Bibliograph

The mad emperor, Heliogabalus and the decadence of Rome, Harry Sidebottom

Type

Label

The mad emperor, Heliogabalus and the decadence of Rome, Harry Sidebottom

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 321-325) and index

resource.biographical

individual biography

Illustrations

genealogical tablesmapsillustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

The mad emperor

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

1350648893

Responsibility statement

Harry Sidebottom

Sub title

Heliogabalus and the decadence of Rome

Summary

"What happens when you put the Roman Empire in the hands of a teenage boy? The life and times of the worst Roman emperor of all. On 8 June AD218 a fourteen-year-old Syrian boy, egged on by his grandmother, led an army to battle in a Roman civil war. Against all expectations, he was victorious. Varius Avitus Bassianus, known to the modern world as Heliogabalus, was proclaimed emperor. The next four years were to be the strangest in the history of the empire. Heliogabalus humiliated the prestigious Senators and threw extravagant dinner parties for lower-class friends. He ousted Jupiter from his summit among the gods and replaced him with Elagabal. He married a Vestal Virgin - twice. Rumours abounded that he was a prostitute. In the first biography of Heliogabalus in over half a century, Harry Sidebottom unveils the high drama of sex, religion, power and culture in Ancient Rome as we've never seen it before"--, Provided by publisher

Classification