If I was imperator I would probably either go crazy with power and do what Caligula did or pull a Constantine but most likely due to my lack of experience in ruling a massive empire I would probably be like one of those short lived 2 year Roman emperors like Philip the Arab
Elagabalus seems to have done everything he could to annoy everyone around him, and so it is little wonder he lasted slightly longer than Caligula. More interestingly and more often overshadowed is Julia Maesa and her role in restoring the Severan dynasty.
Yeah and it seems that she was the true power behind the throne and when she could no longer control Elagabalus she promoted her other grandson... Elagabalus' eccentricities might be, at least partly owed to, a normal obstinate teenage behaviour that took the form of a rebellion against his overbearing mother and grandmother. And/or some sort of psychological disorder that got aggravated by being promoted to purple at such a young age.
I have a lot of empathy for him. He was strange, didn't fit in, obviously had his own internal struggles, and then he was placed to rule over the most powerful country the world has known. Imagine a 14-year-old dealing with DC lobbyists. All the teenage emperors were like Elagabalus - Nero was 16 I think when he became emperor, Caligula was also young, etc.
@@TheSPQRHistorianif women could only hold power on their own, they would not have to use subterfuge and use males to further their ambitious. Maybe the roman women would have been better where the men failed
I don’t really think you can say he was a trans. He had many enemies whose biased writings are our only source. Despite his eccentric actions, there is no evidence that he viewed himself as the opposite of his biological gender. The concept of gender identity is relatively recent and trying to apply the concept to people in the past is distorting history.
@@TheSPQRHistorian although I agree with you, you’re going to ruffle a lot of fragile feathers on both sides - especially those who try to ascribe modern standards to ancient history.
@@TheSPQRHistorian Lost some respect for this channel. Not so much for the trans thing itself, but doing it as clickbait. People watch your channel because the videos are well made and the content is well researched and well described. You don't need to bait people into your watching your videos. We're not little fishies. Also, never say "too juice".
*Fun fact:* There's a 1911 silent short film about Elagabalus' madness and death called "L'orgie romaine" ("The Roman Orgy"). It's on RUclips if you are interested in watching it. Also, the Steven Saylor's book "Dominus" recounts Elagabalus' infamous reign. Both products are pretty good, actually.
Yeah, the difference betwixt the two: while Elagabalus was a freakin' child, who by all accounts was a fairly inept ruler, gaining the throne by way of a fluke. Constantine was an amazing General gaining the throne by victory through bloodshed while also being an extremely competent ruler. Though, I guess if youre in the camp that Christianity led to the collapse of the empire he probably isn't that good in your mind. Personally imho, religion is mostly lip service, people are gonna do what they're gonna do. The Crusades were made more so by a few bountiful harvests and a surplus of sons than by any divine portents or commands EDIT: Just basic editing and added in the bit about the crusades. Best wishes, dear reader.
Thank you so much for this systematic chronological lay out of the emperors of Rome. It really helps with the understanding of the missing gaps so many other histories possess.
One of the greatest of Venetian composers Francesco Cavalli wrote an opera called "Eliogabalo" in 1667 -apparently it was never staged but put on stage for the first time in 2010 in the U.S. and many other places starring the astonishing Argentinian male soprano Franco Fagioli.The whole of the Paris production is available on You Tube -a quite amazing work.
@@TrajGreekFire extremely gay but was not called Hierocles's queen 😩 and he sponsored a decree alongside Constantius II that ruled that marriage based on "unnatural" sex should be punished meticulously (maybe he was not a femboy or maybe he was)
Praetorian Guards: "Caesar, we have finally found the way to turn you into a woman!" Elagabalus: "Really? Oh man, I cannot wait to get rid of this ridiculous p*nis. What's your plan?" Praetorian Guards: "Close your eyes!" Elagabalus: "Okie Dokie!" 😊 Praetorian Guards: *Draw swords*
Well, he's considered as one of the most inept emperors to ever "rule" the Roman Empire. He was a puppet of his own grandmother, who got rid of him because of Elagabalus being so depraved and unpopular with Praetorian Guard as well as populace. So much so, he began to be a threat to the security of his own family, who ended up killing him with the help of the Praetorian Guard. Killing him before others do it and kill the family as well for the good measure... I sincerely don't know why modern homosexual people look up to him. Hadrian was gay and one of the best emperors to rule the Empire and despite him being gay, he left the best succession after him. He is far more deserving of praise.
Something that always baffled me regarding roman emperors is that, while it may be understandable with the earlier emperors of this type, after so many of their predecessors were killed by the senate or military, you would think that at some point they would stop making the mistake of believing that they can just do whatever they like without getting the stabby stab.
Thanks for an interesting story. Elagabalus is one of my favorite emperors to *hear* about, but in ancient times it must have felt absolutely ridiculous to experience him. Rome hasn't always been lucky with it's emperors. I missed the story of his extravagant first entrance to Rome, but I guess there are so many stories we can't have them all. And we might never know facts from fiction.
When I was 19 years old, I bought, in a drugstore\ genaral goods store in south Georgia (USA), a book entitled "Child of the sun," which was a novelized telling of this emperor. I was still in my "ancient Rome" period, and bought the book based on its cover. When I started reading it, well, it wasn't really a shock (I was trying to be "worldly" and sophisticated to admit to being shocked😉), but, I certainly was surprised. I finished reading it and while not great literature, it was interesting.😊
Bear in mind that Cassius Dio, Herodian, and the chronicler for the _Historia Augusta_ were of the type men back then who would recoil at the very idea of men and teenage boys expressing traits of femininity, and especially of male citizens who bottomed. So they hated Elagabalus who could very well have been bisexual, gay, a femboy, etc., as we understand it, but I think we need to take with a grain of salt some of their more outrageous claims about him. But I have to admit, he was pretty.
I've never understood the infamy to which Elagabalus was consigned. Sure, his pansexuality was novel and probably disconcerting, even to the Romans. But he wasn't bloody or murderous - just strange. It's hard to take seriously the idea that the Praetorians were offended by his behavior - these were, after all, the louts who had murdered several emperors and put the Empire itself up for sale at auction some years earlier. The Praetorians were hardly in a position to "look down" on anyone from a moral or behavioral standpoint. All that can be said of Elagabalus is that he was manipulated into power by his scheming mother and grandmother, was immature and not competent to rule (which could be said of a dozen other emperors), and he enjoyed himself while he could. If you really want to talk sexually depraved, cruel, selfish and out of touch, it begins and ends with Tiberius.
Moral standards were different then, killing people unjustly was a small vice compared to bringing "shame" to the highest holy position of the empire and insulting many important Roman traditions and worshipping a foreign god (he should've learned from what happened to Mark Antony). The Praetorians were used to violence, but super gay shit? UNACCEPTABLE But seriously tho if true the main thing had to have been the vestal virgin part, that was one of the worst sacrileges a Roman could possibly do, so I'm not surprised that he would be one of the most hated by every Roman after. Everything he allegedly did, a decadent boy raised in the East, was a grave insult to Rome
@@raulpetrascu2696 How the Romans felt about Elagabalus is irrelevant. My point is that the 1,800 years of judgments about Elagabalus that followed seem rather unfair and the historical condemnation out of all proportion to his actions. Nearly all the criticism of Elagabalus centers on his unusual sexual proclivities - which, in the grand scheme of things, doesn't seem all that important when compared with the bloodthirsty viciousness of Tiberius, Caligula, Commodus and Caracalla, to name only a few. And then I look around at a gun-infested America in 2023 - a nation where weekly massacres are seen as unremarkable even as huge numbers of people perceive drag shows as immoral horrors that require eradication, and I realize we have far more in common with the ancient Romans than we'd care to admit. As long as people continue to be more hysterical - and titillated - over sex than they are over murder, and violence in general, I don't expect to see Elagabalus' reputation to improve much.
