What do you think?
Rate this book
Heliogabalus: een denkbeeldige biografie
The four short years of Elagabalus s rule have generated nearly two millennia of sustained attention, from salacious rumor to scholarly analysis to novels that cast him as a gay hero "avant la lettre." Here, Martijn Icks succeeds in distinguishing the reality of the emperor s brief life from the myth that clouds it and in tracing the meaning of the myth itself to the present day.
In 219 ce, when the fourteen-year-old Syrian arrived in Rome to assume the throne, he brought with him a conical black stone, which he declared was the earthly form of the sun god El-Gabal, who gave Elagabalus his name and lifelong office as high priest. Shoving Jupiter aside, the new emperor did the unthinkable, installing El-Gabal at the head of the Roman pantheon and marrying a vestal virgin. Whether for these offenses, his neglect of the empire, or weariness from watching the emperor dance at the elaborate daily sacrifices, the imperial guards murdered Elagabalus and put El-Gabal in a packing crate.
Sifting through later accounts of the emperor s outrageous behavior, Icks finds the invented Elagabalus as compelling as the historical figure. In literature, art, and music from the fifteenth century on, Elagabalus appears in many guises, from evil tyrant to anarchist rebel, from mystical androgyne to modern gay teenager, from decadent sensualist to pop star. These many reincarnations reveal as much about the ages that produced them, Icks shows, as they do about the bad-boy emperor himself."
In 219 ce, when the fourteen-year-old Syrian arrived in Rome to assume the throne, he brought with him a conical black stone, which he declared was the earthly form of the sun god El-Gabal, who gave Elagabalus his name and lifelong office as high priest. Shoving Jupiter aside, the new emperor did the unthinkable, installing El-Gabal at the head of the Roman pantheon and marrying a vestal virgin. Whether for these offenses, his neglect of the empire, or weariness from watching the emperor dance at the elaborate daily sacrifices, the imperial guards murdered Elagabalus and put El-Gabal in a packing crate.
Sifting through later accounts of the emperor s outrageous behavior, Icks finds the invented Elagabalus as compelling as the historical figure. In literature, art, and music from the fifteenth century on, Elagabalus appears in many guises, from evil tyrant to anarchist rebel, from mystical androgyne to modern gay teenager, from decadent sensualist to pop star. These many reincarnations reveal as much about the ages that produced them, Icks shows, as they do about the bad-boy emperor himself."
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
13 people are currently reading
291 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 12, 2021
Although Elagabalus comes up relatively often in my decadent reading I realised I knew nothing really about him.
This book is an almost equal mixture of historical overview and (primarily) literary appropriation of the boy emperor. Both parts are equally good.
We learn that Elagabalus' came the throne at the age of fourteen (on somewhat false pretences), attempted to make the cult he was a priest of (that of Elagabal, symbolised as a black stone) made the religion of the Empire, probably married a Vestal virgin while also maintaining a somewhat debauched homosexual lifestyle. Give a kid the most powerful job in the western world at the time. What could possibly go wrong? After his four-year reign (218-222) he was assassinated, had his body dumped in the Tiber and made 'damnatio memoriae', which meant his name was erased wherever it could be found.
His early chroniclers played up all his excesses and invented some fairly unlikely stories regarding them, which historians accepted as 'true' for many years. However, as researchers came to realise that not all Roman writings were necessarily factually accurate (ie they might be sheer propaganda) and began to look at other items (for example the Emperor's representation on various coins) a different, and more nuanced picture began to emerge.
I'm no historian and found some of this a bit too dry for my taste but it is fascinating stuff and Icks makes it as accessible as possible without diluting the research. In this, he is to be applauded as it really is very readable.
He then analyses how Elagabalus (or the myth of Elagabalus) has been utilised by various artists and authors up and into the 21st century to 'fit him' into various categories such as evil tyrant, decadent artist and queer poster boy citing (and synopsising) various hard to find novels stories and poems en route. I found this equally fascinating and came away wishing that there were English translations of Louis Couperus' 'De Berg van Licht' (1905-6) Stefan Georges 'Alagabal' (1892) and (especially) Jean Lombard's L'Agonie (1888). The book has a bibliography of such works that should hopefully send those able to read French and German off to the library and hopefully report back.
The more I read of this book the more I liked it and for those with an interest in decadent literature or the vagaries of Roman history, it is a useful tome. Recommended.
This book is an almost equal mixture of historical overview and (primarily) literary appropriation of the boy emperor. Both parts are equally good.
We learn that Elagabalus' came the throne at the age of fourteen (on somewhat false pretences), attempted to make the cult he was a priest of (that of Elagabal, symbolised as a black stone) made the religion of the Empire, probably married a Vestal virgin while also maintaining a somewhat debauched homosexual lifestyle. Give a kid the most powerful job in the western world at the time. What could possibly go wrong? After his four-year reign (218-222) he was assassinated, had his body dumped in the Tiber and made 'damnatio memoriae', which meant his name was erased wherever it could be found.
His early chroniclers played up all his excesses and invented some fairly unlikely stories regarding them, which historians accepted as 'true' for many years. However, as researchers came to realise that not all Roman writings were necessarily factually accurate (ie they might be sheer propaganda) and began to look at other items (for example the Emperor's representation on various coins) a different, and more nuanced picture began to emerge.
I'm no historian and found some of this a bit too dry for my taste but it is fascinating stuff and Icks makes it as accessible as possible without diluting the research. In this, he is to be applauded as it really is very readable.
He then analyses how Elagabalus (or the myth of Elagabalus) has been utilised by various artists and authors up and into the 21st century to 'fit him' into various categories such as evil tyrant, decadent artist and queer poster boy citing (and synopsising) various hard to find novels stories and poems en route. I found this equally fascinating and came away wishing that there were English translations of Louis Couperus' 'De Berg van Licht' (1905-6) Stefan Georges 'Alagabal' (1892) and (especially) Jean Lombard's L'Agonie (1888). The book has a bibliography of such works that should hopefully send those able to read French and German off to the library and hopefully report back.
