Elagabalus
Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, better known to history as Elagabalus (203 – 222), was Roman emperor from 218 until his death. His eastern religious practices, which would have been highly unusual in contemporary Rome if performed by a private citizen, were bizarre and shocked Roman sensibilities when carried out by an emperor.
As a youth, he had served as a priest of the Syrian sun god Elagabalus, and after ascending the throne as a teenager after his grandmother intrigued to have him succeed his cousin, the assassinated emperor Caracalla, he took the deity’s name as his own and brought its worship to Rome, where he built it a lavish temple. There, before the eyes of astonished senators, high-ranking dignitaries, and the public, he danced around the deity’s altar to the sound of cymbals and drums.
He further offended sensibilities by attempting to unify the Roman pantheon with his religion, with Elagabalus as supreme god, above Jupiter. To that end, he had the most sacred relics of the Roman religion transferred to his new temple. Additionally, he ordered that other religions, including Jews and the nascent Christians, transfer their rites to Elagabalus’ temple.
He might also have been the most flamboyantly homosexual ruler in history, who openly went about in women’s clothing and publicly fawned upon male lovers, whom he elevated to high positions, such as a charioteer whom he sought to declare Caesar, and an athlete given a powerful position at court. He also reportedly prostituted himself in the imperial palace.
While homosexual practices were not unusual – respected emperors such as Trajan and Hadrian had male sexual partners, and Hadrian created a religious cult for a youthful lover who had accidentally drowned – Elagabalus was the passive, or receptive partner. That and the effeminacy, especially from an emperor, made him an object of contempt, which led to his assassination in 222.