@@johnwalzer9187 what do you mean how the Romans felt about him is irrelevant? The "infamy to which Elagabalus _was consigned_" you talk about and 1800 years of judgement is literally every Roman after him (plus Christians which again the criticism should not be a surprise). 99% of opinions of Elagabalus come from them and were influenced by Roman sources. You mentioned the praetorians also and how you think it didn't make sense for them but I explained why it really does in their context, I'm not sure you read your own comment that I was responding to. Modern opinions is another matter but that's not what your original comment communicated
@@raulpetrascu2696 Are you sure you read the comment? "I've never understood the infamy to which Elagabalus was consigned." Read it again. I'm clearly referring to the condemnation he's suffered over the last 2,000 years. Otherwise I would have said, "I've never understood why Elagabalus was condemned by his contemporaries." Yes, historians have read the accounts of the emperor's contemporaries but there are ugly contemporary accounts of Tiberius and Claudius and Domitian, and yet historians have found things to admire in all of them. On the other hand, Elagabalus seems to bring out the worst in historians resulting in a lot of knee-jerk sanctimony and a total lack of objectivity. As for the praetorians, they were monumental hypocrites in their day and I don't think their reputations have improved since the 2nd century. They were self-serving, unreliable bully boys and louts who were loyal to nobody, did very little that wasn't ceremonial and cared only about their own enrichment - and that's all they cared about. If, in addition to all their other vices, they were delusional and able to convince themselves that their avarice, disloyalty and general bloodiness did not disqualify them from judging a weird but harmless boy emperor - well, that would not surprise me at all.
@@jamesruddy9264 that's cool. I wish I could just stumble across something like that somewhere. That's a cool find. Does it look really old? What is it made out of?
Seems inappropriate to be referring to an emperor with a large majority of his reign (75% ish) was as an underage child in an extremely sexualised and visual way... speculating about a child's sex life, historical or not, is also very weird and almost seems fetishist. You aren't really helping progressives who are fighting for gay (or queer now apparently) rights that we've been trying to fight and disassociation with pedophilia which you seem to be trying to get reattached by saying stuff like this...
I first heard of Elagabalus (actually, Golobulus) in _G.I. Joe: The Movie;_ he was one of the chief denizens of Cobra-La, voiced by the late great Burgess Meredith.
Decades ago I read a novel of historical fiction about Elegabalus called Emperor of the Sun , never dreaming it was based on a real person and events !
he was related to septimius severus , not marcus aureleis .... which is what you said in the first minute of the video. Many late Roman emperors added Aurelius to his Name to add providence to his position
Impossible. Everyone knows the Roman's and the Greeks totally accepted all kinds of sexual debauchery. I am sure the army had no issues with his gender expression
Amazing that a 2000 year old story sparks fear, and homo/trans phobia in people who supposedly live in the 21st century, but actually have 19th century attitudes 😂
Strange that this "historical" video brushes past the fact that he was an ARAB, as well as his family (mothers and all) - yes some Roman Emperors were Arab (Philip the Arab) and that the name comes from Arabic - El Jabal - I only highlight this because ZIONISTS like to always tell people that Arabs were colonisers who showed up with the conquest of Islam - the reality is Arabs existed in the Levant centuries before Islam - especially with the Nabateans (amongst other kingdoms), and that the Arabic language and Culture was a natural extension of the continuum of other semitic civilizations namely the Phonecian/Caananite and Assyrian civilizations -
@@cyclro his videos are new… If they were old, then i would give him the benefit of the doubt (as i remember the Emesan dynasty wasn’t mentioned as an arab dynasty on many encyclopedia’s, not until a couple of years ago) But, his videos are new, so a simple research on his ethnicity, would showcase this fact. Also, i think i saw his comments on this subject, and it turns out, he knew the Emesans were Arab. I am not arguing why he didn’t mention his ethnicity in the headline like macrinus and Philip, that’s fine. I am arguing on why he doesn’t mention it at all in his video…
@@arabos4239 Yea it's a result of general zionist mainstream history brainwashing - making it look like Arabs are an alien race that colonised the Levant (Palestine) - in reality the Arabs are no different from the Semitic family of ethnicities that lived in the region - Phonecians/Caaninites/Aramaeans/Assyrians etc. and Arabs have always existed in the Levant centuries before Islam- also everyone seems to ignore that the Nabateans were also Arab - and are often not presented that way -
The stories about the Roman Emperor Elagabalus and the rise of questions about the “Transgender Emperor” and stuff like that. It is not surprising that most of the discussions about the so-called “Transgender Emperor” are inherently flawed and just simply wrong. This is not really an issue, there is almost no substance for a meaningful dialogue. There is just too little reputable information we have only the accounts of Cassius Dio, Herodian, and Historia Augusta, all of who had open animosity against Elagabalus. Accusing an unpopular former emperor of abnormal sexual behavior was a time-honored tradition among Roman Historians at this point. They really kick it up a notch with Elagabalus. But what we can prove is that this Emperor was a religious fanatic of cult to the Eastern diety El Gabal Latinised to Elagabalus witch traditions include circumcision. Elagabalus also liked to fuck around with the Roman state religion with reckless abandon. Needless to say, all this must have been incredibly unpopular which led to exaggeration and demonization.
The thing that bothers me the most is when other gay (or queer now, apparently) decide that they want to discuss his sex life in vivid detail firstly not only based on unreliable accounts but also knowing full well that he was likely a child for a majority of the period they are mentioning. Now this is fine if it's from an academic and largely scholarly point. But the way they are discussing it is based firstly on flawed accounts and seizing on ridiculous exaggerated information, inappropriately applying modern ideas like 'femboy' 'trans' and 'power bottom' which not only give labels which didn't exist but apply very vivid and almost pornographic imagery to one's mind of what a child was getting up to. Not only is it not scholarly, but the unnecessary and inappropriate application of trendy terms that are used when talking about their personal sex lives in modern times makes me find it very concerning. Not long ago and even today gay men were associated with pedophilia, I'm sure the lesbians even were and still are too, it also doesn't help trans people who are being accused of trying to make children take pills to change their genitals inappropriately... they are deciding to give ammunition to the right by firstly sexualising children and then applying identities onto them when both of these things are based on likely inaccurate information. It's gross and upsetting for me to read. It's one thing to speculate about monarchs sex lives (James VI and I, Frederick the Great, Anne Stuart) but they were adults and there is much evidence to rely on. But by giving this child identities which firstly there's basically no reliable evidence to base these on but also secondly it associates them with something not only did they definitely have absolutely any concept or idea of these modern identities but it also takes away their ability and right to choose to be associated with it. Just because they are a historical figure it doesn't make it ok to announce they were trans based on no sources because they have the right to be associated with that if they want, if they want to be gay they can choose to be associated with that. But they are dead so speculating on it is fine but it's so gross when people don't actually comment on the historical sources they base information on when making these videos or writing comments because it is important to the information and children understanding that it's not somehow transphobic or discriminatory for us to disagree with them. Especially cuz these children have never been in the real world but think they know everything you are sending them unprepared into the world with what they think they know at a crucial time being very questionable.
