As some of you might know, one of my favorite things to study is History. Specifically, I enjoy studying the Roman Empire during the early third century. A teenage boy, of Syrian decent, found himself placed on the throne of the greatest empire in the world, only to die four years later at the age of 18. The records of his reign that survive describe him as a cross-dressing want-to-be whore with an enormous sexual appetite, and who, as emperor, drained the coffers and did much to ruin the government of the empire. Of course, the accounts that survive contain some examples of his behavior that are just impossible. For instance, it is recorded that he filled a pool with wine, then drank enough of it to make a noticeable decrease in the level of the wine. I don't think that's physically possible. Also, it's recorded that he had certain people killed, but then later it mentions them as being alive in the succeeding reign of Elagabalus' cousin, Alexander.

Whatever occurred during his reign, there are some things that are certain: Elagabalus was a monotheist, 100 years before Constantine; Elagabalus viewed the wealthy elite of Rome with much less respect than they were used to; Elagabalus eventually rebelled against his power-hungry grandmother who pulled the strings at the outset of his reign; Elagabalus was gay. These four facts had much to do with his downfall.

To answer that most common of questions amongst us homos, the young Elagabalus was a bottom.

He used his softly masculine beauty (and family fortune) to help convince the Roman legions to support him, and liked to seek out the well-endowed men, the sexy men, and occasionally even the rough and rugged men, to satisfy his sexual appetite. He made no secret of which role he took.

You might ask how his being gay had anything to do with it, since Roman attitudes about homosexuality were more accepting than ours. Well, Romans didn't mind if you were the active partner-- or, as it is more commonly referred to today, the top. Many of the favorite Caesars spent some time behind the boys. What was frowned upon, however, was being the passive partner-- or the bottom. Surely the Emperor of Rome should not allow himself to be used in that manner.

While the common people loved him, for he was quite generous, the wealthy elite despised him, and the Praetorian guard and legions sought a more manly leader, and would follow whoever had the most money. So he was murdered, he and his mother. Their bodies were torn apart and thrown into the River Tiber.

OK. So now you've had a brief history of Elagablus. Now for the reason for my posting about him. My friend Erich, who is a very talented artist, drew this sketch of Elagabalus for me a few months ago. I've been meaning to post it, but never got around to scanning it. Instead of pulling out my flatbed, I just took a photo of it. Much easier.

So here it is.