History Memes

Elagabulus is the prime example of what happens when you give infinite power to a damaged pubescent teen in a dysfunctional society and government. In this way they're fascinating because if half of what was said of them bears any truth then we see someone who is extremely difficult to find comparisons to. Someone young and hormonal without a regent or any other check on power, and separated enough from the culture they rule to neither be bound to it. The closest comparisons I can think of is Akhenaten, except with the lavisiousness of someone like Cleopatra, Caesar, or Alexander. Elagabulus by contrast seems to have no notable skills, no reason to suspect that they would live a long life and career, and all the self control of a horny spoiled brat who knows they won't live long. Actually to think of it, they were comparable to the cross between Akhenaten and Louis XV, but a 15 year old with no regent.

And the empire of her time was a shitshow. They came to power via rebellion not for them, but against their father's murderer. They, like many others by their time had their reign ended by the praetorians. The empire by that point was over stretched thanks to the good emperors, and had seen a long period of devaluation of currency. They were the second to last of the dynasty that gave way to the crisis of the third century. And it's important to keep in mind, the resolution to the crisis was to split the empire into two parts with two coemperors each with a subemperor.