That a fourteen-year-old Syrian-born size queen who had the whole of his body depilated to arouse the lusts of the greatest numbers and who constantly sent his agents around Rome to search for and procure men who had particularly large sexual organs was permitted to ascend the throne to become supreme ruler of one of the greatest empires the world has ever seen and to hold on to power for the four best years of his teenage life is at once testimony to that vast institution’s imagination and tolerance and a fitting comment on its imperfections and decadence.
This thrice-married bisexual transvestite teenage emperor may not be as well-known as Nero and Caligula but when it comes to ‘excessive’ and ‘unusual’ he can more than hold his own with that pair and he may have departed prematurely (murdered at 18, beheaded and his body tossed in the Tiber) but what a high school education the boy had before graduation!
johnpoetflanagan 
great and detailed like always!!
Mihrank, thank you
Little-known footnotes of history–very interesting, John.
Thank you, Willow. Yes, many of those emperors were interesting in strange ways..and were strange people to say the least!
My, oh my!
Perfectly understandable response, Gina.
Thank you as always.
wow!
Yes, Aina, wow indeed! Quite a strange character to say the least! Thank you for commenting.
I agree. Your title alone , was knock-out already.
Something great to know Brother John!! I liked it! 🙂 The Biography is really an interesting piece to read. Well, so sad that he has been murdered at 18. Great work!!
Regards,
Swetank! Be Bettr, Stay Bettr! 🙂
Brother Swetank, if you’d like to read more about all those strange Roman emperors they are well documented on Wikipedia. Thank you for reading and commenting.
My best to you always
John
Will sure check them out on Wikipedia!
Regards,
Swetank. 🙂
There is a twenty-first century parallel. History does indeed repeat itself! You surprised me once again with a unique subject matter and a presentation that is informative and delivered
so entertainingly. A bravo from this reader John.
Yes, Jon My Friend, there are parallels in our own day and age, plenty of them indeed.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting.
Ever Your Friend
John
When do they start taping the mini-series? Judy
Thank you, Judy. I may be wrong about this but I believe some years back a film was planned on his life but the project never made it past the planning stage..perhaps we’re better for that..
omg
Yes, Gav, some strange people in those Roman days and quite a few strange ones, too, in our own time.
Thank you for reading.
Quite a portrait you have given us here.
Yes, Harry, he was as they say something else
Thank you for this most interesting text John. According to contemporary historians
Elagabalus ranked among the most infamous of emperors.
Yes indeed, Hollie, infamous and while he was allowed to get away with much he did shock the ordinary conservative citizen and eventually the palace guards did him and his influential mother in.
Interesting Brother John. Never heard of him.
Quite a character he was, Brother David, right up there with ‘different’
A new character for me, and what a character he was. Thanks for the interesting tale.
…and, Myra, an unusual one to say the least!
As they say… OMG… and who knew? !!! Wow.
Thank you, Susan, for reading and responding. Definitely ‘different’ he was that’s for sure
How interesting! I’m a history geek – I love this kind of stuff!
Great that you read and liked it, Kate. Thank you
Very interesting. Next time my husband starts thinking he knows everything about the Roman empire and the emperors, I’m going to pull this out and watch his mouth drop! I enjoy bits and pieces of little known history. thank you! and thank you for finding and following my blog. I hope you will visit often and feel welcomed. it’s a bit of a mishmash, but I enjoy doing it. haven’t done much poetry lately but with fall sneaking slowly in, I have a feeling they will start beginning to take root in my little head. Again, thank you!
Thank you, Kanzen, for this lovely lengthy response, I appreciate it very much. I may find a few other emperors who are worth writing about, there were plenty of them that were more than a bit off the wall. And I will certainly visit your blog often.
My best to you
John
🙂
It is the first time I hear about this thrice-married bisexual transvestite teenage emperor!!!. Thanks for this informative and interesting post, dear John.
Best wishes and happy weekend ahead to you,
Aquileana 😀
Thank you, Dear Aquileana, and I’m happy you found the post interesting. I may have a few more lesser known emperors to write about later.
The best of weekends to you, too.
John