Did you know a Roman emperor married a male servant?
The Romans were used to their emperors’ extravagant lifestyles and sexual preferences.
From incestuous intercourse, homosexuality and pederasty, you name it all.
However, there is one emperor that even open minded Romans couldn't accept: Elagabalus the transgender Roman Emperor.
According to sources, Elagabalus' 3 year rule was a complete nightmare for the aristocracy. And probably a lot of fun for the average person.
Well, that's according to the accounts of ancient sources who mentioned how he was among the worst Roman emperors, ever. But as always, the truth is a little more than that.
At most, historians revealed how many people would even say that Elagabalus should not be written in history, and that no one should have known he became an emperor in the first place.
But why is that? Let's find out.
Welcome to Crazy Histories, where we bring you the craziest and weirdest facts from human history. Some of the things discussed in this video may be offensive or disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
Who is Elagabalus?
While his name is not as popular as that of the other emperors who ruled Rome, there are few accounts that will tell us who Elagabalus is.
Elagabalus was born in Sextus Various Avitas Passionis around 204 AD.
His mother, Julia Soaemias, was a distant relative of Emperor Caracalla, while his father was an equestrian who was subsequently accepted into the Roman Senate.
As per tradition, he had the right to the priesthood of the sun God Eligable. In fact, this is where he got the name Elagabalus in the first place.
Unfortunately, Elagabalus and his family were banished after Caracalla was killed in 217 and the Praetorian Prefect Magnus assumed control of the Roman Empire.
However, Macrinus' rule was quite shaky, and by 218 he had been put to death.
As a result, Elagabalus was made emperor at the age of just 14 and the Senate agreed to recognise them as Caracalla’s son, increasing the legitimacy of their authority.
Little did they then know that this was the start of one of the most controversial reigns in Roman history.
Emperor At 14
So, what happens if you make a 14 year old the most powerful man in Rome?
Well, let's just say a lot can go wrong. We know that his mother, Julia Soaemias, and grandmother, Julia Maesa, initially had a strong relationship with him and that they were able to exert influence over him by making sure they joined him in the Senate. Which was revolting to conventional Roman conservatism.
However, as the tale of the matricide of the Emperor Nero vividly demonstrates, a mother of an emperor may criticise her son's behaviour, but she cannot control it.
Because of this, records revealed how bad Elagabalus was during the first years he sat as emperor. It appears that Elagabalus was overly kind, extremely horny, and had a sense of humour that can only be described as twisted.
In fact, his first action as Emperor was to build a temple on the Palatine Hill to house his God. Yup, he didn't greet his people or even attend the Senate, but he made sure his black conical meteorite of God had a temple of its own.
If you think this is bad enough, well, let me tell you that the temple was dutifully erected in the Temple, where Christians, Jews and Samaritans were required to worship their own deities. He would even require the senators to watch him dance around his deity every summer solstice.
But this is not the end of his bizarre actions as an emperor, because what happens in bed will surely blow your mind.
Elagabalus and his sexuality
It was said that Elagabalus never slept with the same partner twice. His insatiable lust extended to charioteers, whose agility and strength he especially loved.
To put this in perspective, it would have been more scandalous for the Roman ruler to bed a charioteer, than it was for King Charles of England to wed Caitlyn Jenner and make her his consort in Buckingham Palace. That's just how wild our young emperor was.
According to Elagabalus biographer, the emperor selected individuals for political office purely on the basis of the size of their penises. In addition to taking their advice, he engaged in more sexual intercourse with men during his three years as king, than you'd think an adolescent could handle.
But historians pointed out that this was not the peak of his crazy antics. Records revealed that Elagabalus did worse than this. He would go to the bars at night while sporting a wig and pretending to be a woman.
He then frequently visited the notorious brothels, chased the prostitutes out and even played the part of the prostitute himself. At some point, the young emperor would reserve a chamber in the palace and engage in his illicit behaviour there.
He would constantly stand naked at the door, like harlots do, and shake the curtain that was suspended from gold rings, as he solicited bystanders.
But among his lovers, and countless partners, books would suggest that he preferred one, a male slave named Hierocles, who he would even call “his husband”.
HIEROCLES AND ELAGABALUS
Their love story was nothing short of a fairy tale. The young Emperor first met Hierocles when he fell from his chariot at the games in front of the Imperial Lodge.
When this happened, his helmet came off showing the coachman's face and he quickly won the Emperor's favour because of his visually appealing charm.
With his stunning blonde hair, the young emperor was overjoyed and immediately ordered that he be brought to the palace to disperse his favours.
At one point, the Emperor even declared,” I'm proud to be called Wife, Mistress and Queen of Hierocles, and it drove Rome crazy.
Cassius Dio even claimed that the Emperor would instruct those who refer to him during meetings, and correct them by saying to address him as My Lady. To top it all off, he decided to marry HIerocles.
However, their marriage didn't have any legal effect because during that time the ancient Romans did not envisage the institution of homosexual marriage. But this didn't stop rumours about the Emperor from spreading like wildfire.
Because of his fancy for women's dresses, wigs and even fake breasts, people started to assume that he was actually transgendered. Remember Cassius Dio? Well, he was the one who started this propaganda and exerted the effort to prove that he was right.
Was Elagabalus trans?
It's interesting to note that Elagabalus paid doctors large sums of money to make an incision on his body to create some sort of female reproductive organ.
This was according to Cassius Dio, and it can be possible that this is merely malicious slander aimed at damaging Elagabalus' reputation. But it might also be an accurate portrayal of the way he viewed gender.
This is because the Emperor would dress up as women on most occasions.
Remember when I mentioned earlier how he would wear wigs and whatnot? Well, Cassius Dio connected the dots and highlighted how Elagabalus would refer to himself as a wife and a lady.
While crossdressing was permitted in ancient Rome, it was only OK to do so during the Saturnalia celebration, which was a Pagan holiday. This suggests that by forbidding such behaviour outside of the ritual, gender identities had become firmly entrenched.
However, the Emperor would cross dress, even though it was not the holiday. Modern historian Erik Varner even explained that Elagabalus is also alleged to have appeared as Venus, and to have epilated his entire body.
Recurrent charges of effeminacy were levelled against him, and a painted portrait was sent to the capital prior to the Young Emperor's arrival in order to accustom the inhabitants of Rome to his exotic appearance. Just imagine how he looked for authorities to send a portrait ahead of him.
But his end was not as glorious as the fancy clothes he wore. And you know you did something bad when even your granny wants you dead. And in June of 221 C.E., Elagabalus died.
Before this, Julia Maesa, his grandmother, persuaded the Emperor to adopt Severus Alexander as his heir. Alexander did the bare minimum to overcome the current Emperor's popularity.
The Senate hated him so much that they'd rather have anyone on the throne than see Elagabalus for another day. Because of this, Elagabalus planned to assassinate Alexander. But all his efforts were put to waste, because his own death came first.
Elagabalus was killed by his soldiers when he was hiding in the restroom. Not very fancy, right? If you think this is bad enough, think again.
Because his body was taken through Rome’s streets, before being dumped into the Tiber and ending up in the city's largest sewer, the Cloaca Maxima. Surely, one of the most inglorious deaths for an emperor.
However, despite this, a lot of people would still talk about the infamous Elagabalus, and how his name remained almost unwritten and yet was fairly remembered. That's just how crazy he was.
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