How come you never mention that the whole family was of Arabic descent though they were Roman citizens? Julia Maesa middle name is Arabic ميساء , a name still used today, Elgabalus is Arabic ايل جبل ، or mountain God ,
He wasn’t Arab nor were his family. They were pre-Arab Syrians and they had Semitic-Carthaginian and Roman admixture. Arab nationalist claim everyone from the ancient Middle East was Arab but that’s not what Ancient sources say.
@@drillxedit what does " preArab Syrian" mean? It's a strange term, considering that the first use of the word Arab in the Kurkh Inscription of Neo Assyrian king Shalmanasser 3rd described a nation living most likely in the area west of Damascus , and later Assyrian inscriptions talked about Arabs living in the area west of Hamath
@@drillxedit Nah. The Emesans are a well documented Arab dynasty. Even after obtaining their roman citizenship, they still had Arab names and continued worshipping an Arab deity.
@@shiro4095 He was crowned at the age of 14 which explains why he was the way he was and did what he did, all he was doing was experimenting with his new found power and seeing how far he can go which of course is pure insanity.
THANK YOU for making a video about my FAVORITE Roman emperor!!!! The Historia Augusta's account of his life is AWESOME!! I like his taste in men (that blond gladiator husband sounded sensational), his sense of humor, and his fashion sense. And I want that chariot of his, the one that's drawn by naked women!!! And it's always very very odd to me that people go ballistic about him ... STILL!! After all these centuries! And even CENSOR accounts of what he did. And I wonder, why? What's the big deal? "Great" leaders who aren't nearly as fun are responsible for the violent deaths of millions (Hello obscure 19th century American Presidents! What happened to all those Native Americans??). Is wearing monochrome earth tone clothing, no makeup, and monogamously married to a cisgendered woman who doesn't talk much a ticket to moral virtue? Why is it whenever someone behaves in ways most people would consider to be outrageous it's seen as some sort of "degeneracy", yet brutality, violence, mayhem and destruction are greeted with applause, or some sort of shrug and acceptance?
@@OptimusPrinceps_Augustus Yes. He wasn't accepted by "the Romans" (whoever they were), but hardly anyone was, and those who were were VERY brutal people (Diocletian, Constantine, etc etc). Speaking personally, I certainly would prefer a flamboyant absolute monarch to a brutal one, but to each his own, I guess. What I don't understand, however, was how "he got what was coming to him". It sounds like you're saying that any man in makeup and a dress somehow "deserves" some kind of violence. But I can't imagine anyone nowadays saying such a thing, though people certainly said such things when I was 12 (I'm 60). Would you please clarify?
@Frank Thinnes Interesting. I don't visualize him as a modern person at all, because a lot of those conceptions that we have about ourselves and our identities simply didn't exist at the time, though I am aware of the HUGE debate between essentialists and their critics. And I'm not sure if he had any agenda, per se, other than doing what he wanted to do. But whatever he was, or wanted, or did, I find the record that is his legacy fascinating and even inspiring, far more so than someone like Augustus. This has nothing to do with Elagabalus himself, but rather myself. We have much to blame people like Augustus for, if subsequent societies are based on Roman perspectives on how to run a society. Imagine, if you will, what life would have been like if people like Elagabalus won.
@Frank Thinnes Oh! I'm sorry I misunderstood your comment! And now I feel foolish because here you are an expert and I shot off my mouth! Thank you for your infinite patience. And it's nice to know I'm not the only one who daydreams about Elagabalus! 🙂
How fortunate were the Praetorian Guards to kill Elagabalus before Twitter even existed. Imagine the backlash they would have suffered for killing the first trans emperor 🤣🤣🤣
It was 'Transsexual' but yeah, I never realised how triggeted some people were by that word, even if he is described as having leanings in that direction. I guess everyone is tired by all the woke bullshit in modern media
@@TheSPQRHistorian As a Transwoman myself, I can proclaim beyond the shadow of a doubt that we're tired of all the woke shit too!! 😩 And the real truth is 9 times out of 10.... Anyone who claims to be triggered by the word "Transsexual" isn't REALLY trans at all!!🤦♀️ Most are just a bunch of losers who crave attention and want to enact revenge on society for their shortcomings by claiming they are "trans and oppressed" 🙄 They are usually pretty easy to spot.... Because they think they can just dye their hair bright blue and put on a dress and call themselves Trans and proceed to yell at everyone! 😩 They are what we call "Trans-trenders", and they are RUINING EVERYTHING for us REAL Trans people.... And their fake wokester activism is making our lives miserable, intolerable, and borderline DANGEROUS! And unfortunately, they have no idea of the extent of the damage they're doing to whatever little image and credibility we had left! 🤦♀️ All of this crap started when the Trans Community thought it'd be a "good idea" to sell its sovereignty to the Democratic party. Ever since then..... Politics got involved and it's become a total shitshow!😒
@@kurzeful Not really. But I still think its funny that he used an anime word instead. I actually thought it was because youtube would take down his video for having insults in the title or something. But he himself said in the comment above yours that he wanted to avoid the comments turning into a warzone.
The video was quite informative, but I think you're doing your viewers a disservice by not curating the generally transphobic discussion held here in the comments. It's frustrating to see that the top comment uses problematic language like "a trans" and "biological gender", instead of "trans people" and just "gender" or "biological sex".
The collapse of empires/civilisations follow a predictable pattern. Recall Amenhotep in Ancient Egypt,just from the remaining statues you could determine that the chap was at least an oddball.He wanted to convert Egyptians to one god revolving around the Sun/worship.....When they got rid of him they destroyed evidence of him actually existing. Its a fascinating subject because so many forces are at play when a new "regime" takes over. Today a man suffering from dementia has been installed as the "Emperor " of America....the whole thing is a complete farce when you see him tottering along....but as with the Roman example it is now speculated that Jill Biden/Jacob is ACTUALLY the power behind the scenes.....and that Biden is told what to do.... But as with Elagabus Bidens presence has created enormous resentment.....so his ice-creams would be the perfect vehicle for delivering a cure for American woes. Ironically Iran/Persia is still around!!.
He had 4 wives and Roman concept of sexuality was based on active-passive roles rather than modern gender one. There was no heterosexuality or homosexuality or bisexuality to them - only a Roman on top
@@vituscorvinus3110well there were homosexuals and heterosexual. Being monosexual is still a genetic traits where you needed to mate with the opposite sex and vise versa for gay people if people today can only like "one sex" (meaning they only like the physical characteristics of the sex they like). Its just that it's not rigid to where YOU CAN ONLY like the same or opposite biological sex as you cant really read anyone's chromosomes. It probably explains why the Roman's had no rigid categories to categorize sexuality because despite monosexuality being a thing, like all sexualities, it was inherently flexible.
