Elagabalus (Heliogabalus) coins Roman Imperial catalog
Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus "Elagabalus" (218-222)
Antoninus Bassianus was born in 204 to
Marcellus, governor of the province of Numidia and Julius Soemia,
daughter of Julia Mesa, sister of Empress Julia Domna (wife of
Septimius Severus and mother of Emperor Caracalla). Bassianus'
grandfather (Julius Bassianus, Julia Domna's father) was the
hereditary priest of the cult of the Phoenician sun god
Elagabalus in Syria, and this position passed to his grandson
after his death.
It was said that Elagabalus' mother was Caracalla's mistress in
her youth and it was on this that Julius Mesa built an intrigue
against Emperor Macrinus. The soldiers of the Gallic legion,
standing not far from the luxurious temple of Elagabalus, where
the priest was young Bassianus, mesmerized by the beauty and
wealth of the young man proclaimed him Caesar and rebelled
against Macrinus, who was not popular. Probably the money of
Bassianus' grandmother (who took the name Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus, exactly like Caracalla's) also played a role.
Macrinus was defeated, captured and killed.
On June 8, 218 the Senate recognized Elagabalus as emperor, and,
judging by the documents, he took power immediately after
Caracalla and there was no Macrinus at all.
Elagabalus (or in Greek Heliogabalus) remained the high priest
of the god of the same name and established his cult in Rome,
which, in general, was not any violation - the Romans recognized
any gods, including foreign ones. But Elagabalus was declared
the supreme deity, more important than Jupiter, and this did not
please many people. The emperor, with eyeliner and eyebrows,
with whitened face and blushed cheeks, in a Syrian suit, in the
presence of all the officials of Rome, daily worshiped in front
of a cone-shaped stone (apparently a meteorite) brought from
Emesa.
Then he married a Vestal, which was unthinkable for the Romans
and caused even greater indignation. But the young man was
brought up in the eastern spirit and ruled as an eastern despot,
paying no attention to anything. It is truer to say that he
lived like that, and ruled for him, mainly his grandmother -
Julia Mesa.
About the personal life of the Emperor went a lot of rumors, it
is not known how reliable, but at least his sexual promiscuity
no one denied For example, he considered himself the wife of a
certain Gierokla, a former slave.
Julia Mesa, realizing that long thus do not reign, persuaded
Elagabalus to proclaim Caesar cousin Alexander, ostensibly in
order to give that "formal" rule, and himself to focus on
priestly duties. The latter reluctantly complied. A few months
later he spread a rumor about Alexander's fatal illness to check
to whom the army was loyal. On March 11, 222, the Praetorians
demanded a meeting with both co-rulers, and when it was held,
only Alexander was welcomed. Elagabalus demanded the execution
of the apostates, but, instead, he himself was killed, along
with his mother.
IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG
P M TR P III COS III P P
denarius 220
silver
17 mm.
Rome
Draped bust in a wreath right / Emperor Antoninus Pius Augustus
Sol left with a raised hand, holds lash / Great Pontífix People's Tribune Consul 3 times, Father of the Fatherland 3 times
Value - $50-70
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