The more I read of this book the more I liked it and for those with an interest in decadent literature or the vagaries of Roman history, it is a useful tome. Recommended.
February 12, 2013
He was born in 204 CE, and lived in Emesa in Syria; his family name was Varius Avitus Bassianus, and even before 218 CE he was the high priest of the Syrian Sun God Elagabal, whose symbol/representation was a black Stone which fell from the heavens (probably a meteorite, and it may also be another version of the Islamic meteorite stored and worshipped in the Kaaba by Muslims) and which the boy high priest worshipped and took with him everywhere. After the defeat of the Roman Emperor Macrinus, and even though he was only 14 years of age, he was chosen by the Army as the new Roman Emperor in 218 CE. As Emperor, his official name became Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, but he is universally known as Heliogabalus/Elagabalus.
Despite marrying several times, including (to the horror of the Romans) a Vestal Virgin, he was definitely homosexual and liked to think of himself as female (in today’s terminology he would perhaps be more correctly designated as transgender); he loved dressing up in splendid eastern robes; he also loved excess in all he did. He wanted to replace Jupiter in the Roman Pantheon with Elagabal, whom he designated as ‘The Invincible Sun’ (Sol Invictus a term later incorporated in the Empire’s iconography). For all his troubles, he was assassinated in 221 CE, and his body unceremoniously dumped in the Tiber. Despite his short reign being essentially peaceful (no wars were initiated by him) he became one of the most despised (if not the ‘worst’) of the Roman Emperors.
This book starts off in an attempt to understand why this negative appraisal has stuck — and Icks works very academically (perhaps too much so, so that reading the work can sometimes be typically dry and a bit of an effort for many of today’s readers) to reveal that it seems that his homosexuality and his ‘new’ religion were enough to make him despised enough to have him assassinated, and to despatch him to damnatio memoriae i.e. his name and image were to be erased from papyri, inscriptions, wall paintings and buildings.
Despite all this, however, Elagabalus has left a strange and vibrant legacy, which the author traces in art and literature all the way to the twentieth century. The list of inspirations is quite extensive, and Icks selects several such works to examine in more detail, showing the different emphases and interpretations of the relevant authors — an examination of interest to art and literature students in and of itself. The enigma of this child-high-priest, loved at first, then rejected, then subjected to increasingly negative responses, so that he is perceived as evil, decadent, immoral, monstrous, an abomination, etc. in varying interpretations until the more recent centuries, when a new and ‘resurrected’ Elagabalus has become a misunderstood hero, a symbol of the desire to blend male and female into a more integrated psychological whole, a role model for transgender people, and a beautiful prince-figure worthy of serving as a role-model for homosexuals…
This book also made me feel more than before that it might be possible to psychoanalyse the Romans to see one of the main motivating forces behind their arrogance and aggression: that they were always made to be aware of their inferiority when it came to the finer cultural qualities of the “east”, and the aristocracy wanted to establish their own credentials in these areas. Virgil had basically given them the story of their noble origins in his superb Aeneid, but then people like Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony ‘fell’ for the glitter, glamour and potential rivalling power of Cleopatra; Caligula saw Egypt as a superior place to run the empire, and was about to move to Alexandria to set up base there when he was assassinated. Things “eastern” and “cultural” begin to be seen as effeminate, weakening the military strength and prowess of the Roman Army. Nero became more despised because he considered himself a poet. And so on. By the time we come to Elogabalus, not only were eastern effeminacy and culture made prominent, but they had actually entered into the very heart of Rome itself! They had to be eliminated!
An irony also stems from the Elogabalus story: the Sol Invictus symbol still remained with Rome, and this symbol (a circle with a cross in the centre) used by Constantine to take over the whole Roman Empire barely a century later. This sun symbol is in fact associated with the Persian deity Mithras, himself probably a version of the Indian god Mithra. The choice of the symbol may be seen as a type of concession to the Army, whose main religion was Mithraic, and Mithraism was one of the main contenders for being the State Religion of Rome. So Constantine was not only perpetuating a symbol of this eastern religion, but he had also moved the capital of the Empire from the city of Rome to Byzantium/Constantinople! The East had won! It was left to the Bishop of Rome (starting with Leo I, and not unassisted by Augustine of Hippo) to mount the attack on the effeminate easterners who were now the darlings of the Emperor (the Arian “heresy” was the predominant (and in my opinion, more sensible) viewpoint on the nature of Jesus during this time, and it dominated the eastern-controlled areas of the Empire. It was Leo who backed the Athanasian version and gave refuge to Athanasius when he was banished from the east. Athanasius’ Jesus, and Leo won out in the end, and established the genuine and growing animosity to things eastern which over the centuries would result in the schism between the Eastern and Western churches and with the Roman bishop being declared the supreme Pontiff.
A double irony can also be found here. Mithras is often pictured as slaying the Bull (Taurus) necessary for the Ram (Aries) to rise. Initiates to Mithraism would bathe in the blood of the slain Bull at special ceremonies, and thus be baptised into their religion. They also had ceremonies where the initiated would eat little cakes made specially for the occasion. The Christians took over many of the Mithraic rituals and made them their own. Mithras was born in a cave; Jesus in a stable; the slaying of the Bull became the slaying of the Lamb (Ram) who was also made a symbol of Jesus. Mithras’s birth date was 25 December (the winter solstice for the northern hemisphere); this also became the date of Jesus’ birthday. The eating of the cakes in Mithraism became the Eucharist in Christianity. So when Constantine chose the Christian religion for the Roman State religion, in effect he was maintaining a foot in both camps, and this is still reflected in the Christianity of today. Rome and the Christian apologists who condemned Elagabalus and tried to eliminate the memory of him and his religion from history by denigration and designating his rule as representing the depths of depravity of Rome before the advent of the purifying new Christianity, may be finding that after 2000 years that Elagabalus too, like Jesus, is now being resurrected again…
Despite marrying several times, including (to the horror of the Romans) a Vestal Virgin, he was definitely homosexual and liked to think of himself as female (in today’s terminology he would perhaps be more correctly designated as transgender); he loved dressing up in splendid eastern robes; he also loved excess in all he did. He wanted to replace Jupiter in the Roman Pantheon with Elagabal, whom he designated as ‘The Invincible Sun’ (Sol Invictus a term later incorporated in the Empire’s iconography). For all his troubles, he was assassinated in 221 CE, and his body unceremoniously dumped in the Tiber. Despite his short reign being essentially peaceful (no wars were initiated by him) he became one of the most despised (if not the ‘worst’) of the Roman Emperors.
