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85-659: The legion was founded in either 49 or 48 BC by Julius Caesar to help in Caesar's war against Pompey. The soldiers of the legion were exclusively from Transalpine Gaul and Cisalpine Gaul . After Caesar died, the III Gallica joined Mark Antony 's army. While in the service of Mark Antony the legion would fight at the battle of Munda and Phillipi . They were included in the army levied by Fulvia and Lucius Antonius to oppose Octavian , but ended by surrendering in Perugia , in

170-638: A Vestal Virgin , in addition to lavishing favours on male courtiers they suggested to have been his lovers, and prostituted himself. His behavior estranged the Praetorian Guard , the Senate , and the common people alike. Amidst growing opposition, at just 18 years of age he was assassinated and replaced by his cousin Severus Alexander in March 222. The assassination plot against Elagabalus

255-546: A patrician family, Dio spent the greater part of his life in public service. He was a senator under emperor Commodus and governor of Smyrna after the death of Septimius Severus , and then he served as suffect consul around 205, and as proconsul in Africa and Pannonia . Dio's Roman History spans nearly a millennium , from the arrival of Aeneas in Italy until the year 229. His contemporaneous account of Elagabalus's reign

340-479: A consulship for the third year in a row in 220. Herodian and the Augustan History say that Elagabalus alienated many by giving powerful positions to other allies. He developed the imperial palace at Horti Spei Veteris with the inclusion of the nearby land inherited from his father Sextus Varius Marcellus . Elagabalus made it his favourite retreat and designed it (as for Nero's Domus Aurea project) as

425-399: A cousin of the emperor Caracalla , and there were rumors (which Soaemias later publicly supported) that Elagabalus was Caracalla's child. Marcellus's tombstone attests that Elagabalus had at least one brother, about whom nothing is known. Elagabalus's grandmother, Julia Maesa , was the widow of the consul Julius Avitus Alexianus , the sister of Julia Domna , and the sister-in-law of

510-486: A disregard for Roman religious traditions. He brought the cult of Elagabal (including the large baetyl stone the god was represented by) to Rome, making a prominent part of religious life in the city. He forced leading members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating this deity, presiding over them in person. According to the accounts of Cassius Dio and the Augusta , he married four women, including

595-708: A lady and not a lord, and supposedly offered vast sums to any physician who could provide him with a vagina by means of incision. Some historians, including the classicists Mary Beard , Zachary Herz, and Martijn Icks, treat these accounts with caution, as sources for Elagabalus' life were often antagonistic towards him and largely untrustworthy. In November 2023, the North Hertfordshire Museum in Hitchin , United Kingdom, announced that Elagabalus would be considered as transgender and hence referred to with female pronouns in its exhibits due to claims that

680-479: A man named Zoticus , an athlete from Smyrna , while Dio says only that Zoticus was his cubicularius . Dio says that Elagabalus prostituted himself in taverns and brothels. Some writers suggest that Elagabalus may have identified as female or been transgender , and may have sought sex reassignment surgery . Dio says Elagabalus delighted in being called Hierocles's mistress, wife, and queen. The emperor reportedly wore makeup and wigs, preferred to be called

765-652: A road to Hispania , to assist in troop transport. The Massalians, for their part, cared more for their economic prosperity than they did for territorial integrity. During this period, the Mediterranean settlements on the coast were threatened by the powerful Gallic tribes to the north, especially the tribes known as the Arverni and the Allobroges . In the First Transalpine War (125–121 BCE),

850-635: A statue of the goddess Victoria in the Senate House so people would not be surprised by his Eastern garb, but it is unclear if such a painting actually existed, and Dio does not mention it. If the painting was indeed hung over Victoria, it put senators in the position of seeming to make offerings to Elagabalus when they made offerings to Victoria. On his way to Rome, Elagabalus and his allies executed several prominent supporters of Macrinus, such as Syrian governor Fabius Agrippinus and former Thracian governor C. Claudius Attalus Paterculianus. Arriving at

