Famous Bis: Elagabalus

Elagabalus; A controversial emperor who shook Roman society to its core with radical sexual promiscuity and gender fluidity. She took many lovers — and many lives — during her short four-year reign over her teenage years, only to eventually be assassinated on the orders of her own grandmother. So, who was Elagabalus?

Writers note: In her life, Elagabalus' possible transgender or at least gender-nonconforming identity was not respected. Despite dressing in feminine attire and referring to herself as a woman on multiple occasions, she was not recognized as a woman by ancient Roman society. As a mark of respect, I have chosen to write this piece referring to Elagabalus with feminine pronouns, as she would have used for herself. Given the limited, unreliable and widely differentiating accounts of Elagabalus’ life, even the most learned historian would struggle to say exactly how Elagabalus identified. However, she was undeniably queer, and definitely deserves a place in the bi hall of fame.

Elagabalus was born to the Severan dynasty, a powerful Syrian family who had dominated Roman politics towards the end of the 2nd century and into the 3rd, sometime around 203-204, though the exact date is unclear. She invaded Rome with a sizable army on her grandmother’s orders at only fourteen years old, overthrowing emperor Macrinus at the Battle of Antioch and taking what her family deemed as her rightful place on the throne. Her mother Julia Soaemias Bassiana claimed she was the illegitimate offspring of Emperor Caracalla, and should therefore be declared the throne as a birthright. Her grandmother wished to use young Elagabalus to regain more power within the empire after the assassination of Caracalla which had allowed Macrinus to take over.^[1]

Her subjects soon found that no extravagance was too great for Elagabalus. Instead of wearing the plain white cotton togas which were expected of Roman men, she wore only fine silk in deep purples and reds, usually accented by priceless gold jewelry. This was usually topped with a glittering tiara. It was also said she would dance whilst walking, giving speeches, and even during animal sacrifices. She frequently held banquets which included exotic delicacies such as camel heels, flamingo brains and peacock tongues. It has even been reported that her personal urinal was made of onyx, placed not far from a golden statue she had made of herself.

Elagabalus' short rule is notorious for its sex scandals and religious controversy. As a child, Elagabalus had become a high priest of the sun god Elagabal, from whom she took her name. Though the worship of Elagabal had in part spread across Rome, it certainly was not a popular belief and conflicted with much of the population over which she ruled, who worshipped the Roman gods, including Sol, the Roman god of the sun. As she continued to force her beliefs onto her subjects, she became even more unpopular with the public and with her private advisers. Her disrespect of the Roman religion even led her to take Julia Aquilia Severa, one of the Vestal Virgins (women who were expected to remain virgins until they were aged 30 in order to reach spiritual enlightenment, or else be executed) as her wife, claiming that both their elevated positions as high priests would create god-like children.

The marriage to Aquilia Severa was in fact Elagabalus’ second. Accounts and definitions vary, but it is widely agreed that Elagabalus married between 5 and 7 times, to a range of men and women. These marriages did not last long, usually for only a few months at a time, and Elagabalus had countless other sex scandals outside of her marriages. She enjoyed playing the role of a concubine, and would frequently stand at the palace door in the nude, enticing passersby to come in. The men who worked in the palace would sometimes take the opportunity to spend intimate time with her, and often were promoted based on the size of their penises. Though Elagabalus identified as a woman to an unknown extent, her marriages to and relationships with men were viewed as same-sex. This was not a first in Rome — or even for a Roman emperor — but it also wasn’t very common, and by Elagabalus’ time, was falling out of favor.

The most reliable reports of Elagabalus' reign come from Roman historian Cassius Dio, who was alive during the same period and met the young emperor on multiple occasions. He presents the majority of evidence that suggests Elagabalus was a transgender woman. He made the following observations; one of Elagabalus’ lovers, Zoticus, was summoned to the palace to be met with showerings of garlands and praise. He was made cubic-ularius (a butler/personal assistant) to the emperor. When presented to the emperor, he declared "My Lord Emperor, hail!"; In response, Elagabalus replied, "Call me not a Lord, for I am a Lady." Dio also claims that Elagabalus asked her physicians if they were able to perform surgery that would give her a vagina, a practice that would not be successfully performed until almost 1,750 years after her death. This desire to be seen as a woman, to many contemporary historians, is evidence of Elagabalus’ transgender identity.

After a short, tumultuous and unpopular reign, Elagabalus was assassinated during March 222 at only 18 years old. This assassination was ordered by her grandmother as she wished to replace Elagabus with Elagabus’ 15-year-old cousin, Severus Alexander. Roman contemporary historian Cassius Dio recalls the event:

[She] made an attempt to flee and would have got away somewhere by being placed in a chest had [she] not been discovered and slain. [Her] mother, who embraced [her] and clung tightly to [her], perished with [her]; their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped naked, were first dragged all over the city, and then the mother's body was cast aside somewhere or other, while [hers] was thrown into the Tiber [river].^[2]

After her death, Elagabalus’ memory was subjected to "damnatio memoriae", the practice of systematically destroying or obscuring the public record of a person formally of note. Many artworks, including an larger-than-life-sized statue of her as Hercules, were re-carved with the face of Alexander Severus. However, stories about her notoriety lived on in plays and other literature, so that her  promiscuity and extravagance would not be forgotten. It is only in recent years, with the growing acceptance of LGBTI persons, that historians are making greater attempts to re-establish Elagabalus as an important figure in Roman history, and are skeptical of the overly critical accounts of her reign.