This book starts off in an attempt to understand why this negative appraisal has stuck — and Icks works very academically (perhaps too much so, so that reading the work can sometimes be typically dry and a bit of an effort for many of today’s readers) to reveal that it seems that his homosexuality and his ‘new’ religion were enough to make him despised enough to have him assassinated, and to despatch him to damnatio memoriae i.e. his name and image were to be erased from papyri, inscriptions, wall paintings and buildings.
Despite all this, however, Elagabalus has left a strange and vibrant legacy, which the author traces in art and literature all the way to the twentieth century. The list of inspirations is quite extensive, and Icks selects several such works to examine in more detail, showing the different emphases and interpretations of the relevant authors — an examination of interest to art and literature students in and of itself. The enigma of this child-high-priest, loved at first, then rejected, then subjected to increasingly negative responses, so that he is perceived as evil, decadent, immoral, monstrous, an abomination, etc. in varying interpretations until the more recent centuries, when a new and ‘resurrected’ Elagabalus has become a misunderstood hero, a symbol of the desire to blend male and female into a more integrated psychological whole, a role model for transgender people, and a beautiful prince-figure worthy of serving as a role-model for homosexuals…
This book also made me feel more than before that it might be possible to psychoanalyse the Romans to see one of the main motivating forces behind their arrogance and aggression: that they were always made to be aware of their inferiority when it came to the finer cultural qualities of the “east”, and the aristocracy wanted to establish their own credentials in these areas. Virgil had basically given them the story of their noble origins in his superb Aeneid, but then people like Julius Caesar and Marc Anthony ‘fell’ for the glitter, glamour and potential rivalling power of Cleopatra; Caligula saw Egypt as a superior place to run the empire, and was about to move to Alexandria to set up base there when he was assassinated. Things “eastern” and “cultural” begin to be seen as effeminate, weakening the military strength and prowess of the Roman Army. Nero became more despised because he considered himself a poet. And so on. By the time we come to Elogabalus, not only were eastern effeminacy and culture made prominent, but they had actually entered into the very heart of Rome itself! They had to be eliminated!
An irony also stems from the Elogabalus story: the Sol Invictus symbol still remained with Rome, and this symbol (a circle with a cross in the centre) used by Constantine to take over the whole Roman Empire barely a century later. This sun symbol is in fact associated with the Persian deity Mithras, himself probably a version of the Indian god Mithra. The choice of the symbol may be seen as a type of concession to the Army, whose main religion was Mithraic, and Mithraism was one of the main contenders for being the State Religion of Rome. So Constantine was not only perpetuating a symbol of this eastern religion, but he had also moved the capital of the Empire from the city of Rome to Byzantium/Constantinople! The East had won! It was left to the Bishop of Rome (starting with Leo I, and not unassisted by Augustine of Hippo) to mount the attack on the effeminate easterners who were now the darlings of the Emperor (the Arian “heresy” was the predominant (and in my opinion, more sensible) viewpoint on the nature of Jesus during this time, and it dominated the eastern-controlled areas of the Empire. It was Leo who backed the Athanasian version and gave refuge to Athanasius when he was banished from the east. Athanasius’ Jesus, and Leo won out in the end, and established the genuine and growing animosity to things eastern which over the centuries would result in the schism between the Eastern and Western churches and with the Roman bishop being declared the supreme Pontiff.
A double irony can also be found here. Mithras is often pictured as slaying the Bull (Taurus) necessary for the Ram (Aries) to rise. Initiates to Mithraism would bathe in the blood of the slain Bull at special ceremonies, and thus be baptised into their religion. They also had ceremonies where the initiated would eat little cakes made specially for the occasion. The Christians took over many of the Mithraic rituals and made them their own. Mithras was born in a cave; Jesus in a stable; the slaying of the Bull became the slaying of the Lamb (Ram) who was also made a symbol of Jesus. Mithras’s birth date was 25 December (the winter solstice for the northern hemisphere); this also became the date of Jesus’ birthday. The eating of the cakes in Mithraism became the Eucharist in Christianity. So when Constantine chose the Christian religion for the Roman State religion, in effect he was maintaining a foot in both camps, and this is still reflected in the Christianity of today. Rome and the Christian apologists who condemned Elagabalus and tried to eliminate the memory of him and his religion from history by denigration and designating his rule as representing the depths of depravity of Rome before the advent of the purifying new Christianity, may be finding that after 2000 years that Elagabalus too, like Jesus, is now being resurrected again…
December 17, 2023
Recently I was disappointed in Peter Sarris's new biography of Justinian because of a certain lack of objectivity. I picked up this one about Elagabalus curious to see if objectivity is possible with perhaps the most despised Roman emperor of all. And, yes, Martijn Icks is able to write what little is actually known about him, and then through careful textual analysis lays out how those few facts were twisted or adapted over the centuries to suit the morals or purposes of later writers.
Icks gives us, the readers, what we need to know to make our own judgments. This is how modern history writing should be done. Unlike Sarris, he is not afraid of his colleague's opinions because he doesn't expose his own.
Icks gives us, the readers, what we need to know to make our own judgments. This is how modern history writing should be done. Unlike Sarris, he is not afraid of his colleague's opinions because he doesn't expose his own.
