2 – Elagabalus (218-222)
He was approximately 14 years old when he became emperor in 218 and was known for his cruelty and desire to be a woman. He routinely wore make-up and female clothes and apparently prostituted himself! As well as reportedly making sexual advances at practically everyone who crossed his path, Elagabalus had an affair with a Vestal Virgin which caused outrage in Rome.
He further enraged the Senate by installing the Syrian sun god El-Gabal as the main god of Rome (above Jupiter) and it is from this sun god’s name that he received his nickname (he was only called Elagabalus after he died and was known as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus when he became emperor). To make matters worse, he decided to transfer sacred relics to the new temple he had built for El-Gabal and made himself the High Priest.
Romans could just about accept the emperor’s unusual sexual appetites but his religious acts were a step too far. He has been described as “the least able emperor Rome ever had” by historian Adrian Goldsworthy in How Rome Fell: The Death of a Superpower and the empire only functioned because of the efforts of his grandmother Maesa. Eventually, it was decided that another one of her grandsons, Alexander, would be a more suitable ruler. On 11 March 222, after less than four years as emperor, Elagabalus was beheaded by members of the Praetorian Guard. His body was dragged through Rome, spat on and tossed in the Tiber.
Some historians claim that his disastrous reign and death which led to uncertainty in the empire was the beginning of the Crisis of the 3rd Century. This was a period where Rome was attacked by barbarians and torn apart from the inside by uprisings, anarchy and civil wars.