935-484: A throne ... It was the intention of this eminently religious but crack-brained despot to supersede the worship of all the gods, not only at Rome but throughout the world, by the single worship of Elagabalus or the Sun". The first book-length biography was The Amazing Emperor Heliogabalus (1911) by J. Stuart Hay, "a serious and systematic study" more sympathetic than that of previous historians, which nonetheless stressed

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1020-669: A vast suburban villa divided into various building and landscape nuclei with the Amphitheatrum Castrense which he built and the Circus Varianus hippodrome fired by his unbridled passion for circuses and his habit of driving chariots inside the villa. He raced chariots under the family name of Varius. Dio states that Elagabalus wanted to marry a charioteer named Hierocles and to declare him caesar , just as (Dio says) he had previously wanted to marry Gannys and name him caesar . The athlete Aurelius Zoticus

1105-750: Is a Latinized version of the Arabic إِلٰهُ الْجَبَلِ Ilāh al-Jabal , from ilāh ("god") and jabal ("mountain"), meaning "God of the Mountain", the Emesene manifestation of Ba'al . Initially venerated at Emesa, the deity's cult spread to other parts of the Roman Empire in the second century; a dedication has been found as far away as Woerden (in the Netherlands ), near the Roman limes . The god

1190-480: Is branded in history above all others; [...] "Elagabus had nothing at all to make up for his vices, which are of such a kind that it is too disgusting even to allude to them". An example of a modern historian's assessment is Adrian Goldsworthy 's: "Elagabalus was not a tyrant, but he was an incompetent, probably the least able emperor Rome had ever had". Despite near-universal condemnation of his reign, some scholars write warmly about his religious innovations, including

1275-405: Is clear that Dio was not attempting an accurate portrayal of the emperor", an assessment endorsed by Josiah Osgood. Another contemporary of Elagabalus was Herodian , a minor Roman civil servant who lived from c.  170 until 240. His work, History of the Roman Empire since Marcus Aurelius , commonly abbreviated as Roman History , is an eyewitness account of the reign of Commodus until

1360-492: Is confused, owing to salacious and unreliable sources. Cassius Dio states that Elagabalus was married five times (twice to the same woman). His first wife was Julia Cornelia Paula , whom he married prior to 29 August 219; between then and 28 August 220, he divorced Paula, took the Vestal Virgin Julia Aquilia Severa as his second wife, divorced her, and took a third wife, who Herodian says

1445-501: Is deemed less reliable by many modern scholars, though Rowan considers his account of Elagabalus's reign more reliable than Dio's and Herodian's lack of literary and scholarly pretensions are considered to make him less biased than senatorial historians. He is considered an important source for the religious reforms which took place during the reign of Elagabalus, which have been confirmed by numismatic and archaeological evidence. The source of many stories of Elagabalus's depravity

1530-478: Is generally considered more reliable than the Augustan History or other accounts for this general time period, though by his own admission Dio spent the greater part of the relevant period outside of Rome and had to rely on second-hand information. Furthermore, the political climate in the aftermath of Elagabalus's reign, as well as Dio's own position within the government of Severus Alexander, who held him in high esteem and made him consul again, likely influenced

1615-605: Is inaccurate, such as when he says Elagabalus appointed entirely unqualified officials and that Comazon had no military experience before being named to head the Praetorian Guard, when in fact Comazon had commanded the Third Legion. Dio also gives different accounts in different places of when and by whom Diadumenian (whose forces Elagabalus fought) was given imperial names and titles. Martin Icks has written that "It

1700-449: Is said by Dio to have been Elagabalus's lover and cubicularius (a non-administrative role), while the Augustan History says Zoticus was a husband to Elagabalus and held greater political influence. Elagabalus's relationships to his mother Julia Soaemias and grandmother Julia Maesa were strong at first; they were influential supporters from the beginning, and Macrinus declared war on them as well as Elagabalus. Accordingly, they became

1785-537: Is the Historia Augusta , which includes controversial claims. It is most likely that the Historia Augusta was written towards the end of the fourth century, during the reign of emperor Theodosius I . The account of Elagabalus in the Historia Augusta is of uncertain historical merit. Sections 13 to 17, relating to the fall of Elagabalus, are less controversial among historians. The author of

