The Mad Emperor: Heliogabalus and the Decadence of Rome

by Harry Sidebottom

Overview

What happens when you put the Roman Empire in the hands of a teenage boy? Discover the scandalous life and times of Rome's worst emperor.

'Buy the book; it's very entertaining.' David Aaronovitch, The Times

On 8 June 218 AD, a fourteen-year-old Syrian boy, egged on by his grandmother, led an army to battle in a Roman civil war. Against all expectations, he was victorious.

Varius Avitus Bassianus, known to the modern world as Heliogabalus, was proclaimed emperor. The next four years were to be the strangest in the history of the empire.

Heliogabalus humiliated the prestigious Senators and threw extravagant dinner parties for lower-class friends. He ousted Jupiter from his summit among the gods and replaced him with Elagabal. He married a Vestal Virgin – twice. Rumours abounded that he was a prostitute. In the first biography of Heliogabalus in over half a century, Harry Sidebottom unveils the high drama of sex, religion, power and culture in Ancient Rome as we’ve never seen it before.

*****

A Financial Times, BBC History and Spectator Book of the Year

'Combining the pace of a novelist, the training of a scholar and the instincts of a true historian, this is a wonderful exploration of the Roman world under its strangest emperor.' Adrian Goldsworthy, author of Pax Romana

'The decadence, debauchery and sexual promiscuity that marked the adolescent’s time on the imperial throne make for a rollicking read.' Daily Mail

'Ancient history was never less dry than in Harry Sidebottom’s superbly entertaining and always scholarly account of the reign of Heliogabalus... There is something for every reader: sex, politics, scandals and a compelling portrait of imperial society and culture.' Financial Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780861542543
Publisher:	Oneworld Publications
Publication date:	10/06/2022
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	266,352
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Dr Harry Sidebottom teaches Ancient History at Lincoln College, Oxford. Since publication of Fire in the East in 2008, he has written and published a novel each year, all of which have been Sunday Times top 5 bestsellers. His Warrior of Rome series has been published in 14 countries. Harry is also the editor of the Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Ancient Battles.

Table of Contents

Family Tree vi

List of Illustrations xiii

Map x

Introduction: The Roses of Heliogabalus 1

1 The Revolt: Syria, May AD 218 13

I The Flight 13

II Domna's Plot 17

III Maesa's Plot 21

IV The Acclamation 30

V Maesa's Face 34

VI The Siege - 1 37

VII Finding a Father 41

VIII The Siege - 2 45

2 The Backstories: Rome and Emesa, 753 BC to AD 218 48

I Rome: The Children of the Wolf 48

II Emesa: The Children of the Sun 55

3 The Battle: Syria, May to June AD 218 68

I Macrinus' Beard 68

II Death in Apamea 73

III The Feast 75

IV Messages 79

V The March 82

VI The Battle 88

VII To Antioch 93

4 Identities and Racism 97

I Classical Racism? 97

II The Identity of Emesa 101

III The Making of Heliogabalus 108

5 The Journey: The East, Summer to Winter AD 218 119

I Where was Macrinus? 119

II The Object of Reproach 122

III Securing the East 123

IV Securing the West 129

V Heliogabalus' Face - 1 136

VI The Journey 138

VII In Nicomedia 143

6 Power 150

I The Legitimate Emperor: Above the Law 150

II The Passive Emperor: 'Petition and Response' 153

III The Active Emperor: 'Four Constituencies' 159

7 In Rome, AD 219-21 168

I Adventus 168

II Choices: Those Heliogabalus Rejected 173

III Choices: Those Heliogabalus Accepted 178

IV Heliogabalus' Face - 2 201

8 Religion 203

I Seeing the Gods 203

II Emperors: Between Men and Gods 206

III The Black Stone of Elagabal 209

IV The Most High Priest of the Invincible Sun 219

V The Offence: What Went Wrong? 227

9 In the Provinces, AD 219-22 232

I Talking about God in Anazarbus 232

II Money, a Daemon and a Scribe 240

10 Sex 249

I Paralysed by Prohibitions? 249

III 'Call me not Lord, for I am a Lady' 252

11 Death, 26 June AD 221 to 13 March AD 222 265

I Finding a Son 265

II The Power of Women 271

III To the Tiber 275

12 The Reckoning: 13 to 14 March AD 222 289

I The Trappings and the Name of Emperor 289

II The Hatred of Everyone 295

13 The Afterlife of Heliogabalus: Tyrant, Aesthete, Queer Icon, Fashionista, in Art Criticism and as a Roman Lady, AD 222 to AD 2022 301

Author's Note 317

Further Reading 321

Acknowledgements 326

Index 327

Editorial Reviews

‘Harry Sidebottom certainly makes the most of this potential. In thirteen chapters he takes us on an enjoyable romp through the few highs and many lows of Heliogabalus’s fleeting four years as emperor, between 218 CE and 222... Throughout Sidebottom showcases the historian in action, assessing his sources, trawling through prosopography and carefully identifying marble portrait busts. He offers a scholarly but readable biography of an emperor who has been rather short of such attentions.’