January 17, 2023
Elagabalus är en kontroversiell figur, vilket denna biografi tydligt visar. De första kapitlen är intressanta; sedan faller källkvalitet och detaljrikedom systematiskt. De sista 100 sidorna är en ren litteraturöversikt över hur Elagabalus har tolkats genom historien. Jag är inte besviken, men långt ifrån fascinerad.
September 12, 2016
Elagabalus become Emperor at the age of 14 and was murdered shortly after his 18th birthday. This excellent book does more than examine the somewhat scanty and possibly unreliable historical records: it looks further, to consider how Elagabalus has been viewed by subsequent generations, from archetypal Bad Emperor to Gender Bending Effeminate to Teenage (Anti) Hero. This is interesting, and took me down by ways I would never have otherwise discovered ( such as an astonishing number of plays, novels and reflections in several languages). However, I would really have liked more consideration of Dio Cassius, who is generally reckoned the most reliable ancient historian.And what a story he tells. A charioteer is thrown from his chariot in front of the Emperor and his helmet knocked off, revealing the beardless face of a youth under a shock of blond hair. Elagabalus has him taken to the palace to recover, makes love with him, and ends up marrying him. Hierocles the charioteer obviously thought he was now set up for life and when Elagabalus appoints one Zoticus as Chamberlain simply because of the legendary size of his member, Hierocles knows how to safeguard his position: he has a Roman anti-Viagra slipped in Zoticus's wine. To the Emperor's huge disappointment, Zoticus's enormous member remains flaccid: the next morning, he is dismissed, no doubt to the satisfaction of Hierocles.
This story, and the accounts of Elagabalus flouncing around in make-up and even prostituting himself disguised as a "lady boy", make him seem like an archetypal effeminate whom the Romans despised. A manly Roman didn't lose status by penetrating other males, but he definitely did if he was penetrated by them. Except that Elagabulus is more nuanced than this: the soldiers loved him (and not just because they fancied him); he married several times, and boasted about wanting to breed a "god like race" from the chief vestal virgin (one of his many wives). Even Dio Cassius concedes that the Emperor could sound "manly" on occasion. Icks points out that much of Elagabulus's behaviour makes sense when refracted through the lens of his religious devotion to the Syrian sun god Elagabal: it was all about encompassing both male AND female characteristics, reconciling them in a unitive way, and so manifesting in himself characteristics which were simultaneously male and female. Of course, this has the effect of making gender boundaries fluid as well as unified, hence Elagabulus's very contemporary fascination.
For what it's worth, I still doubt that this makes Elagabulus a hero. He still seems to me to have been at the least a spoiled brat. Giving unlimited power to a teenage boy is probably always a bad idea, in any context. A bad Emperor? almost certainly. A fascinating one? Definitely. Was he, in the words of one Victorian historian, "one of the worst monsters ever to disgrace the human form"? I doubt it. And much as I would like to know what he was really like, I suspect too close an acquaintance would have been a bad idea. The wonderful painting by Alma Tadema, "The Flowers of Elagabulus", looks at first glance like a wonderful image of thousands of rose petals raining down on the Emperor's dinner guest. Which it was - except that it amused him to suffocate those guests to death under the cascade of petals. When you realise what the painting actually represents, it becomes suddenly very chilling. Feasting with panthers is always dangerous as well as exciting. (Hierocles the blond charioteer discovered this to his cost: he was murdered along with his master).
This story, and the accounts of Elagabalus flouncing around in make-up and even prostituting himself disguised as a "lady boy", make him seem like an archetypal effeminate whom the Romans despised. A manly Roman didn't lose status by penetrating other males, but he definitely did if he was penetrated by them. Except that Elagabulus is more nuanced than this: the soldiers loved him (and not just because they fancied him); he married several times, and boasted about wanting to breed a "god like race" from the chief vestal virgin (one of his many wives). Even Dio Cassius concedes that the Emperor could sound "manly" on occasion. Icks points out that much of Elagabulus's behaviour makes sense when refracted through the lens of his religious devotion to the Syrian sun god Elagabal: it was all about encompassing both male AND female characteristics, reconciling them in a unitive way, and so manifesting in himself characteristics which were simultaneously male and female. Of course, this has the effect of making gender boundaries fluid as well as unified, hence Elagabulus's very contemporary fascination.
For what it's worth, I still doubt that this makes Elagabulus a hero. He still seems to me to have been at the least a spoiled brat. Giving unlimited power to a teenage boy is probably always a bad idea, in any context. A bad Emperor? almost certainly. A fascinating one? Definitely. Was he, in the words of one Victorian historian, "one of the worst monsters ever to disgrace the human form"? I doubt it. And much as I would like to know what he was really like, I suspect too close an acquaintance would have been a bad idea. The wonderful painting by Alma Tadema, "The Flowers of Elagabulus", looks at first glance like a wonderful image of thousands of rose petals raining down on the Emperor's dinner guest. Which it was - except that it amused him to suffocate those guests to death under the cascade of petals. When you realise what the painting actually represents, it becomes suddenly very chilling. Feasting with panthers is always dangerous as well as exciting. (Hierocles the blond charioteer discovered this to his cost: he was murdered along with his master).
February 11, 2022
This book was a disappointment. I had the impression that the author didn't have enough source material to work with, so he padded the work.
You can't blame Icks for the fact that Elagabalus ruled for a total of four years, died at age eighteen, and didn't receive much attention from biographers, and thus that there is preciously little to work with. Even so, I wasn't too impressed with his source work, mostly because he discarded too much of it as biased and instead relied on coins and circumstantial evidence for his narrative. I haven't read the primary sources myself, but I have a hard time believing so much of it can be dismissed because the authors relied on stereotypes or had an agenda. True, slander against Roman emperors had a long tradition, and some of the tropes keep repeating, but it's also true that the slander against Nero isn't the same as that against Commodus or Domitian, so at the very least, we can make inferences from which particular insults are flung at an emperor. As I don't know the primary sources that well, I cannot say whether that would yield enough material for a three-hundred page book. Probably not. I'd have appreciated a shorter book that came to actual conclusions instead of taking the agnostic stance on pretty much everything, however.