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1870-466: Is worshipped as though it were sent from heaven; on it there are some small projecting pieces and markings that are pointed out, which the people would like to believe are a rough picture of the sun, because this is how they see them". Dio writes that in order to increase his piety as high priest of Elagabal atop a new Roman pantheon, Elagabalus had himself circumcised and swore to abstain from swine . He forced senators to watch while he danced circling

1955-575: The Battle of Antioch on 8 June 218, prevailing when Macrinus's troops broke ranks after he fled the battlefield. Macrinus made for Italy, but was intercepted near Chalcedon and executed in Cappadocia , while Diadumenian was captured at Zeugma and executed. That month, Elagabalus wrote to the Senate, assuming the imperial titles without waiting for senatorial approval, which violated tradition but

2040-472: The Greek colony of Massalia (modern Marseille ) on the southern coast of Gaul. Massalia, founded by colonists from Phocaea , was by this point centuries old and quite prosperous. Rome entered into an alliance with Massalia, by which it agreed to protect the town from local Gauls , nearby Aquitani , sea-borne Carthaginians and other rivals, in exchange for a small strip of land that it wanted in order to build

2125-403: The Praetorian Guard attacked Elagabalus and his mother: He made an attempt to flee, and would have got away somewhere by being placed in a chest had he not been discovered and slain, at the age of eighteen. His mother, who embraced him and clung tightly to him, perished with him; their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped naked, were first dragged all over the city, and then

2210-997: The Visigothic Kingdom between AD 462 and 477, permanently ending Roman political control. After the Gothic takeover, the Visigothic dominions were to be generally known as Septimania , while to the east of the lower Rhone the term Provence came into use. (This list is based on A.L.F. Rivet, Gallia Narbonensis (London: Batsford, 1988), pp. 79, 86f.) 44°00′00″N 4°00′00″E  /  44.0000°N 4.0000°E  / 44.0000; 4.0000 Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus , c. 204 – 13 March 222), better known by his posthumous nicknames Elagabalus ( / ˌ ɛ l ə ˈ ɡ æ b əl ə s / EL -ə- GAB -ə-ləs ) and Heliogabalus ( / ˌ h iː l i ə -, - l i oʊ -/ HEE -lee-ə-, -⁠lee-oh- ),

2295-490: The 6th-century Byzantine chronicler John Malalas , as well as Warwick Ball , a modern historian who described him as "a tragic enigma lost behind centuries of prejudice". Modern scholars have questioned the accuracy of Roman accounts of his reign, with suggestions that the reports of his salacious and homosexual behaviour may have been related to Roman stereotypes regarding people from the Orient as effeminate. Elagabalus

2380-739: The Africa provinces. However, the following emperor, Alexander Severus , reconstituted the legion and redeployed them back in Syria. Valerius Comazon entered in Elagabalus court, becoming prefect of the Praetorian Guard and consul in 220. The legion partook in Alexander's campaign against the Sassanids. Its subsequent history is obscure. Gallia Narbonensis Gallia Narbonensis ( Latin for "Gaul of Narbonne ", from its chief settlement)

2465-473: The Augustan era. Its first recorded use was in a census conducted by Gnaeus Pullius Pollio . The Romans had called it Provincia Nostra ("our province") or simply Provincia ("the province"). The term has survived in the modern name of Provence for the eastern part of the area (French Provence , Occitan Provença ), now a region of France. By the mid-2nd century BC, Rome was trading heavily with

2550-659: The III Gallica joined Legio VII Gemina under its commander Marcus Antonius Primus in marching on units supporting Vitellius in northern Italy. The decisive clash came at the Second Battle of Bedriacum , where the Vitellians were defeated. The III Gallica had during its service in Syria adopted the custom of saluting the rising sun, and when dawn broke at Bedriacum they turned east to do so. The Vitellian forces thought that they were saluting reinforcements from

