Elagabalus (AD 218-222). AV aureus (22mm, 6.36 gm, 1h). NGC Choice XF 5/5 - 3/5. Rome, AD 219. IMP CAES ANTONINVS AVG, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust of Elagabalus right, seen from behind / PONTIF MAX TR P II COS II P P, Roma enthroned left, small figure of Victory right in right hand, grounded scepter in left, shield by her side. RIC IV.II 25. Calicó 3023. Solidly struck and nicely centered on ample flan. Ex Künker, Auction 347 (22 March 2021), lot 1186 Without doubt, the four-year reign of Elagabalus stands as the strangest interlude in all Roman history. His rise to power was engineered by his grandmother, Julia Maesa, the sister of the powerful Roman Empress Julia Domna. Maesa, determined to restore the Severan-Emesan dynasty to power, seized upon her 13-year-old grandson, Varius Avitus Bassianus, as the means. The boy, who was the hereditary high priest of the god Elagabal, greatly resembled a young Caracalla, and Maesa had it put about to the soldiers that he was the emperor's natural son and true successor. That, plus a liberal sprinkling of gold, induced the troops to revolt and proclaim Avitus (now renamed Antoninus, but widely known as Elagabalus after his god) as emperor. Improbably, Macrinus was defeated and killed, and Elagabalus with his retinue made their way to Rome, where the people greeted their new ruler with mixed bafflement, amusement, and horror. Elagabalus was also what would today be called transgendered and totally committed to the orgiastic rites of his cult. He married three times in rapid succession, including a scandalous union with a Vestal Virgin. The populace and soldiery soon became disgusted with this un-Roman behavior. Maesa finally decided that he must be replaced to save the dynasty. She persuaded Elagabalus to adopt his more docile cousin Alexander as Caesar, then coolly arranged for the Praetorians to murder their oddball emperor along with his mother, Julia Soaemias, in March, AD 222.

HID09801242017

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