Not being on hrt or going through any operations doesn't mean you can't be trans. Now his sexuality can be debated if he is trans but even then, both can are debatable.
I like how mentioning a historical fact that people don't like now count's as "inserting woke politics" what ever that means. I've seen some people saying that trans people are going to loose it, but so far I've only seen "the anti woke" crowd having a meltdown. Was Elegabalus trans by our standards ? Perhaps, perhaps not. But it is a fact that people wrote that he crossed dressed and he wanted to be a woman, those aren't things written by modern historians. Since they are our main sources for the times, we have to talk about what they wrote, even if they completely invented things or exaggerated events, we have to talk about them and discuss them. I really fail to see what is the problem here. Sure the title was a bit clickbait but it's also a legitimate question. Based on what we are told about Elegabalus, about him being a cross dresser and him wanting to be a woman...etc. I think it's fair to wonder if he was indeed trans. It's not like you brought it up as if it were a fact, you just said this is what we are told and you even clarified that it's unlikely that Elegabalus was indeed trans. It's also not like you tried to present Elegabalus as positive figure either, so really I don't see why people are mad. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that if you hadn't brought it up, that same crowd would have accused you of hiding historical facts just to push a political agenda. Septemius Severus and Constantine and their respective dynasties both claimed legitimacy by claiming to be related to Marcus Aurelius and Claudius Gothicus respectively. So we shouldn't bring that up just because it's not true? Emperor Constance was supposedly killed for his homosexuality, that's what his enemies said at least. However we don't know for sure and he was probably killed for other reasons. So when SPQR starts talking about Constance, are you lot gonna get mad that they brought up that he may or may not have died for being gay? Even tho that's what his enemies said? Because it's "inserting woke politics into history" ? Anyways, the video is good, just fought i'd let my frustrations out.
Thank you for your comment, I agree with everything you wrote. I was actually really surprised about the initial reception, I didn't see the "problem" at all because, as you said, I just presented the knowledge we have on the matter and didn't put any personal opinion at all. Our sources are pretty bad and very hostile towards him so it's hard to judge where facts ends and fiction begins. But honestly, our arguably best/least biased source on Elagabalus is Herodian, and while he doesn't go as far as Cassius Dio, he does mention Elagabalus' effeminate ways and his preference for wearing female clothes. But overall most viewers don't care, it's just a vocal minority in the comment section. Is calling him trans clickbaity? Maybe? Kinda? A bit? But at the same time, that's how RUclips is played right? I want as many eyeballs on the video as possible... I don't have any political agenda, I just try to make the most historically accurate video I can. That's it.
You are forcing modern concepts and ideas on a historical figure with what is known to be inaccurate historical records. Firstly it takes away someone's right to choose as not only can they deny or affirm whether they agree with their association with being trans or gay, but it applies sexualised ideas of what a child did during their reign. It's fine to speculate the potential nature of it. But the leap from crossdresser which is not actually definitively reliable, to transgender is a very big leap and a very inappropriate one. I don't have any issue with trans people and I'm a gay man. It's a different thing to question the nature of relationships of monarchs who were adults or lived to a ripe old age. But the way the accounts are sexualised (one guy claimed he wrote articles about how he's a power bottom) is a very vivid descriptor of sexual acts which a child would have taken part in not only based on inaccurate politically motivated propaganda, but also against the movement of the LGBT community who have fought to be disassociated with the pedophilia idea that heterosexual people have tried to tie to us and still do. Transgender people are currently lobbying for giving kids pills which permanently alters their body shape when they are children undergoing puberty with changing and impressionable concepts, yes they should be able to choose their identity, but it definitely matters if they are being influenced by the way that the internet tells them what they are facing is because they are transgender and the way that the medical system has little universal medical process to identify if they are suffering from a mental health condition which is distorting their reality, but also trying to understand why they think this, is it based on their own actual thoughts or did they just google it online and decide that someone on tiktok saying that means that you are trans. Yes we need to question kids thoughts because not only is there no real studies on the long term side effects of blockers but we also don't know how they are impacted afterwards if they choose not to transition. These are important facts to consider and as a member of the community it isn't in any way based on someone being anti woke or because we are Donald Trump voters, it's because not only is it propaganda for kids to believe that people have been trans since the dinosaurs based on unreliable information, but the kids aren't aware of how to approach historical information and how to not understand it as fact, as even dumb highschool dropouts in their 40's would have some sort of idea that it's not really something that can be relied on as fact, the kids though have absolutely no concept and no one is explaining it to them. So in summary making these claims is inappropriate, takes away their right for self determination, verges on sexualisation of children, associates the gays that have fought for rights with pedophilia which the anti-gays like to say we are and finally gives oxygen (valid or not) to the anti-trans movement by applying sexualised concepts and vivid imagery of a child's body and speculation of their wanting to allegedly transition based on unreliable accounts on platforms that are easy to access without fully explaining how to approach the information they are being given (the fact is, unless you explicitly say otherwise, children will assume this is a factual reliable documentary when it isn't as they don't know how ancient source or sources in history work, and lastly clickbait or not, it doesn't make it OK just because you use tiktok to sell crap you don't use and make outlandish claims online to make yourself some money or get more views so you can sit at home and not get a real job - use accurate descriptions, inappropriate titles are never OK clickbait or not)
Elagabalus was not Transgender. While Cassius Dio does suggest he was feminine and "married" both men and women desired to become a woman. even gender re-assignment, this never happened. Herodian never mentions this in his history, both he and Dio were contemporaries of Elagabalus. This Emperor was despised by the Senate and the army. Dio was a member of the Senate. and report. is suspicious.
Imagine at 14 being in command of the whole Roman Empire.
Didn't last long
"Now everyone bark like a dog!"
If I was imperator I would probably either go crazy with power and do what Caligula did or pull a Constantine but most likely due to my lack of experience in ruling a massive empire I would probably be like one of those short lived 2 year Roman emperors like Philip the Arab
Actually, He l believe his Mother and few other counsels ran the Empire until he was old enough...
Not a position I'd ever wish for.... just my opinion
Elagabalus seems to have done everything he could to annoy everyone around him, and so it is little wonder he lasted slightly longer than Caligula. More interestingly and more often overshadowed is Julia Maesa and her role in restoring the Severan dynasty.
Yeah and it seems that she was the true power behind the throne and when she could no longer control Elagabalus she promoted her other grandson... Elagabalus' eccentricities might be, at least partly owed to, a normal obstinate teenage behaviour that took the form of a rebellion against his overbearing mother and grandmother. And/or some sort of psychological disorder that got aggravated by being promoted to purple at such a young age.
I have a lot of empathy for him. He was strange, didn't fit in, obviously had his own internal struggles, and then he was placed to rule over the most powerful country the world has known. Imagine a 14-year-old dealing with DC lobbyists. All the teenage emperors were like Elagabalus - Nero was 16 I think when he became emperor, Caligula was also young, etc.
@@mattkiraly9869 A true sigma femboy
@@TheSPQRHistorianif women could only hold power on their own, they would not have to use subterfuge and use males to further their ambitious. Maybe the roman women would have been better where the men failed
@@riaagarwal6840nah 😂 women always made things worse
Sounds like a perfect role for Ezra Miller.
