Your browser does not support JavaScript. To view this page, enable JavaScript if it is disabled or upgrade your browser. Frequently Asked Questions How long until my order is shipped? Depending on the volume of sales, it may take up to 5 business days for shipment of your order after the receipt of payment. How will I know when the order was shipped? 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End Time: 2024-02-26T19:28:55.000Z

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