As a broad overview of Elagabalus life, this would still be okay. The big problem is that this historical portion is only the first half of the book.
I know the title states it's about the life and legacy of Elagabalus, but if I grab a history book, I expect this legacy to be laws or policies that survived a ruler, territorial loss or gain, and yes, also their reception in the minds of contemporaries and future generations. What I don't expect is for half the book to turn into a literary review. I'm not exaggerating here. Half the book is an extended review of various novelizations, theater pieces, operas and every other piece of media the author could find. Some of these reviews run for several pages, and what's worse, they seem to take on a life of their own. By the time Icks arrives at Decadent literature, it's hardly about Elagabalus anymore, it's about Decadent literature with a focus on books that technically contain Elagabalus, even if he has absolutely nothing in common with the emperor. In other words, he stops talking about history and starts about literature instead, and as it happens, barely any of the literature appeals to me.
What is it that makes authors and publishers think I weigh their books before I buy them? At least I think that's what went wrong here: Icks started to write the book, discovered he couldn't fill enough pages to satisfy the publisher or the reader, and decided to either do this weird literary review or at least extend it massively.
Three stars for the history, two stars for the reviews, and I round down because I was there for the crazy boy emperor and his orgies and not crazy french novelists and their orgies.
You can't blame Icks for the fact that Elagabalus ruled for a total of four years, died at age eighteen, and didn't receive much attention from biographers, and thus that there is preciously little to work with. Even so, I wasn't too impressed with his source work, mostly because he discarded too much of it as biased and instead relied on coins and circumstantial evidence for his narrative. I haven't read the primary sources myself, but I have a hard time believing so much of it can be dismissed because the authors relied on stereotypes or had an agenda. True, slander against Roman emperors had a long tradition, and some of the tropes keep repeating, but it's also true that the slander against Nero isn't the same as that against Commodus or Domitian, so at the very least, we can make inferences from which particular insults are flung at an emperor. As I don't know the primary sources that well, I cannot say whether that would yield enough material for a three-hundred page book. Probably not. I'd have appreciated a shorter book that came to actual conclusions instead of taking the agnostic stance on pretty much everything, however.
As a broad overview of Elagabalus life, this would still be okay. The big problem is that this historical portion is only the first half of the book.
I know the title states it's about the life and legacy of Elagabalus, but if I grab a history book, I expect this legacy to be laws or policies that survived a ruler, territorial loss or gain, and yes, also their reception in the minds of contemporaries and future generations. What I don't expect is for half the book to turn into a literary review. I'm not exaggerating here. Half the book is an extended review of various novelizations, theater pieces, operas and every other piece of media the author could find. Some of these reviews run for several pages, and what's worse, they seem to take on a life of their own. By the time Icks arrives at Decadent literature, it's hardly about Elagabalus anymore, it's about Decadent literature with a focus on books that technically contain Elagabalus, even if he has absolutely nothing in common with the emperor. In other words, he stops talking about history and starts about literature instead, and as it happens, barely any of the literature appeals to me.
What is it that makes authors and publishers think I weigh their books before I buy them? At least I think that's what went wrong here: Icks started to write the book, discovered he couldn't fill enough pages to satisfy the publisher or the reader, and decided to either do this weird literary review or at least extend it massively.
Three stars for the history, two stars for the reviews, and I round down because I was there for the crazy boy emperor and his orgies and not crazy french novelists and their orgies.
October 5, 2020
I shamelessly picked this up in hopes of scandal, decadence, and juicy gossip. Turns it to be a bit more scholarly in tone. Also, instead of a chronological bio, the book constantly back-tracks and retreads the same time period over and over, trying to figure out what various actions meant, the whys and wherefores, and often trying to dig deep into various people's psyche based on evidence such as some coins and a few fragments of writing.
December 9, 2022
It was ok, but not really what I signed up for. There was way too much page space devoted to discussing the work of others who wrote fiction including Elagabalus as a character, which I didn't care about. It seems I'd rather read the old accounts by Dio and Herodian, whether historically accurate or not. They probably aren't as boring at least.
January 30, 2021
I was really surprised by how easy this book was to read and I loved how nuanced the accounts of the primary sources on Elagabalus were. The last page was so powerful, about how the reception on Elagabalus has changed because cultures change through time. Very useful for my thesis.
July 27, 2016
Not really much in the way of history (only a 4 year reign, only 3 main sources, the truly contemporary one wasn't even in Rome at the time etc.). The historical aspect could be covered in a very long Wikipedia entry. Instead there is something of a focus on background (Syrian religion, Elagabalus' family lineage) but the bulk of the text is dedicated to analysis of the aforementioned sources & how Elagabalus has been depicted in history/art over the centuries. Not exactly a thrill a minute to read but interesting analysis nonetheless.
March 16, 2019
Kõigepealt tänan ma Martijn Icksi, et see raamat rikastas mu sõnavara terminiga "Caesarenwahn", s.t hullu Rooma keisri tõbi.
Loomulikult hakkasin ma Elagabaluse elulugu lugema eelkõige skandaalijanust, on tal ju väga pahelise keisri reputatsioon, kes mängis samas liigas Nero, Caligula ja Commodusega; aga teine huvipakkuv aspekt oli tema projekt asendada Rooma jumalad oma Süüriast kaasa toodud, uue ja palju parema jumalaga.
Väga palju uut aga Icksi kirjutatud eluloost teada ei saa, ja siin on vist kindel põhjus -kõigi teisejärgulistest antiikaja avaliku elu tegelaste biograafiatega on üks ja sama probleem - kuna kõik autorid kasutavad samu algallikaid, mille maht on piiratud, siis mingit uut infot kellelgi pole.