Oh God don't give woke Hollywood any ideas lmao.
@@rdf4315 Do you even know what "lmao" means anymore?
Too perfect
Ezra miller could molest a baby live on TV but because he belongs to the (((tribe))) he wont end up in Jail.
That's unfair to Elagablus; we're not sure how messed up he actually was and how much of it was propaganda against him
Caligula: I’m the craziest emperor!
Elagabalus: Hold my wine!
He could not hold a candle to Caligula in that area
"I do believe that I am becoming a god"
@@vituscorvinus3110 Tiberius could 🤣
Look everybody...I'm a lady 🤣🤣🤣
leadwine*
I don’t really think you can say he was a trans. He had many enemies whose biased writings are our only source. Despite his eccentric actions, there is no evidence that he viewed himself as the opposite of his biological gender. The concept of gender identity is relatively recent and trying to apply the concept to people in the past is distorting history.
That's the exact thing I was thinking, it's ridiculous
I know and I agree, that's why I only recite Cassius Dio and move on. But I'm sorry; it's too juicy... I had to put it in the title for the clickbait
@@TheSPQRHistorian lmao atleast youre honest
@@TheSPQRHistorian although I agree with you, you’re going to ruffle a lot of fragile feathers on both sides - especially those who try to ascribe modern standards to ancient history.
@@TheSPQRHistorian
Lost some respect for this channel. Not so much for the trans thing itself, but doing it as clickbait. People watch your channel because the videos are well made and the content is well researched and well described. You don't need to bait people into your watching your videos. We're not little fishies. Also, never say "too juice".
*Fun fact:* There's a 1911 silent short film about Elagabalus' madness and death called "L'orgie romaine" ("The Roman Orgy"). It's on RUclips if you are interested in watching it. Also, the Steven Saylor's book "Dominus" recounts Elagabalus' infamous reign. Both products are pretty good, actually.
thank you for sharing that. I may just look those up
*Well, we're one emperor away from a complete Crisis... given how short they all reigned, I imagine your uploads are going to be pretty regular.*
Alexander severus Is underrated
@@alessandrogini5283 Maximin has entered the chat
@@thadtuiol1717Never forget Doug. The savior of Rome, forgotten by history 😔
10:12 "he intended to implement a distinctly foreign god at the head of roman pantheon."
Constantine: this looks like a job for me.
Yeah, the difference betwixt the two: while Elagabalus was a freakin' child, who by all accounts was a fairly inept ruler, gaining the throne by way of a fluke. Constantine was an amazing General gaining the throne by victory through bloodshed while also being an extremely competent ruler. Though, I guess if youre in the camp that Christianity led to the collapse of the empire he probably isn't that good in your mind. Personally imho, religion is mostly lip service, people are gonna do what they're gonna do. The Crusades were made more so by a few bountiful harvests and a surplus of sons than by any divine portents or commands EDIT: Just basic editing and added in the bit about the crusades. Best wishes, dear reader.
@@SuperMrHiggins Not to mention the Monotheistic concept was far fresher and more appealing especially to the poorer peoples of Rome.
@@SuperMrHiggins Very polite
And?.....
The monotheistic abrahamic god was not placed at the head of the pantheon, he replaced the pantheon.
Thank you so much for this systematic chronological lay out of the emperors of Rome. It really helps with the understanding of the missing gaps so many other histories possess.
So true 👏🏼
One of the greatest of Venetian composers Francesco Cavalli wrote an opera called "Eliogabalo" in 1667 -apparently it was never staged but put on stage for the first time in 2010 in the U.S. and many other places starring the astonishing Argentinian male soprano Franco Fagioli.The whole of the Paris production is available on You Tube -a quite amazing work.
The first I heard of him was in Kurt Vonnegut's "Breakfast of Champions", in which he was identified as "Heliogabalus".
His birth name, regnal name and both variants of his nickname exist to confuse numismatists and amateur historians alike. Did it work?
This is my favorite video series about Rome, hands down!
I've been waiting for how long for you guys to make a video.
"Femboy emperor?"
I swear my undying fealty and loyalty to Rome
XD
Based
I despise you with my whole heart
Gooner
I despise you with my whole heart.
Such an overlooked emperor, thank you for this
It got what was coming, little Catamite
Elagabalus may've been the only femboy emperor we've ever had and I am not complaining.
Constans
@@TrajGreekFire extremely gay but was not called Hierocles's queen 😩 and he sponsored a decree alongside Constantius II that ruled that marriage based on "unnatural" sex should be punished meticulously (maybe he was not a femboy or maybe he was)
Caligula and Nero too
@@OptimusPrinceps_Augustus not caligula. Incestuous? Yes. Femboy? No.
@@dronvirs yeah he was a right wing femboy like we have today
He represented almost every vice. But he did invent the Whoopie Cushion.
Then his life truly did have meaning.
See farting preachers, to expand your search engine for more evidence of the reign of Fartimus maximus in our society.
Ah, finally, Elagabalus... the emperor who beat all his predecessors in his depravity.
👍🌿😜🌿
...he just called himself a woman how can that match Tiberius?
@@vituscorvinus3110 The goings on in Capri with Catamites and Spintriae are legendary, even Caligula would have blushed...
The guy had a carriage, in which he had naked women pull it, while he whipped them, 100% correct sir.
No, Elagabalus was strange and mentally ill, he was nowhere near as depraved as Caligula or Caracalla
This comment section is gonna be a fucking war zone
I know right - I put a trigger word in the title
so far it's tame.
He is mentioned in the Major-General Song from the Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert & Sullivan.
Please Please Please, I beg of thee, never stop making videos!!!
Love your videos. I hope you do my favourite emperor “Aurelian” someday.
The praetorian guard trying not to riot about the most stupid shit (impossible)
Praetorian Guards: "Caesar, we have finally found the way to turn you into a woman!"
Elagabalus: "Really? Oh man, I cannot wait to get rid of this ridiculous p*nis. What's your plan?"
Praetorian Guards: "Close your eyes!"
Elagabalus: "Okie Dokie!" 😊
Praetorian Guards: *Draw swords*
Elagabalus: Why do I hear a sword?
😂😂😂😂😂
Well, he's considered as one of the most inept emperors to ever "rule" the Roman Empire. He was a puppet of his own grandmother, who got rid of him because of Elagabalus being so depraved and unpopular with Praetorian Guard as well as populace. So much so, he began to be a threat to the security of his own family, who ended up killing him with the help of the Praetorian Guard. Killing him before others do it and kill the family as well for the good measure...
I sincerely don't know why modern homosexual people look up to him. Hadrian was gay and one of the best emperors to rule the Empire and despite him being gay, he left the best succession after him. He is far more deserving of praise.
Modern homosexuals look up to him??? I never did. Beware of generalizations.
Well, Hadrian was not a fan of the jews ...
because hadrian was literally hitler
@@simenon5929 no one was a "fan of the jews".....anyway,how is this relevant?.
Something that always baffled me regarding roman emperors is that, while it may be understandable with the earlier emperors of this type, after so many of their predecessors were killed by the senate or military, you would think that at some point they would stop making the mistake of believing that they can just do whatever they like without getting the stabby stab.
Great video, I like your picture of Cassius Dio, is it a medieval picture?