TLS

'Sidebottom brings [Heliogabalus] vividly back to life. His prose feels vibrant and effortless but also rewards close reading.'

Daisy Dunn

‘Ancient history was never less dry than in Harry Sidebottom’s superbly entertaining and always scholarly account of the reign of Heliogabalus... There is something for every reader: sex, politics, scandals and a compelling portrait of imperial society and culture.’

Financial Times, Book of the Year - Tony Barber

‘A riveting and rollicking account of a much maligned but truly thrilling era in Roman history.’

Emma Southon

'Combining the pace of a novelist, the training of a scholar and the instincts of a true historian, this is a wonderful exploration of the Roman world under its strangest emperor.'

Adrian Goldsworthy

'Sidebottom is an agile guide and draws the reader’s attention to the remarkably inclusive nature of the empire, from its acceptance of different cultures into citizenship (the exact and polar opposite of, say, Qatar), its routine freeing of slaves and its acceptance of new gods into its pagan pantheon... Buy the book, it’s very entertaining.'

David Aaronovitch

‘Sidebottom has an expert’s command of the rebarbative source base for third-century Rome... A whole scholarly architecture lies beneath and underpins his thoroughly convincing portrait of a failed emperor. His conclusions must be taken seriously.’

LRB

'Harry Sidebottom skilfully juggles what to believe and what not to believe... The racy story is told with the vivid phrasing and descriptive powers of an accomplished novelist... supported by a rich back story and a fascinating discussion of his legacy... a well-illustrated and absorbing read.'

Guy de la Bédoyère

'The decadence, debauchery and sexual promiscuity that marked the adolescent’s time on the imperial throne make for a rollicking read.'

Daily Mail

‘The Mad Emperor recreates the Ancient World with the eye of a poet and the sure hand of a scholar.’

Barry Strauss

'We are used to being told that the historical truth is less exciting than the myth. But, as Harry Sidebottom’s The Mad Emperor demonstrates, this is one of those rare cases when the history does not fall short. While working hard to correct the preconceptions of both scholars and general readers, Sidebottom presents a picture of third-century imperial Rome that is, if anything, wilder than the popular imagination.'

Telegraph

‘A scholarly but highly readable account of the teenager who became classical Rome’s most reviled emperor, but who may be viewed with a touch more sympathy now.’

Matthew Kneale

'An absolute belter'

TalkSPORT, Book of the Week - Paul Ross

‘Such material certainly lends itself to Sidebottom’s boisterous, novelistic prose style... Sidebottom’s deep knowledge of the Eastern Empire and its structures is undeniable.’

Perspective Magazine - ASH Smyth

‘A vibrant and decadent account.’

Indulge Magazine

‘[An] energetic and vivid history’

Strong Words

10/01/2022

Sifting fact from fiction, historian and novelist Sidebottom (ancient history, Oxford; author of the "Warrior of Rome" historical fiction series) pieces together the short, controversial reign of the second-century CE Roman emperor Heliogabalus in this fascinating biography. The teenage scion of a noble Syrian family was reviled by historians of his era for his financial extravagance and disregard for Roman sexual taboos (he married four women, including two vestal virgins, and allegedly prostituted himself and took male lovers). Examining sculptural inscriptions, Roman coinage, and surviving documents, Sidebottom identifies a more complicated reason for Heliogabalus's disastrous reign, centered on the young emperor's failure to appease the constituencies vital to Imperial success; he argues that Heliogabalus's sexuality and devotion to an Eastern solar deity alienated the Roman elite. Sidebottom also discusses life in the Principate era, including race relations, social status, the imagery of Imperial propaganda, and reciprocal obligations of the ruler and the ruled; more than a biography of a single emperor, this book analyzes the sources of Imperial authority. VERDICT A must for anyone interested in the Classical era.—Sara Shreve

Library Journal