Icksi raamatut vaevab sama probleem - andmeid on piiratud hulgal, kuulujuttudega segamini, vaid kolm antiikautorit, keda võimalik aluseks võtta ja uusi allikaid vahepeal ilmunud pole. Lisaks veidi muud arheoloogilist ja ajaloolist andmestikku; Icks analüüsib kakskümne lehekülje pikkuselt vanu münte, Elagabaluse profiile ja Elagabali kultuse religioosseid sümboleid nii aversitel kui reversitel, aga ega sellest eriti targemaks ei saa. Siis uurib ta Elagabaluse kodulinna Emesa ajalugu - ei yhtään mitään. Ja suurem usuline intriig jääb jälle selle taha, et roomlased ilmutasid oma praktilist meelt ja tapsid Elagabaluse peatselt ära, nii et Rooma jumaluste panteoni lõplik allutamine Elagabalile jäi ka ära.
Viimane kolmandik keskendub sellele, kuidas Elagabalust kajastasid järeltulevad põlvkonnad kirjanduses, muusikas ja kunstis. Mul tuleb meelde, et Patrick Howarthi Attila eluloos oli ka lõpus mõni peatükk Attila Nachleben'i kohta (hea saksakeelne sõna, mille nüüd olen omandanud tänu ajaloolastele). Ju vist samuti selle tõttu, et ka Attilast lihtsalt pole väga palju teada ja raamat kippus õhukeseks jääma. Aga kuna Attila figureeris hiljem Nibelungide laulus, samuti hirmutati ausaid eurooplasi maailmasõdade ajal hunnide hordidega, siis ülevaade Attila mainest antiigijärgses maailmas oli isegi huvitav. Icksi peatükid sellest, mida keegi kunagi Elagabaluse kohta oli kirjutanud, oli liiga referaadilik ja hakkas end kiiresti kordama. Kõik see tundus rohkem raamatupolsterdusena. See, et mõni dekadentlik kirjamees oli märganud Elagabaluse pahelisust, ei tundu just uudisväärsena. Roomlased ise panid seda samamoodi tähele.
Loomulikult hakkasin ma Elagabaluse elulugu lugema eelkõige skandaalijanust, on tal ju väga pahelise keisri reputatsioon, kes mängis samas liigas Nero, Caligula ja Commodusega; aga teine huvipakkuv aspekt oli tema projekt asendada Rooma jumalad oma Süüriast kaasa toodud, uue ja palju parema jumalaga.
Väga palju uut aga Icksi kirjutatud eluloost teada ei saa, ja siin on vist kindel põhjus -kõigi teisejärgulistest antiikaja avaliku elu tegelaste biograafiatega on üks ja sama probleem - kuna kõik autorid kasutavad samu algallikaid, mille maht on piiratud, siis mingit uut infot kellelgi pole.
Icksi raamatut vaevab sama probleem - andmeid on piiratud hulgal, kuulujuttudega segamini, vaid kolm antiikautorit, keda võimalik aluseks võtta ja uusi allikaid vahepeal ilmunud pole. Lisaks veidi muud arheoloogilist ja ajaloolist andmestikku; Icks analüüsib kakskümne lehekülje pikkuselt vanu münte, Elagabaluse profiile ja Elagabali kultuse religioosseid sümboleid nii aversitel kui reversitel, aga ega sellest eriti targemaks ei saa. Siis uurib ta Elagabaluse kodulinna Emesa ajalugu - ei yhtään mitään. Ja suurem usuline intriig jääb jälle selle taha, et roomlased ilmutasid oma praktilist meelt ja tapsid Elagabaluse peatselt ära, nii et Rooma jumaluste panteoni lõplik allutamine Elagabalile jäi ka ära.
Viimane kolmandik keskendub sellele, kuidas Elagabalust kajastasid järeltulevad põlvkonnad kirjanduses, muusikas ja kunstis. Mul tuleb meelde, et Patrick Howarthi Attila eluloos oli ka lõpus mõni peatükk Attila Nachleben'i kohta (hea saksakeelne sõna, mille nüüd olen omandanud tänu ajaloolastele). Ju vist samuti selle tõttu, et ka Attilast lihtsalt pole väga palju teada ja raamat kippus õhukeseks jääma. Aga kuna Attila figureeris hiljem Nibelungide laulus, samuti hirmutati ausaid eurooplasi maailmasõdade ajal hunnide hordidega, siis ülevaade Attila mainest antiigijärgses maailmas oli isegi huvitav. Icksi peatükid sellest, mida keegi kunagi Elagabaluse kohta oli kirjutanud, oli liiga referaadilik ja hakkas end kiiresti kordama. Kõik see tundus rohkem raamatupolsterdusena. See, et mõni dekadentlik kirjamees oli märganud Elagabaluse pahelisust, ei tundu just uudisväärsena. Roomlased ise panid seda samamoodi tähele.
March 30, 2023
u know what would of been cool? if i read this in it’s entirety before spending 10 manic days straight 10000000 hours a day less than two meals a day and 35 red bulls a second compiling nearly every literary reference to elagabalus i could find and then nearly (i say nearly but i mean actually) crying about all the main ones not translated into english yet cause i am disgustingly bound to the language of imperialism and won’t try and learn another because i can barely speak/write one language as it is.
other than my rough relation to language itself ie myself and the world at large, this is the best history book, hands down then put ur motherducking hands upppp for the dropppp, about elagabalus or any one of his other 20 names.
yeah u could be like but it mostly goes into detail about sources on the twink but not the twink himself… and it’s like yeah what u want??? according to the vita heliogabali in the historia augusta heliogabalus had a huge thing for a lotta different sauces (like peacock anus mustard or katsup or whatever on hotdogs) (apparently a highly contentious statement) that was written in the 4th century by a pagan claiming to be like 6 different dudes in writing and not even written in the 3rd century (helio’s century, prime time) and since that was laid down on the 4c track no one has been able to say anything different about said twink. we all just believe and live with the knowledge that the guy had a fridge with nothing but mostly full bottles of sauces that’s that i’m not questioning it. i think there is less anything of a real person to know about and only sauces (i mean sources). but it’s not just the sexy perverted crowned anarchist that has to deal with this source coding problem it’s all of us every day there is no escape. i have like over 10 hot sauces at this exact moment and that’s far too many.