2635-515: The Legion left an inscription amongst the Commemorative stelae of Nahr el-Kalb . The legion played a central role in the early reign of Elagabalus . In 218, during Macrinus ' reign, Julia Maesa went to Raphana , Syria , where the legion was based under the command of Publius Valerius Comazon . She largely donated to the legion, which, in turn, proclaimed emperor Julia Maesa's grandson,

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2720-697: The Parthians under Gaius Avidius Cassius . During the Year of the Five Emperors the Syrian Legions, including the III Gallica , supported Pescennius Niger . However, Septimius Severus emerged as the victor. Septimius Severus would campaign against the Parthian Empire ; one of the legions that fought in this campaign was the III Gallica. During the reign of Roman Emperor Caracalla ,

2805-593: The Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus (later additionally named Allobrogicus) campaigned in the area and defeated the Allobroges and the Arverni under king Bituitus in the Battle of the Isère River . This defeat substantially weakened the Arverni and ensured the further security of Gallia Narbonensis. The area became a Roman province in 121 BCE. The province had come into Roman control originally under

2890-792: The Roman religion were transferred from their respective shrines to the Elagabalium, including the emblem of the Great Mother , the fire of Vesta , the Shields of the Salii , and the Palladium , so that no other god could be worshipped except in association with Elagabal. Although his native cult was widely ridiculed by contemporaries, sun-worship was popular among the soldiers and would be promoted by several later emperors. The question of Elagabalus's sexual orientation and gender identity

2975-499: 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

3060-546: The Romans built a crossroads that made Narbonne an optimal trading center, and Narbonne became a major trading competitor to Massalia. From Narbonne, the Romans established the province of Transalpine Gaul, later called Gallia Narbonensis. During the Sertorian War (80–72 BCE) against the breakaway state of former Roman senator and general Sertorius , Gallia Narbonensis was an important base for military activities. This

3145-656: The Romans in 71. While the legion was in Syria, vexillations may have fought in Trajan and Domitian's Dacian wars . It is also likely that the legion took part in Trajan's Parthian wars . In 132 the III Gallica was called on to crush the Jewish rebellion . An inscription found in Rome attests that towards the end of Hadrian 's reign the legion was still based in Syria. They also took part in Lucius Verus ' campaign against

3230-399: The Senate, both Julia Maesa and Julia Soaemias were elevated to the rank of Augustae , and the memory of Macrinus was expunged by the Senate. (Elagabalus's imperial artifacts assert that he succeeded Caracalla directly.) Comazon was appointed commander of the Praetorian Guard. Elagabalus was named Pater Patriae by the Senate before 13 July 218. On 14 July, Elagabalus was inducted into

3315-458: The Spanish provinces and Rome, and its financial output. The province of Gallia Transalpina ("Transalpine Gaul") was later renamed Gallia Narbonensis , after its newly established capital of Colonia Narbo Martius (colloquially known as Narbo, at the location of the modern Narbonne ), a Roman colony founded on the coast in 118 BC. The name Gallia Narbonensis most likely originates in

3400-541: The Third Legion Gallica , which was disbanded once the revolt was put down. Next, according to Herodian, Elagabalus and his entourage spent the winter of 218–219 in Bithynia at Nicomedia , and then traveled through Thrace and Moesia to Italy in the first half of 219, the year of Elagabalus's second consulship. Herodian says that Elagabalus had a painting of himself sent ahead to Rome to be hung over

3485-405: The altar of Elagabal to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Each summer solstice he held a festival dedicated to the god, which became popular with the masses because of the free food distributed on these occasions. During this festival, Elagabalus placed the black stone on a chariot adorned with gold and jewels, which he paraded through the city: A six horse chariot carried the divinity,

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3570-424: The beginning of the reign of Gordian III . His work largely overlaps with Dio's own Roman History , and the texts, written independently of each other, agree more often than not about Elagabalus and his short but eventful reign. Herodian may have used Dio's work as a source for parts of his account about Elagabalus. Arrizabalaga writes that Herodian is in most ways "less detailed and punctilious than Dio", and he