Each time I see Elagabalus bust, i always find myself thinking "Dang, he's good lookin!"
As always, well done.
I can't help but notice that our narrator sounds like John Cleese's younger brother.
Thanks for an interesting story. Elagabalus is one of my favorite emperors to *hear* about, but in ancient times it must have felt absolutely ridiculous to experience him. Rome hasn't always been lucky with it's emperors. I missed the story of his extravagant first entrance to Rome, but I guess there are so many stories we can't have them all. And we might never know facts from fiction.
pro-ukrainian and woke totaly mdr!
@@georgesnovi5138 You wrote that nonsense, not I.
The name Elagabalus refers to the god Baal.
When I was 19 years old, I bought, in a drugstore\ genaral goods store in south Georgia (USA), a book entitled "Child of the sun," which was a novelized telling of this emperor. I was still in my "ancient Rome" period, and bought the book based on its cover. When I started reading it, well, it wasn't really a shock (I was trying to be "worldly" and sophisticated to admit to being shocked😉), but, I certainly was surprised. I finished reading it and while not great literature, it was interesting.😊
Bear in mind that Cassius Dio, Herodian, and the chronicler for the _Historia Augusta_ were of the type men back then who would recoil at the very idea of men and teenage boys expressing traits of femininity, and especially of male citizens who bottomed. So they hated Elagabalus who could very well have been bisexual, gay, a femboy, etc., as we understand it, but I think we need to take with a grain of salt some of their more outrageous claims about him. But I have to admit, he was pretty.
He was kinda pretty, I agree. :)
Yeah, pretty fking ghae lol
@ edwardmiessner6502
The warrior ethic is what
most Romans viewed as
honorable.
its been a while since your last upload i was beginning to worry 😄
thanks for the great video 👍
seeing the word femboy on a serious video about rome is so funny
I've never understood the infamy to which Elagabalus was consigned. Sure, his pansexuality was novel and probably disconcerting, even to the Romans. But he wasn't bloody or murderous - just strange. It's hard to take seriously the idea that the Praetorians were offended by his behavior - these were, after all, the louts who had murdered several emperors and put the Empire itself up for sale at auction some years earlier. The Praetorians were hardly in a position to "look down" on anyone from a moral or behavioral standpoint. All that can be said of Elagabalus is that he was manipulated into power by his scheming mother and grandmother, was immature and not competent to rule (which could be said of a dozen other emperors), and he enjoyed himself while he could. If you really want to talk sexually depraved, cruel, selfish and out of touch, it begins and ends with Tiberius.
Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero
Moral standards were different then, killing people unjustly was a small vice compared to bringing "shame" to the highest holy position of the empire and insulting many important Roman traditions and worshipping a foreign god (he should've learned from what happened to Mark Antony). The Praetorians were used to violence, but super gay shit? UNACCEPTABLE
But seriously tho if true the main thing had to have been the vestal virgin part, that was one of the worst sacrileges a Roman could possibly do, so I'm not surprised that he would be one of the most hated by every Roman after. Everything he allegedly did, a decadent boy raised in the East, was a grave insult to Rome
@@raulpetrascu2696 How the Romans felt about Elagabalus is irrelevant. My point is that the 1,800 years of judgments about Elagabalus that followed seem rather unfair and the historical condemnation out of all proportion to his actions. Nearly all the criticism of Elagabalus centers on his unusual sexual proclivities - which, in the grand scheme of things, doesn't seem all that important when compared with the bloodthirsty viciousness of Tiberius, Caligula, Commodus and Caracalla, to name only a few. And then I look around at a gun-infested America in 2023 - a nation where weekly massacres are seen as unremarkable even as huge numbers of people perceive drag shows as immoral horrors that require eradication, and I realize we have far more in common with the ancient Romans than we'd care to admit. As long as people continue to be more hysterical - and titillated - over sex than they are over murder, and violence in general, I don't expect to see Elagabalus' reputation to improve much.
@@johnwalzer9187 what do you mean how the Romans felt about him is irrelevant? The "infamy to which Elagabalus _was consigned_" you talk about and 1800 years of judgement is literally every Roman after him (plus Christians which again the criticism should not be a surprise). 99% of opinions of Elagabalus come from them and were influenced by Roman sources. You mentioned the praetorians also and how you think it didn't make sense for them but I explained why it really does in their context, I'm not sure you read your own comment that I was responding to. Modern opinions is another matter but that's not what your original comment communicated
@@raulpetrascu2696
Are you sure you read the comment? "I've never understood the infamy to which Elagabalus was consigned." Read it again. I'm clearly referring to the condemnation he's suffered over the last 2,000 years. Otherwise I would have said, "I've never understood why Elagabalus was condemned by his contemporaries." Yes, historians have read the accounts of the emperor's contemporaries but there are ugly contemporary accounts of Tiberius and Claudius and Domitian, and yet historians have found things to admire in all of them. On the other hand, Elagabalus seems to bring out the worst in historians resulting in a lot of knee-jerk sanctimony and a total lack of objectivity. As for the praetorians, they were monumental hypocrites in their day and I don't think their reputations have improved since the 2nd century. They were self-serving, unreliable bully boys and louts who were loyal to nobody, did very little that wasn't ceremonial and cared only about their own enrichment - and that's all they cared about. If, in addition to all their other vices, they were delusional and able to convince themselves that their avarice, disloyalty and general bloodiness did not disqualify them from judging a weird but harmless boy emperor - well, that would not surprise me at all.
I'm glad this showed up as I'd recently bought a coin with his image on it but never heard of him before and didn't know a thing about him. Thanks.
That's a rare Roman coin
@@OptimusPrinceps_Augustus Really? I didn't know that either. I paid $10 for it at an antique shop in Hastings Minnesota.
@@jamesruddy9264 how do you know it's real?
@@thejohn6614 I don't know for sure, but I'm not overly concerned as I only collect for fun not as an investment.
@@jamesruddy9264 that's cool. I wish I could just stumble across something like that somewhere. That's a cool find.
Does it look really old? What is it made out of?
I have peer reviewed sources published and reviewed by editorial boards who claim that he was a power bottom. Hence his hiring standards.
Seems inappropriate to be referring to an emperor with a large majority of his reign (75% ish) was as an underage child in an extremely sexualised and visual way... speculating about a child's sex life, historical or not, is also very weird and almost seems fetishist. You aren't really helping progressives who are fighting for gay (or queer now apparently) rights that we've been trying to fight and disassociation with pedophilia which you seem to be trying to get reattached by saying stuff like this...
Got that source I would read it
This needs to be a Netflix series.
Well it's about a tranny so I'm sure they'll be all over it.
Netflix will portray him black
They won't he is an evil transgender
@@rufst😂 Farcical! He's Roman!
I wouldn’t watch such liberal filth
knew how to enjoy himself
Thank you for my daily dose of thinking about the roman empire
I first heard of Elagabalus (actually, Golobulus) in _G.I. Joe: The Movie;_ he was one of the chief denizens of Cobra-La, voiced by the late great Burgess Meredith.
Also, are we going to gloss over his choosing of bodyguards based on their… size?
What was Egbalus's original name?
SEXtus.
He was the grandson of Emperor Septimius Severus correct?
