The Mad Emperor

This biography re-examines Elagabalus, the Syrian teenager who became Roman emperor in AD 218 and was murdered four years later. Sidebottom traces his rise through the Severan dynasty, his priesthood at Emesa and the religious and political experiments that alienated powerful groups in Rome.

The book treats the sensational stories preserved by hostile ancient authors as evidence requiring scrutiny rather than simple fact. It uses Elagabalus’s reputation to examine Roman attitudes towards gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion and the performance expected of an emperor.