3655-544: The colleges of all the Roman priesthoods, including the College of Pontiffs , of which he was named pontifex maximus . Elagabalus stayed for a time at Antioch, apparently to quell various mutinies. Dio outlines several, which historian Fergus Millar places prior to the winter of 218–219. These included one by Gellius Maximus , who commanded the Fourth Legion and was executed, and one by Verus , who commanded

3740-604: The core of his army. The campaign lasted from 58-68 AD. Corbulo's successes triggered the emperor Nero 's resentment and eventually the general was forced to commit suicide. In 68 AD, III Gallica was transferred to the province of Moesia on the Danube . In the Year of the Four Emperors in 69, the legion, and the rest of the Danubian army, aligned first with Otho , then with Vespasian . Along with three other legions,

3825-637: The date of the winter solstice . In his official titulature, Elagabalus was then entitled in Latin : sacerdos amplissimus dei invicti Soli Elagabali, pontifex maximus , lit.   'highest priest of the unconquered god, the Sun Elgabal, supreme pontiff'. That a foreign god should be honored above Jupiter , with Elagabalus himself as chief priest, shocked many Romans. As a token of respect for Roman religion, however, Elagabalus joined either Astarte , Minerva , Urania , or some combination of

3910-473: The east and lost heart. From Bedriacum the legion advanced with Primus on Rome to rescue Vespasian's family and supporters in that city, and encamped in Capua when Mucianus arrived from the east. As one of his actions to secure control of Rome, Mucianus dispersed the units loyal to Primus, sending the legion back to Syria. On returning to Syria, the legion made its base at Raphanaea , which had been captured by

3995-549: The emperor Septimius Severus . Other relatives included Elagabalus's aunt Julia Avita Mamaea and uncle Marcus Julius Gessius Marcianus and their son Severus Alexander . Elagabalus's family held hereditary rights to the priesthood of the sun god Elagabal , of whom Elagabalus was the high priest at Emesa (modern Homs ) in Roman Syria as part of the Arab Emesene dynasty . The deity's Latin name, "Elagabalus",

4080-540: The emperor had said "call me not Lord, for I am a Lady". The museum has one Elagabalus coin. Elagabalus stoked the animus of Roman elites and the Praetorian Guard through his perceptibly foreign conduct and his religious provocations. When Elagabalus's grandmother Julia Maesa perceived that popular support for the emperor was waning, she decided that he and his mother, who had encouraged his religious practices, had to be replaced. As alternatives, she turned to her other daughter, Julia Avita Mamaea , and her daughter's son,

4165-493: The family of his assassinated predecessor, Caracalla, by exiling them—Julia Maesa, her two daughters, and her eldest grandson Elagabalus—to their estate at Emesa in Syria . Almost upon arrival in Syria, Maesa began a plot with her advisor and Elagabalus's tutor, Gannys , to overthrow Macrinus and elevate the fourteen-year-old Elagabalus to the imperial throne. Maesa spread a rumor, which Soaemias publicly supported, that Elagabalus

4250-456: The fifteen-year-old Severus Alexander . Prevailing on Elagabalus, she arranged that he appoint his cousin Alexander as his heir and that the boy be given the title of caesar . Alexander was elevated to caesar in June 221, possibly on 26 June. Elagabalus and Alexander were each named consul designatus for the following year, probably on 1 July. Elagabalus took up his fourth consulship for

4335-401: The first women allowed into the Senate, and both received senatorial titles: Soaemias the established title of Clarissima, and Maesa the more unorthodox Mater Castrorum et Senatus ("Mother of the army camp and of the Senate"). They exercised influence over the young emperor throughout his reign, and are found on many coins and inscriptions, a rare honour for Roman women. Under Elagabalus,

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4420-531: The fourteen-year-old Elagabalus, on the dawn of 16 May. On June 8, 218 near Antioch . Gannys , Elagabalus' tutor, defeated Macrinus and his son, with the help of the III Gallica and the other legions of the East. In 219, the legion, exhausted by Elagabalus excesses, supported its commander, senator Verus , who proclaimed himself emperor. Elagabalus had Verus executed, and dispersed the legion. The legionaries were transferred namely to III Augusta , stationed in

