The Amazing Emperor Heliogabalus

One of the main causes of complaint against the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was his religion. Lampridius and Xiphilinus are unanimous in their condemnation of its tendenci...

Lampridius has given us, in his life of Alexander Severus, a mass of undigested information concerning the character and daily life of Mamaea’s son. The narrative is as much con...

As we have suggested, Maesa saw more possibilities in living than in assaying that better part which can never be taken from men, which circumstance shows that she at least was...

To write the history of the years from 219 to 221 (as we have it in the Scriptores) is a task which can only be undertaken adequately in a language not understanded of the peopl...

The events of the years 221 and until March 222 are mainly a record of internecine fights and struggles; the Emperor was trying to retain his position in the state, the women le...

respect which it was necessary to pay to the “Slaves in Togas” either in his own or in any other state. Judge of their apprehensions when an answer to their obedient proscriptio...

This Antonine has been accused of building the Cloaca Maxima, into which, a century later, all Rome rolled, largely on the grounds that he divorced at least three wives, and was...

Great houses, says a historian, win and lose undying fame in less than a century; they shoot, bud, bloom, bear fruit; from obscurity they rise to dominate their age, indelibly t...

The Rome of Elagabalus was a dream aflame with gold, “a city of triumphal arches, enchanted temples, royal dwellings, vast porticoes, and wide, hospitable streets; a Rome purely...

The age of the Antonines is an age little understood amongst the present generation. The documents relating thereto are few in number, and for the most part the work of very sec...

“I would never have written the life of Antoninus Impurissimus,” said Lampridius, “were it not that he had predecessors.” Even in Latin the task was difficult. In English it wou...

Elagabalus’ piety, 267. Constantine the opponent of other monotheisms, 268. Theories of religion, 269. Civilised religion becomes philosophical, 269. Rome both atheist and credu...

Saluted by the whole army on the evening of 8th June 218, the young Emperor, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, set out to cover the 20 odd miles which separated Immae from Antioch, the...

Lampridius’ Life of Elagabalus impossible, 227. Elagabalus a psycho-sexual hermaphrodite, not wicked, 229. The condition quite usual then as now, 229. Virtue a virile quality, n...

Lampridius on Alexander, 137. Seius Carus’ plot, 139. Military expenditure, 140. Maesa’s plan for the adoption of Alexander, 141. The Emperor’s reasons for concurrence, 142. Nam...

Date of arrival in Rome discussed, 107. The entry into the city according to Herodian, 110. First marriage, 111. The temples, 112. The scheme for the unifying of religions, 114....

Maesa’s return to Emesa, 46. Macrinus’ weakness and tyranny, 47. The legion at Emesa, 48. Bassianus High-Priest, 49. Worship of Elagabal, 50. Bassianus’ religious outlook, 51. E...

Roman views on matrimony, 203. Elagabalus’ marriage with Julia Paula, 205. Position of Julius Paulus, 206. Serviez, etc., on Julia Paula, 207. Dates of this marriage and divorce...

General sketch of conditions, 1. The Augustan Histories and their writers, 2. Lampridius, author of the Life of Elagabalus, 4. First attempts at criticism, 4. Modern criticism,...

Emesa, 24. High-Priest Kings, 25. Septimius Severus, 27. Julius Bassianus, 27. Julia Domna’s marriage, 28. Caracalla’s birth, 29. Septimius Severus, Emperor, 30. Julia’s court,...

Antonine’s refusal to allow the sack of Antioch, 77. Chief minister, 78. Antonine’s temperament, 79. Acts of the new Government, 81. Amnesty, 83. Position of the Senate, 84. Del...

The Emperor set free to further his cult, 173. The procession, 174. Mismanagement and appointments, 178. Freedmen, 180. Return of Aquilia Severa, 183. Desire for military glory,...

Description of Nero’s golden house, 245. Elagabalus compared with Nero, 246. Pastimes, prodigalities, and dress, 246. Extravagances of ritual, 250. Congiaries and games, 251. Ta...