14. Emperor Elagabalus was possibly the most debauched Roman ruler of them all – hardly surprising since he was still a teenage boy
Elagabalus Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus – more commonly known as simply Emperor Elagabalus – is far from Ancient Rome’s most famous leader. And if he is remembered, it’s almost always for the wrong reasons. As a ruler, he was vain, greedy, lazy and decadent. However, his bad behavior is hardly surprising. After all, he was a teenage boy with unlimited wealth and power – small wonder he behaved badly during his few years in the most powerful position on the planet.
A member of the Severan dynasty of Rome and the second son of Julia Soaemias and Sextus Varius Marcellus, Elagabalus was born in the year 203. As a young boy in modern-day Syria, he served as a priest in a local temple. However, almost overnight, and almost completely out of the blue, he was named Emperor of Rome when he was just 14. A series of murders and conspiracies led to a power vacuum at the top, and his grandmother, a wily operator by the name of Julia Maesa, succeeded in getting Elagabalus installed as Emperor. What followed has gone down in history as one of the most debauched reigns of any ruler.
According to most accounts, Elagabalus showed no respect for the role of Emperor. Rather than concerning himself with the duties of the office, he preferred organizing orgies or lavish banquets. It was rumored he took a string of male lovers, including servants and bodyguards, and it’s even claimed that he sold his own body. As the famous historian of Rome Edward Gibbon noted, Elagabalus “abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures and ungoverned fury”. In the end, he was assassinated by his own guards after just four years in power. He was replaced by his cousin, who ruled as Severus Alexander for 13 years.
Elagabalus has been almost-universally proclaimed as one of the worst Emperors in the history of Rome. But still, he did hold the highest office in the world at the age of just 14. What’s more, he lasted for four years. Many older, apparently wiser, rulers didn’t last anywhere near that long in the ruthless world of Roman politics.