4505-515: The gradual devaluation of Roman aurei and denarii continued (with the silver purity of the denarius dropping from 58% to 46.5%), though antoniniani had a higher metal content than under Caracalla. Since the reign of Septimius Severus , sun worship had increased throughout the Empire. At the end of 220, Elagabalus instated Elagabal as the chief deity of the Roman pantheon , possibly on

4590-422: The horses huge and flawlessly white, with expensive gold fittings and rich ornaments. No one held the reins, and no one rode in the chariot; the vehicle was escorted as if the god himself were the charioteer. Elagabalus ran backward in front of the chariot, facing the god and holding the horses' reins. He made the whole journey in this reverse fashion, looking up into the face of his god. The most sacred relics from

4675-486: The imperial capital in August or September 219, Elagabalus staged an adventus , a ceremonial entrance to the city. In Rome, his offer of amnesty for the Roman upper class was largely honored, though the jurist Ulpian was exiled. Elagabalus made Comazon praetorian prefect , and later consul (220) and prefect of the city (three times, 220–222), which Dio regarded as a violation of Roman norms. Elagabalus himself held

4760-426: The legion. To strengthen his legitimacy, Elagabalus adopted the same name Caracalla bore as emperor, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Cassius Dio states that some officers tried to keep the soldiers loyal to Macrinus, but they were unsuccessful. Praetorian prefect Ulpius Julianus responded by attacking the Third Legion, most likely on Macrinus's orders (though one account says he acted on his own before Macrinus knew of

4845-559: The loyalty of the Second Legion with large cash payments. During a banquet to celebrate this at Apamea , however, a messenger presented Macrinus with the severed head of his defeated prefect Julianus. Macrinus therefore retreated to Antioch , after which the Second Legion shifted its loyalties to Elagabalus. Elagabalus's legionaries, commanded by Gannys, defeated Macrinus and Diadumenian and their Praetorian Guard at

4930-542: The markets of Massalia. It was from the capital of Narbonne that Julius Caesar began his Gallic Wars . Caesar rebuilt Narbo and built the cities of Forum Julium and Arles . Julius Caesar also granted many communities in Gallia Narbonensis citizenship. In 49 BC, the city of Massalia sided with the Pompeians during the civil war . After the war ended, the city of Massalia lost all of its independence and

5015-550: The marriage would produce "godlike children". This was a flagrant breach of Roman law and tradition, which held that any Vestal found to have engaged in sexual intercourse was to be buried alive . A lavish temple called the Elagabalium was built on the east face of the Palatine Hill to house Elagabal, who was represented by a black conical meteorite from Emesa. This was a baetyl . Herodian wrote "this stone

5100-474: The modern age, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1737–1794) further cemented the scandalous reputation of Elagabalus. Gibbon not only accepted and expressed outrage at the allegations of the ancient historians, but he might have added some details of his own; for example, he is the first historian known to claim that Gannys was a eunuch . Gibbon wrote: To confound

5185-469: The most scandalous stories in the Historia Augusta concedes that "both these matters and some others which pass belief were, I think, invented by people who wanted to depreciate Heliogabalus to win favour with Alexander". The Historia Augusta is widely regarded to have been written by a single author who used multiple pseudonyms throughout the work, and has been described as a "fantasist" who invented large parts of his historical accounts. For readers of

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5270-468: The mother's body was cast aside somewhere or other, while his was thrown into the Tiber . Following his assassination, many associates of Elagabalus were killed or deposed. His lover Hierocles was executed. His religious edicts were reversed and the stone of Elagabal was sent back to Emesa . Women were again barred from attending meetings of the Senate. The practice of damnatio memoriae —erasing from

5355-706: The name Gallia Transalpina (Transalpine Gaul), which distinguished it from Cisalpine Gaul on the near side of the Alps to Rome. In this strip of land, the Romans founded the town of Narbonne in 118 BC. At the same time, they built the Via Domitia , the first Roman road in Gaul, connecting Gaul to Hispania, and the Via Aquitania , which led toward the Atlantic through Tolosa (Toulouse) and Burdigala (Bordeaux). Thus,