i’m so fucking glad this dude spent like4 years writing this book so i didn’t have to try and fail to write something like it without big university funding and access to libraries and archives around the world. instead i can write something else… like first off this review of the book captured in under 5 minutes that i will not proof read and already hate even tho i never read it back and never once ever will i look back lest i get lost in the source.
other than my rough relation to language itself ie myself and the world at large, this is the best history book, hands down then put ur motherducking hands upppp for the dropppp, about elagabalus or any one of his other 20 names.
yeah u could be like but it mostly goes into detail about sources on the twink but not the twink himself… and it’s like yeah what u want??? according to the vita heliogabali in the historia augusta heliogabalus had a huge thing for a lotta different sauces (like peacock anus mustard or katsup or whatever on hotdogs) (apparently a highly contentious statement) that was written in the 4th century by a pagan claiming to be like 6 different dudes in writing and not even written in the 3rd century (helio’s century, prime time) and since that was laid down on the 4c track no one has been able to say anything different about said twink. we all just believe and live with the knowledge that the guy had a fridge with nothing but mostly full bottles of sauces that’s that i’m not questioning it. i think there is less anything of a real person to know about and only sauces (i mean sources). but it’s not just the sexy perverted crowned anarchist that has to deal with this source coding problem it’s all of us every day there is no escape. i have like over 10 hot sauces at this exact moment and that’s far too many.
i’m so fucking glad this dude spent like4 years writing this book so i didn’t have to try and fail to write something like it without big university funding and access to libraries and archives around the world. instead i can write something else… like first off this review of the book captured in under 5 minutes that i will not proof read and already hate even tho i never read it back and never once ever will i look back lest i get lost in the source.
August 1, 2021
This historical reassessment of the priest emperor elagabalus was quite interesting if not entirely convincing. Martijn provides the basic narrative of this young emperors life and then dives into the sources of Cassius Dio, Herodian and the Vita heliogabalus. One thing that certainly jumps out to me and in many of the roman biographies I read is that the sources that we have been taught to read should be taken with an eye of skepticism.
Many stories of elagabalus are blatantly untrue or taken out of context and used as a literary gladius against him. His successor Alexander Severus had to condemn egalabalus name, which he very likely did not deserve, but was very likely forced to given the way the political wind was moving. While Cassius Dio - elagabalus main biographer was not even in Rome when he ruled so much of his information is gossip and rumour with his own personal and political bias added into the concotion but also wrote during Alexander Severus reign so he had to keep Severus happy. Herodion is little of an improvement as he follows that blueprints of Dio with a few deviations.
The emperor who reigned for only 4 years did very little to win over the hearts of the romans, he brought over his own god gabalus and very unsubtly made it the primary god of Rome dethrowning Jupiter in a Rome that was a bone dry conservative city. But he also did much to help Rome and her empire prosper.
Martijn offers the idea that elagabalus was so detested because of his salacious behavior, which I don't subscribe to, and that he was also a foreigner from the east, which has a bit more merit in my opinion but I just don't fully trust. In short, well never know the real emperor as there has been so much myth surrounding him that it's impossible for right now to find any real truth. My Elagabalus did make mistakes certainly but he was not a "bad" emperor.
Many stories of elagabalus are blatantly untrue or taken out of context and used as a literary gladius against him. His successor Alexander Severus had to condemn egalabalus name, which he very likely did not deserve, but was very likely forced to given the way the political wind was moving. While Cassius Dio - elagabalus main biographer was not even in Rome when he ruled so much of his information is gossip and rumour with his own personal and political bias added into the concotion but also wrote during Alexander Severus reign so he had to keep Severus happy. Herodion is little of an improvement as he follows that blueprints of Dio with a few deviations.
The emperor who reigned for only 4 years did very little to win over the hearts of the romans, he brought over his own god gabalus and very unsubtly made it the primary god of Rome dethrowning Jupiter in a Rome that was a bone dry conservative city. But he also did much to help Rome and her empire prosper.
Martijn offers the idea that elagabalus was so detested because of his salacious behavior, which I don't subscribe to, and that he was also a foreigner from the east, which has a bit more merit in my opinion but I just don't fully trust. In short, well never know the real emperor as there has been so much myth surrounding him that it's impossible for right now to find any real truth. My Elagabalus did make mistakes certainly but he was not a "bad" emperor.
October 17, 2018
This, like its subject, is a curious hybrid. At first, it's a strong overview of the historical case of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, known to history as Elagabalus or Heliogabalus (after his god). This section makes a strong case that the notorious crimes of the Emperor were at the very least exaggerated by his political enemies and the prejudices of classical Roman writers. The second part gives an overview of scholarly literature and cultural productions (books, plays, operas, paintings, poems) which use the Emperor's story for the author's own end. This makes Icks' book an excellent exploration of how a real person's life can become a canvas on which artists and propagandists can project their own images.
June 2, 2021
Scholarly but easy to read this book is split in two being part history and part exploration of the literary and artistic representation of the boy emperor Elagabalus. As sources are few and probably in large part unreliable, it's difficult to imagine we can ever get close to the true story of his short life. His reputation as one of the "bad" emperors while not seriously challenged can at least perhaps be questioned. Elagabalus came to the throne as a boy of 14 and was murdered by soldiers at 18. In that time he placed his own god, Elagabel, above the Roman pantheon of gods, something common sense suggests was always going to be a difficult trick to pull off. His alleged cruelty and sexual proclivities, some probably true, some exaggerated and some almost certainly false, outraged many at the time and afterwards and have provided much inspiration for artists up to the present day.
It's difficult to imagine any teenager or indeed anyone at any age when given unlimited power, handling it well. Young as he was, the times that he lived and the regularity with which Roman emperors were murdered, it's unlikely he really ever had a chance of living for long.