No, Septimius Severus wife Julia Domna had a sister named Julia Maesa, Elagabalus and Severus Alexander was Julia Maesas grandsons
@@TheSPQRHistorian
Yes 👍🏾yes that’s right, I just looked back and realize that. Thanks very much for the reply & great story😊
_Grandnephew, and I am utterly ashamed and disgusted to admit it._
@@septimiusseverus343 there, there, you can pick your friends but not your family
i love this channel
He reminds me of Geoffrey from the game of thrones
Just watching this video as a Gladiator II sequel.
You should put the sources into the description.
Amazing work
Please keep doing these!
There must be a film or a series about him but without historical mistakes or fantasy costumes!
Gladiator 3 coming soon
Great video! As every single one 🙂
This is a tricky one... All of our sources on him are questionable.
How he lasted more than a month is crazy .he had no desire to do his job at all. Like commodus but worse..
Elagabalus= اله الجبل
Elagabalus was named for the Semitic god Baal. Adherents worshipped stones.
No mention of Zoticus ... how disappointing!!
Barely heard of this emperor before...boy was I missing out on some fascinating insanity
Decades ago I read a novel of historical fiction about Elegabalus called Emperor of the Sun , never dreaming it was based on a real person and events !
underrated channel
he was related to septimius severus , not marcus aureleis .... which is what you said in the first minute of the video. Many late Roman emperors added Aurelius to his Name to add providence to his position
Becoming Emperor of Rome at 14 due to lineage is one thing.
I am more curious about how he became a high priest of a cult at such a young age.
That image presented as Elagabalus looks alot like George Noory.
Impossible. Everyone knows the Roman's and the Greeks totally accepted all kinds of sexual debauchery. I am sure the army had no issues with his gender expression
nah you could be gay just not a bottom as that wasn't considered manly
Not really, homosexuality was looked down upon greatly, and Ellie was from Syria, which was considered a 'feminine' culture
Im gonna hold your hand when I say this...
Amazing that a 2000 year old story sparks fear, and homo/trans phobia in people who supposedly live in the 21st century, but actually have 19th century attitudes 😂
I absolutely love the title of this video in the name of all the Gods of Rome please don't change it
Strange that this "historical" video brushes past the fact that he was an ARAB, as well as his family (mothers and all) - yes some Roman Emperors were Arab (Philip the Arab) and that the name comes from Arabic - El Jabal - I only highlight this because ZIONISTS like to always tell people that Arabs were colonisers who showed up with the conquest of Islam - the reality is Arabs existed in the Levant centuries before Islam - especially with the Nabateans (amongst other kingdoms), and that the Arabic language and Culture was a natural extension of the continuum of other semitic civilizations namely the Phonecian/Caananite and Assyrian civilizations -
He made a video about macrinus, calling him the “berber emperor”.
But when it comes to Elagabalus, he doesn’t mention his ethnicity…
very biased!.
@ to be fair he mentioned Philip the Arab in an another video so maybe he doesn’t know Elagabalus was Arab.
@@cyclro his videos are new…
If they were old, then i would give him the benefit of the doubt (as i remember the Emesan dynasty wasn’t mentioned as an arab dynasty on many encyclopedia’s, not until a couple of years ago)
But, his videos are new, so a simple research on his ethnicity, would showcase this fact.
Also, i think i saw his comments on this subject, and it turns out, he knew the Emesans were Arab.
I am not arguing why he didn’t mention his ethnicity in the headline like macrinus and Philip, that’s fine.
I am arguing on why he doesn’t mention it at all in his video…
@@cyclro and it’s impossible not to mention Philip without mentioning arab,
As his name suggests…
@@arabos4239 Yea it's a result of general zionist mainstream history brainwashing - making it look like Arabs are an alien race that colonised the Levant (Palestine) - in reality the Arabs are no different from the Semitic family of ethnicities that lived in the region - Phonecians/Caaninites/Aramaeans/Assyrians etc. and Arabs have always existed in the Levant centuries before Islam- also everyone seems to ignore that the Nabateans were also Arab - and are often not presented that way -
Who are these guards, seriously i mean how many emperor have they killed.
The stories about the Roman Emperor Elagabalus and the rise of questions about the “Transgender Emperor” and stuff like that. It is not surprising that most of the discussions about the so-called “Transgender Emperor” are inherently flawed and just simply wrong. This is not really an issue, there is almost no substance for a meaningful dialogue. There is just too little reputable information we have only the accounts of Cassius Dio, Herodian, and Historia Augusta, all of who had open animosity against Elagabalus. Accusing an unpopular former emperor of abnormal sexual behavior was a time-honored tradition among Roman Historians at this point. They really kick it up a notch with Elagabalus. But what we can prove is that this Emperor was a religious fanatic of cult to the Eastern diety El Gabal Latinised to Elagabalus witch traditions include circumcision. Elagabalus also liked to fuck around with the Roman state religion with reckless abandon. Needless to say, all this must have been incredibly unpopular which led to exaggeration and demonization.
I tend to agree with and you thats why I only recite Cassius Dios account and move on. But it's to jucie not have in the title; for that clickbait
In Mecca maybe some of Elagabalus black stone still exist
Catamites are such
The thing that bothers me the most is when other gay (or queer now, apparently) decide that they want to discuss his sex life in vivid detail firstly not only based on unreliable accounts but also knowing full well that he was likely a child for a majority of the period they are mentioning. Now this is fine if it's from an academic and largely scholarly point. But the way they are discussing it is based firstly on flawed accounts and seizing on ridiculous exaggerated information, inappropriately applying modern ideas like 'femboy' 'trans' and 'power bottom' which not only give labels which didn't exist but apply very vivid and almost pornographic imagery to one's mind of what a child was getting up to. Not only is it not scholarly, but the unnecessary and inappropriate application of trendy terms that are used when talking about their personal sex lives in modern times makes me find it very concerning. Not long ago and even today gay men were associated with pedophilia, I'm sure the lesbians even were and still are too, it also doesn't help trans people who are being accused of trying to make children take pills to change their genitals inappropriately... they are deciding to give ammunition to the right by firstly sexualising children and then applying identities onto them when both of these things are based on likely inaccurate information. It's gross and upsetting for me to read. It's one thing to speculate about monarchs sex lives (James VI and I, Frederick the Great, Anne Stuart) but they were adults and there is much evidence to rely on. But by giving this child identities which firstly there's basically no reliable evidence to base these on but also secondly it associates them with something not only did they definitely have absolutely any concept or idea of these modern identities but it also takes away their ability and right to choose to be associated with it. Just because they are a historical figure it doesn't make it ok to announce they were trans based on no sources because they have the right to be associated with that if they want, if they want to be gay they can choose to be associated with that. But they are dead so speculating on it is fine but it's so gross when people don't actually comment on the historical sources they base information on when making these videos or writing comments because it is important to the information and children understanding that it's not somehow transphobic or discriminatory for us to disagree with them. Especially cuz these children have never been in the real world but think they know everything you are sending them unprepared into the world with what they think they know at a crucial time being very questionable.
History kinda repeating itself.
