A Strange Tale of Sexual Identity, Violence, & Decadence in ancient Rome

A Strange Tale of Sexual Identity, Violence, & Decadence in ancient Rome:

Emperor Elagabalus – properly: "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus" – was Roman emperor as a 14 year old teenager to the tender age of 18 (r. 218-222 A.D.). "Elagabalus" was a Latinization of the name of his god, "ilah al-jabal" (Arabic: "god of the mountain"), of whom he was high priest since childhood. From a prominent Arab family in Roman Syria near modern Homs, he was a cousin to Emperor Caracalla and thus a member of the Severan dynasty. 

When Caracalla was murdered by a disgruntled legionary in Syria, Elagabalus' grandmother, Julia Maesa, conspired with the young scion's tutor, Gannys, to gain power. Claiming that Elagabalus was one of Caracalla's bastards by her daughter, Julia managed to rally the legions of the east behind the callow 14 year old. After a brief civil war, Elagabalus was declared emperor in May 218 A.D. Even at this early stage, the boy showed signs of oddity and insensitivity to Roman mores. He sent a portrait of himself to be hung over the statue of Victoria in the Senate. Supposedly, he wished the senators to become accustomed to his Eastern style of clothing, but – in effect – it forced the senators to make offerings to *him* whenever they sacrificed before Victoria. 

Additionally, the boy also began to show signs of libertine sexual promiscuity and probable bisexuality. After losing his bid to marry his tutor, Gannys (with whom he seems to have had a pederastic relationship), and make him "Caesar" (i.e. heir), he next made a move to marry a chariot racer named Hierocles, instead. The senate looked askance at this, not because homosexual and bisexual behavior were considered abnormal, but because Elagabalus wanted to *marry* the men so publicly. After much disputation over his desires, the boy eventually married a young athlete, Aurelius Zoticus, who became his husband and secretary. A contemporary chronicle describes young Zoticus wielding influence over the court and the senate as Elagabalus' husband. 

Worse was still to come for the senators however. Elagabalus forced the Senate to accept his mother and grandmother as senators; marking the first time that women were allowed to hold such an office. Not only did this break a 900 year-old tradition going back Romulus himself, it led to severe disfunction in the senatorial proceedings when the women attempted to dominate debates. Moreover, taking advantage of the rise of solar worship among Romans in the 3rd century, Elagabalus declared his native god, "Elagabal," as the supreme deity of the Roman pantheon. In an instant, Jupiter lost his crown as king of the gods and a strange, Semitic "Ba'al" replaced him. Aside from violating basic Roman religious norms, the henotheistic impulse towards Elagabal rankled both patricians and plebeians. 

That same year, the 16 year-old Emperor made the shocking decision to wed a Vestal Virgin. Long the celibate keepers of the sacred hearth of Vesta, the women were untouchable in Roman society since time immemorial. Elagabalus asserted to the Senate that a union such as theirs would ensure pious children. Yet, it seems clear the motive force for the boy was simply his lust upon seeing her when he entered Rome. 

Around the same time, Elagabalus built a massive temple for his god on the Palatine Hill. Following ancient Arab practice, a black meteorite (the cult image of Elagabal) was sent from Syria and enthroned in the new temple. He further moved all the ancient traditional relics and sacred objects from their own shrines into his new temple to Elagabal. This made sure that none could worship any god of Rome without first paying homage to the teenage Emperor's chosen deity. 

Much the horror of the Senate, that first summer solstice featured a poorly clad Elagabalus dancing in a circle (circumambulating?) around the black stone to much fanfare. While a common custom in Arabic polytheism, it deeply rankled the senators who feared the profanation of the Roman pantheon & sacred objects in such a sexualized display. The boy then was publicly circumcised and swore a solemn oath to abstain from the flesh of swine – insulting two Roman practices at once! Most of the denizens of Rome – from senators to plebeians to slaves – all widely ridiculed him for this behind his back. 