It's difficult to imagine any teenager or indeed anyone at any age when given unlimited power, handling it well. Young as he was, the times that he lived and the regularity with which Roman emperors were murdered, it's unlikely he really ever had a chance of living for long.
Want to read
June 29, 2024I haven't read this book, yet, but I hope to. Anyone who is trying to decide about reading and/or purchasing this book may be interested, as I was, to discover the book was praised by Harry Sidebottom in his own 'The Mad Emperor: Heliogabalus and the Decadence of Rome' were he says:
"...(it) furnishes a splendid analysis of the Emperor's afterlife, but subscribes to the current orthodoxy that the history of his reign is impossible to reconstruct with any accuracy..."
Harry Sidebottom doesn't agree with 'current orthodoxy', and I am inclined to agree with him, but it is good to have someone of his calibre giving a book the thumbs up.
Information added in June 2024
"...(it) furnishes a splendid analysis of the Emperor's afterlife, but subscribes to the current orthodoxy that the history of his reign is impossible to reconstruct with any accuracy..."
Harry Sidebottom doesn't agree with 'current orthodoxy', and I am inclined to agree with him, but it is good to have someone of his calibre giving a book the thumbs up.
Information added in June 2024
November 1, 2024
Elagabalus is perhaps one of the lesser known Roman Emperors , in his own way he was every bit as debauched and odd as the likes of Nero and Caligula and met the usual grisly end for Emperors who didn`t conform to the norms of Roman society. The overall impression of this book is that it is extensively padded out. There isn`t actually a great deal about the Emperor himself rather how he has been presented in literature , art and even a CD, all very well but it smacks of stretching what is very thin material. There are interesting sections on religion and Elagabalus` sexuality but all in all this is a lesson, if one was again needed, that some rulers are just odd and best forgotton.
September 27, 2017
An interesting book. The second half of the book largely focuses on literary representations of Elagabalus and historiography. It was probably a bit weighted towards this analysis for me (although, I know there's not many primary sources to go on), but it was convincingly comprehensive.
May 29, 2022
An impressive work, a through deconstruction of the black legend of the boy emperor "Elagabalus". It's indispensable for anyone who has any serious interest in his figure and in the way it has been represented throughout the ages.
April 18, 2020
A good read. Some sections were a bit of a bore and I had to stop and come back to those sections. Majority of the book was a non stop read.
It wasn’t what I thought the book would be.
It wasn’t what I thought the book would be.
April 10, 2022
Everything I wanted to know about Elagabalus I learned in the first chapter. The rest of the book felt repetitive.
Read
November 21, 2022great title for a mediocre book
Read
April 22, 2025Not a page turner but v interesting
May 25, 2025
Best book on Elagabalus out there.
November 27, 2016
Icks has written a very readable and solid work on the 3rd Century CE emperor Elagabalus, with a clear historical vision and some valuable observations on the cultural, religious and sexual aspects of this fascinating figure in ancient Roman history. As one who has studied Elagabalus and presented academic papers on him I could find little to query or dispute in this book.
The significant value of this book is it brings together in a concise and intelligent fashion the key aspects of Elagabalus's life, achievements, reputation and legacy. There is undoubtedly a problem with the quality and biases of our literary sources, and Icks does a decent job of identifying them. I would've liked more on the problems of the Vita Elagabali from the SHA, but that is my own hobby horse. The discussion of the numismatic evidence is most interesting and balances the literary histories.
Where Icks does some really good work is in his discussion of the cultural legacy of Elagabalus in the period since the Renaissance. From unquestioning repetition of the original sources, to decadent figure, to gay 'hero' Elagabalus the historical figure has become Elagabalus the cultural construct. Perhaps due to the fact his character and his regime has such limited concrete historical 'fact', he has become a vehicle, a cypher for others to imprint their values, their ideas upon.
My only major problem with the book was that Icks doesn't do a good job in analyzing Roman sexuality and attitudes to homoeroticism, relying on the modern construct of homosexual or gay to identify Elagabalus. From my own studies I would argue that he was not gay, but was 'guilty' of being a vir mollis, a pathicus...terms far more relevant to Roman sexual politics and culture.
Ultimately I'd have no qualms recommending this book to anyone interested in this intriguing if under-exposed Roman emperor and period in ancient history.
The significant value of this book is it brings together in a concise and intelligent fashion the key aspects of Elagabalus's life, achievements, reputation and legacy. There is undoubtedly a problem with the quality and biases of our literary sources, and Icks does a decent job of identifying them. I would've liked more on the problems of the Vita Elagabali from the SHA, but that is my own hobby horse. The discussion of the numismatic evidence is most interesting and balances the literary histories.
Where Icks does some really good work is in his discussion of the cultural legacy of Elagabalus in the period since the Renaissance. From unquestioning repetition of the original sources, to decadent figure, to gay 'hero' Elagabalus the historical figure has become Elagabalus the cultural construct. Perhaps due to the fact his character and his regime has such limited concrete historical 'fact', he has become a vehicle, a cypher for others to imprint their values, their ideas upon.
My only major problem with the book was that Icks doesn't do a good job in analyzing Roman sexuality and attitudes to homoeroticism, relying on the modern construct of homosexual or gay to identify Elagabalus. From my own studies I would argue that he was not gay, but was 'guilty' of being a vir mollis, a pathicus...terms far more relevant to Roman sexual politics and culture.
Ultimately I'd have no qualms recommending this book to anyone interested in this intriguing if under-exposed Roman emperor and period in ancient history.
January 13, 2013
It takes Ickes a tremendous amount of space to cover the deeds of an emperor who reigned only four years and whose life is covered by only a few biographers. This book could probably be halved and still get the point across that Elagabalus shook up the Roman political and religious ways of life in an unprecedented and, for him, very dangerous manner.
April 27, 2014
Disappointing - more a dicourse on the historical literary representations than a study or history of the man (boy) and his reign.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews