Who is Heliogabalus?
Heliogabalus, also called Elagabalus, was the Emperor or Rome from 218 until his assassination in 222 CE. Ascending the throne at the age of 14, he was a controversial and extremely unpopular emperor. He replaced the highest Roman deity, Jupiter, with Deus Sol Invictus, or the “Unconquered Sun God,” a name he used to refer to El-Gabal, the deity of his hometown in Syria and the emperor’s namesake. Heliogabalus’ reign was also characterized by moral decadence, which made him reviled among early historians, but adopted as a kind of cultural hero in the Decadent movement of the late 19th century. Heliogabalus was born Varius Avitus Bassianus in Emessa, Syria in 203 CE. As a young boy, he acted as priest of the local deity, El-Gabal, worshipped in the form of a black meteorite. Roman Emperor Caracalla was murdered in 217, and his Praetorian prefect Macrinus took his place. Caracalla’s aunt, Julia Maesa, helped stage a revolt that resulted in her grandson, Heliogabalus, becoming Emperor. Wh