At the age of 17, Elagabalus "blossomed" in a frightening way to the Senate as Emperor. Not only did he divorce his first and second wife (the latter being the now-defiled Vestal Virgin), he married a prominent descendent of Marcus Aurelius. He would later divorce her, to the shock of Rome, and *re-marry* the disgraced Vestal Virgin! Aside from these heterosexual marriages, Elagabalus finally managed to marry the handsome chariot-racer, Hierocles. This joined now another husband to his secretary (and first husband), Zoticus. 

His relationship with Hierocles seems to have been particularly passionate. He was noted to delight exceedingly in being called the "wife" of Hierocles, as well as his "queen." He would adorn himself in a woman's tunica, make-up, and wigs, while urging his subjects to call him "Lady/Mistress" (Domina) rather than "lord." It is said he even went so far as to offer vast sums of gold and silver from the Senate's wealth to any physician in the empire who could provide him with functional female genitalia (perhaps making him the first recorded instance of someone seeking sex-reassignment). None could be found.

Curiously, he also seems to have prostituted himself to both men and women in the taverns and brothels of Rome. It is not clear why he did this, or whether it represented a promiscuous or religious impulse. Most Semitic priesthoods had a tradition of ritual prostitution (qedesha), allowing worshippers to have sexual relations with a god or goddess represented by the priest or priestess. As Elagabalus was pontifex maximus and high priest of Elagabal, it seems his offering his body for prostitution was perhaps a manifestation of this custom. Yet, it is not clear why he did not prostitute himself in his temple built for Elagabal instead. It is possible that the answer lies in the fact that the Senate had talked him out of such a display, so as not to profane the Roman relics inside. 

By the year 221, Emperor Elagabalus' excesses were beginning to take their toll on the SPQR. His submissive homosexual relationship with Hierocles, in particular, incensed the Praetorian Guard. As elite legionaries, homosexual behavior would not have shocked them, but being the submissive partner in an essentially pederastic relationship with an ex-slave significantly violated the Roman concept of "pudicitia" (modesty & chastity). Julia Maesa, seeing the support for the eccentric emperor was waning, turned to a cousin of Elagabalus, Severus Alexander (then 15 years old). She convinced Elagabalus to make his cousin "Caesar," to which he agreed. It soon became quite obvious that the Praetorian Guard preferred Alexander to their current chief, and the seeds of conspiracy were sown. 

Despite ordering assassination attempts on Alexander, Elagabalus was unable to stop the shifting tide of opinion. In March 222, a rumor broke out that Alexander had died. Infuriated, the Praetorian Guard demanded that Emperor Elagabalus produced his heir at a camp assembly. When Alexander appeared on the stage, the Praetorians cheered him and conspicuously failed to hail Elagabalus. Furious, the 18 year old Emperor ordered any who cheered for Alexander but not him to be arrested and summarily executed. This was the final straw. 

The Praetorian Guard rushed the stage and secured the safety of Alexander, forcing Elagabalus to flee. He apparently hid in a box or chest, but was found quickly by the bloodthirsty Praetorians. He is said to have died in his mother's arms. Both their heads were cut off, and their bodies stripped naked. Following quite an ancient Roman "precedent," the young emperor's body was thrown into the Tiber to be washed out to sea. 

A purge of Elagabalus' associates ensued. Notably, his husband and lover, Hierocles, was brutally executed, as were a number of other husbands and wives (with the exception of the young Vestal). All the religious edicts Elagabalus had supported were quickly reversed, and the black meteorite was sent back to Syria. The Senate declared "damnatio memoriae" on Elagabalus' legacy, which effectively erased his existence from public record. Edward Gibbon sums up well the general opinion of history on this, the first of the Arab emperors:

"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." (Chapter VI). 

It is still unclear how much the young emperor's sexual identity and prejudices regarding them at the time in Rome, played a role in his downfall. Yet, I would argue it was less a lack of "open-mindedness" about sexuality, than it was decadence and libertinism that did in the adolescent prince at last.