5440-405: 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

5525-478: The provinces Gallia Narbonensis and Gallia Aquitania into a new administrative unit called Dioecesis Viennensis (Diocese of Vienne) with the capital more to the north in Vienne . The new diocese's name was later changed to Dioecesis Septem Provinciarum (Diocese of the Seven Provinces), indicating that Diocletian had demoted the word "province" to mean a smaller subdivision than in traditional usage. Galla Narbonensis and surrounding areas were incorporated into

5610-401: The public record a disgraced personage formerly of note—was systematically applied in his case. Several images, including an over-life-size statue of him as Hercules now in Naples, were re-carved with the face of Alexander Severus. The historian Cassius Dio , who lived from the second half of the second century until sometime after 229, wrote a contemporary account of Elagabalus. Born into

5695-430: 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. The 20th-century anthropologist James George Frazer (author of The Golden Bough ) took seriously the monotheistic aspirations of the emperor, but also ridiculed him: "The dainty priest of the Sun [was] the most abandoned reprobate who ever sat upon

5780-432: The rebellion). Herodian suggests Macrinus underestimated the threat, considering the rebellion inconsequential. During the fighting, Julianus's soldiers killed their officers and joined Elagabalus's forces. Macrinus asked the Roman Senate to denounce Elagabalus as "the False Antoninus", and they complied, declaring war on Elagabalus and his family. Macrinus made his son Diadumenian co-emperor, and attempted to secure

5865-522: The rumor that Alexander was near death, in order to see how the Praetorians would react. A riot ensued, and the Guard demanded to see Elagabalus and Alexander in the Praetorian camp . On 13 March, the emperor complied and publicly presented his cousin along with his own mother, Julia Soaemias. On their arrival the soldiers started cheering Alexander while ignoring Elagabalus, who ordered the summary arrest and execution of anyone who had taken part in this display of insubordination. In response, members of

5950-440: The three to Elagabal as consort. A union between Elagabal and a traditional goddess would have served to strengthen ties between the new religion and the imperial cult. There may have been an effort to introduce Elagabal, Urania, and Athena as the new Capitoline Triad of Rome—replacing Jupiter, Juno , and Minerva. He aroused further discontent when he married the Vestal Virgin Aquilia Severa , Vesta's high priestess, claiming

6035-551: The truth of this part of his history for the worse. Dio regularly refers to Elagabalus as Sardanapalus , partly to distinguish him from his divine namesake, but chiefly to do his part in maintaining the damnatio memoriae and to associate him with another autocrat notorious for a dissolute life. Historian Clare Rowan calls Dio's account a mixture of reliable information and "literary exaggeration", noting that Elagabalus's marriages and time as consul are confirmed by numismatic and epigraphic records. In other instances, Dio's account

6120-485: The winter of 41 BC. The legion served in Antony's Parthian War in 36 BC. After the battle of Actium and Antony's suicide during Antony's Civil War , the III Gallica was sent again to the East, where they garrisoned the province of Syria . After Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo had been appointed to campaign against the Parthians over the control of Armenia , he withdrew III Gallica along with Legio VI Ferrata to form

6205-406: The year of 222. Alexander shared the consulship with the emperor that year. However, Elagabalus reconsidered this arrangement when he began to suspect that the Praetorian Guard preferred his cousin to himself. Elagabalus ordered various attempts on Alexander's life, after failing to obtain approval from the Senate for stripping Alexander of his shared title. According to Dio, Elagabalus invented

6290-424: Was Annia Aurelia Faustina , a descendant of Marcus Aurelius and the widow of a man Elagabalus had recently executed, Pomponius Bassus. In the last year of his reign, Elagabalus divorced Annia Faustina and remarried Aquilia Severa. Dio states that another "husband of this woman [Elagabalus] was Hierocles ", an ex-slave and chariot driver from Caria . The Augustan History claims that Elagabalus also married

