Nobody can deny that Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus) who was known by his nicknames Elagabalus and Heliogabalus (c. 204-222) was a cute, young man who would have fitted perfectly into a group of modern teenagers, at least when it comes to his pretty, boyish looks. Some 2024-teenagers would even have appreciated his life style which was voluptuous to a degree. Did he ever think of anything but sex, fun and partying? Well, becoming the Emperor of Rome in 218, i.e. at a very early age, should have made him consider state affairs and the serious business of government, but naaahhh, he was much more interested in partying at all hours and to him "partying" meant SEX. Fourteen years old he roamed the Roman bordellos and his powerful grandmother, Julia Maesa, found that a marriage to a grown woman of a good family was needed to put some kind of rein on the young man. She chose the noblewoman Julia Cornelia Paula, but she wasn't up to the job, and the young emperor divorced her as she "had something ugly on her body".
Julia Cornelia Paula
When he himself chose his next wife he made an awful scandal: Being a vestal Aquilia Severa was considered a holy woman who should never marry anybody. Like a nun she ought to stay a virgin, but when the emperor set eyes on her she was forced to marry him.
Aquilia Severa
Not even that marriage made the young man behave like he was supposed to as the emperor of Rome because by now he had got the idea that he wasn't a man, but a woman. That may be as it is, but having been brought up in Syria he had been the head priest of the sun god Elagabal and he wanted a religious revolt in favor of his god that didn't sit well with either the Senate or the Roman people who already hated how he did his best to "become a woman": He wore a feminine hairdo, got the hair of his beard plucked out, wore women clothes, etc., etc.. Also he tried to find doctors who were willing to perform some kind of surgery to "build a vagina in his body".
All of this became too much for everybody, and his short reign ended when his soldiers massacred him. After his death his corpse was dragged through the streets of Rome as a way of demeaning him and his entire reputation. However, 1,600 years later or so, writers like e.g. Oscar Wilde and Baudelaire developed a liking for him and his debauchery. For a while he became quite popular, even with painters like e.g. Lawrence Alma-Tadema. In 1888 he painted a scenery from one of the most notorious parties of the emperor:
https://carpediemtours.com/blog/elagabalus-crazy-roman-emperor/
Wikipedia
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