26. The Prankster Roman Emperor
Elagabalus (204- 222) was declared Roman emperor when he was barely fourteen years old. He had not been groomed or prepared for the job, and until he was thrust on the throne, he had been a priest of the Syrian sun god Elagabal. As might be expected, if you hand absolute power to an unprepared teenager, you should not be surprised if things go wrong. While he was not as vicious as some of Rome’s more monstrous rulers – he was no gratuitously cruel Caligula or Commodus – Elagabalus did display the occasional mean streak.
It often showed in his practical jokes. Jokes that, considering the fact that he was emperor of the Roman world with none above him, always meant punching down. At the milder end of Elagabalus’ pranks was his propensity to seat some of his more pompous dinner guests on the ancient Roman version of whoopee cushions. It was a special stuffed pad that emitted farting noises when somebody sat on them. At the crueler end of the spectrum, as seen below, Elagabalus liked to put people in fear of their lives.