6375-526: Was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was notorious for religious controversy and alleged sexual debauchery. A close relative to the Severan dynasty , he came from a prominent Syrian Arab family in Emesa ( Homs ), Syria , where he served as the head priest of the sun god Elagabal from a young age. After the death of his cousin, the emperor Caracalla , Elagabalus

6460-589: Was a Roman province located in what is now Occitania and Provence , in Southern France . It was also known as Provincia Nostra ("Our Province"), because it was the first Roman province north of the Alps , and as Gallia Transalpina ("Transalpine Gaul"), distinguishing it from Cisalpine Gaul in Northern Italy . It became a Roman province in the late 2nd century BC. Gallia Narbonensis

6545-465: Was a common practice among third-century emperors. Letters of reconciliation were dispatched to Rome extending amnesty to the Senate and recognizing its laws, while also condemning the administration of Macrinus and his son. The senators responded by acknowledging Elagabalus as emperor and accepting his claim to be the son of Caracalla. Elagabalus was made consul for the year 218 in the middle of June. Caracalla and Julia Domna were both deified by

6630-606: Was an important event in the Romanization of Narbonese Gaul, as it resulted in the Romans organizing the province. Control of the province, which bordered directly on Italia , gave the Roman state several advantages: control of the land route between Italy and the Iberian Peninsula ; a territorial buffer against Gallic attacks on Italy; and control of the lucrative trade routes of the Rhône valley between Gaul and

6715-700: Was bordered by the Pyrenees Mountains on the west, the Cévennes to the north, the Alps on the east, and the Gulf of Lion on the south; the province included the majority of the Rhone catchment. The western region of Gallia Narbonensis was known as Septimania . The province was a valuable part of the Roman Empire , owing to the Greek colony and later Roman Civitas of Massalia , its location between

6800-455: Was born in 203 or 204, to Sextus Varius Marcellus and Julia Soaemias Bassiana , who had probably married around the year 200 (and no later than 204). Elagabalus's full birth name was probably (Sextus) Varius Avitus Bassianus, the last name being apparently a cognomen of the Emesene dynasty . Marcellus was an equestrian , later elevated to a senatorial position. Julia Soaemias was

6885-493: Was devised by Julia Maesa and carried out by disaffected members of the Praetorian Guard. Elagabalus developed a posthumous reputation for extreme eccentricity , decadence , zealotry, and sexual promiscuity. Among writers of the early modern age, he endured one of the worst reputations among Roman emperors. Edward Gibbon , notably, wrote that Elagabalus "abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures with ungoverned fury". According to Barthold Georg Niebuhr , "the name of Elagabalus

6970-499: Was fully subject to Roman rule. In 40 BC, during the Second Triumvirate , Lepidus was given responsibility for Narbonese Gaul (along with Hispania and Africa), while Mark Antony was given the balance of Gaul. After becoming Emperor , Augustus made Gallia Narbonensis a senatorial province governed by a proconsul . Emperor Diocletian 's administrative reorganization of the Empire in c.  AD 314 merged

7055-468: Was later imported to Rome and assimilated with the sun god known as Sol Indiges in the era of the Roman Republic and as Sol Invictus during the late third century. In Greek, the sun god is Helios , hence Elagabal was later known as "Heliogabalus", a hybrid of "Helios" and "Elagabalus". Herodian writes that when the emperor Macrinus came to power, he suppressed the threat to his reign from

7140-579: Was raised to the principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by his grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus . He only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of his god. Elagabalus is largely known from accounts by the contemporary senator Cassius Dio who was strongly hostile to him, and the much later Historia Augusta . The reliability of these accounts, particularly their most salacious elements, has been strongly questioned. Elagabalus showed

7225-530: Was the illegitimate child of Caracalla and so deserved the loyalty of Roman soldiers and senators who had sworn allegiance to Caracalla. The soldiers of the Third Legion Gallica at Raphana , who had enjoyed greater privileges under Caracalla and resented Macrinus (and may have been impressed or bribed by Maesa's wealth), supported this claim. At sunrise on 16 May 218, Elagabalus was declared emperor by Publius Valerius Comazon , commander of

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