030a. Elagabalus

Augustus 16 May 218 - 11 March 222

Actual name Varius Avitus Bassianus, then Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Nicknamed Elagabalus because he was the high priest of Elagabal, the sun god of Emesa, Syria. His grandmother claimed he was the illegitimate son of Caracalla, who remained popular with army. Elagabalus’s forces prevailed, and he was declared emperor in 218 at the age of 14 or 15. His reign became notorious due to his efforts to supplant the Roman gods and to his sexual antics. He and his mother were killed in 222, and their bodies dumped in the Tiber.