Elagabalus

From Wikipedia: In 217, the emperor [|Caracalla] was murdered and replaced by his [|Praetorian prefect], Marcus Opellius [|Macrinus]. Caracalla's maternal aunt,[|Julia Maesa], successfully instigated a revolt among the [|Third Legion] to have her eldest grandson, Elagabalus, declared as emperor in his place. Macrinus was defeated on June 8, 218, at the [|Battle of Antioch], upon which Elagabalus, barely fourteen years old, ascended to the imperial power and began a reign that was marred by controversies. During his rule, Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions and sexual taboos. He was married as many as five times and is reported to have prostituted himself in the imperial palace. Elagabalus replaced [|Jupiter], head of the [|Roman pantheon], with a new god,//[|Deus Sol Invictus]//, and forced leading members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating this deity, which he personally led. Amidst growing opposition, Elagabalus, only 18 years old, was assassinated and replaced by his cousin [|Alexander Severus] on March 11, 222, in a plot formed by his grandmother, Julia Maesa, and members of the [|Praetorian Guard]. Elagabalus developed a reputation among his contemporaries for eccentricity, decadence, and zealotry which was likely exaggerated by his successors and political rivals.[|[1]] This propaganda was passed on and, as a result, he was one of the most reviled Roman emperors to early historians. For example, [|Edward Gibbon] wrote that Elagabalus "abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures and ungoverned fury."[|[2]] "The name Elagabalus is branded in history above all others" because of his "unspeakably disgusting life," wrote [|B.G. Niebuhr].[|[3]]
 * Elagabalus** (pronounced ElaGABalus, c. 203 – March 11, 222), also known as **Heliogabalus** or **Marcus Aurelius Antoninus**, was a [|Roman Emperor] of the [|Severan dynasty] who reigned from 218 to 222. Born **Varius Avitus Bassianus**, he was [|Syrian] on his mother's side, the son of [|Julia Soaemias] and [|Sextus Varius Marcellus], and in his early youth he served as a priest of the god [|El-Gabal] at his hometown, [|Emesa]. Upon becoming emperor he took the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, and was called Elagabalus only a long time after his death.