How come you never mention that the whole family was of Arabic descent though they were Roman citizens? Julia Maesa middle name is Arabic ميساء , a name still used today, Elgabalus is Arabic ايل جبل ، or mountain God ,
He wasn’t Arab nor were his family. They were pre-Arab Syrians and they had Semitic-Carthaginian and Roman admixture. Arab nationalist claim everyone from the ancient Middle East was Arab but that’s not what Ancient sources say.
@@drillxedit what does " preArab Syrian" mean? It's a strange term, considering that the first use of the word Arab in the Kurkh Inscription of Neo Assyrian king Shalmanasser 3rd described a nation living most likely in the area west of Damascus , and later Assyrian inscriptions talked about Arabs living in the area west of Hamath
@@herooja I mention the origins of Julia Domna and Maesa in my video on Septimius.
Yes, I too think that Elegabalus is the fault of the arabs. Why else would he be gay? Thanks a lot for clarifying!
@@drillxedit
Nah. The Emesans are a well documented Arab dynasty. Even after obtaining their roman citizenship, they still had Arab names and continued worshipping an Arab deity.
Elagabalus really woke and chose to live their life like it was a video game
Fr being crowned at 14 is crazy
@@shiro4095 He was crowned at the age of 14 which explains why he was the way he was and did what he did, all he was doing was experimenting with his new found power and seeing how far he can go which of course is pure insanity.
Sources? I love your videos btw!
Hey I'm not hating on the hussel, great videos mostly thank you, wasn't trying to give u a hard time thanks for the response
THANK YOU for making a video about my FAVORITE Roman emperor!!!! The Historia Augusta's account of his life is AWESOME!! I like his taste in men (that blond gladiator husband sounded sensational), his sense of humor, and his fashion sense. And I want that chariot of his, the one that's drawn by naked women!!!
And it's always very very odd to me that people go ballistic about him ... STILL!! After all these centuries! And even CENSOR accounts of what he did.
And I wonder, why? What's the big deal? "Great" leaders who aren't nearly as fun are responsible for the violent deaths of millions (Hello obscure 19th century American Presidents! What happened to all those Native Americans??). Is wearing monochrome earth tone clothing, no makeup, and monogamously married to a cisgendered woman who doesn't talk much a ticket to moral virtue? Why is it whenever someone behaves in ways most people would consider to be outrageous it's seen as some sort of "degeneracy", yet brutality, violence, mayhem and destruction are greeted with applause, or some sort of shrug and acceptance?
He wasn't accepted by the Romans and got what was coming
@@OptimusPrinceps_Augustus Yes. He wasn't accepted by "the Romans" (whoever they were), but hardly anyone was, and those who were were VERY brutal people (Diocletian, Constantine, etc etc). Speaking personally, I certainly would prefer a flamboyant absolute monarch to a brutal one, but to each his own, I guess.
What I don't understand, however, was how "he got what was coming to him". It sounds like you're saying that any man in makeup and a dress somehow "deserves" some kind of violence. But I can't imagine anyone nowadays saying such a thing, though people certainly said such things when I was 12 (I'm 60). Would you please clarify?
@Frank Thinnes Interesting. I don't visualize him as a modern person at all, because a lot of those conceptions that we have about ourselves and our identities simply didn't exist at the time, though I am aware of the HUGE debate between essentialists and their critics. And I'm not sure if he had any agenda, per se, other than doing what he wanted to do.
But whatever he was, or wanted, or did, I find the record that is his legacy fascinating and even inspiring, far more so than someone like Augustus. This has nothing to do with Elagabalus himself, but rather myself. We have much to blame people like Augustus for, if subsequent societies are based on Roman perspectives on how to run a society. Imagine, if you will, what life would have been like if people like Elagabalus won.
@Frank Thinnes Oh! I'm sorry I misunderstood your comment! And now I feel foolish because here you are an expert and I shot off my mouth! Thank you for your infinite patience. And it's nice to know I'm not the only one who daydreams about Elagabalus! 🙂
@Frank Thinnes Sounds awesome
AVE ELAGABALUS, THE FOLLOWERS OF THERSITES PRAISE YOU
Yo man Romans were tripping back then
That historical period when the world was ruled by the italian Mafia.
How fortunate were the Praetorian Guards to kill Elagabalus before Twitter even existed. Imagine the backlash they would have suffered for killing the first trans emperor 🤣🤣🤣
“Cancel the praetorian Guards”
They'd have been out of a job within days...though that _might_ have been a good thing.
🤣 facts
Roman emperors were discord mods before discord even existed
Is that Pyrocynical?
I heard that he would walk backwards while holding a rock and was killed while he was using the bathroom.
Fascinating!
Is this narrator Pierce Morgan?😂
he sounds just like him!
Count Dankula should make an Absolute Mad Lads on this emperor
Seems pretty smash able to me
LoL the "femboy". That does not sound tough or imperial.
"Femboy" was originally "transgender" in the title before he changed it.
I saw it, one of those "blink and you'll miss it" moments lmao.
It was 'Transsexual' but yeah, I never realised how triggeted some people were by that word, even if he is described as having leanings in that direction. I guess everyone is tired by all the woke bullshit in modern media
The terms are saying the same thing
@@TheSPQRHistorian As a Transwoman myself, I can proclaim beyond the shadow of a doubt that we're tired of all the woke shit too!! 😩 And the real truth is 9 times out of 10.... Anyone who claims to be triggered by the word "Transsexual" isn't REALLY trans at all!!🤦♀️ Most are just a bunch of losers who crave attention and want to enact revenge on society for their shortcomings by claiming they are "trans and oppressed" 🙄
They are usually pretty easy to spot.... Because they think they can just dye their hair bright blue and put on a dress and call themselves Trans and proceed to yell at everyone! 😩 They are what we call "Trans-trenders", and they are RUINING EVERYTHING for us REAL Trans people.... And their fake wokester activism is making our lives miserable, intolerable, and borderline DANGEROUS!
And unfortunately, they have no idea of the extent of the damage they're doing to whatever little image and credibility we had left! 🤦♀️
All of this crap started when the Trans Community thought it'd be a "good idea" to sell its sovereignty to the Democratic party. Ever since then..... Politics got involved and it's become a total shitshow!😒
@@kurzeful Not really. But I still think its funny that he used an anime word instead. I actually thought it was because youtube would take down his video for having insults in the title or something. But he himself said in the comment above yours that he wanted to avoid the comments turning into a warzone.
The video was quite informative, but I think you're doing your viewers a disservice by not curating the generally transphobic discussion held here in the comments. It's frustrating to see that the top comment uses problematic language like "a trans" and "biological gender", instead of "trans people" and just "gender" or "biological sex".
Not everyone believes in the validity of transgenderism
No
The more things change...the more they stay the same! lol
The collapse of empires/civilisations follow a predictable pattern.
Recall Amenhotep in Ancient Egypt,just from the remaining statues you could determine that the chap was at least an oddball.He wanted to convert Egyptians to one god revolving around the Sun/worship.....When they got rid of him they destroyed evidence of him actually existing.
Its a fascinating subject because so many forces are at play when a new "regime" takes over.
Today a man suffering from dementia has been installed as the "Emperor " of America....the whole thing is a complete farce when you see him tottering along....but as with the Roman example it is now speculated that Jill Biden/Jacob is ACTUALLY the power behind the scenes.....and that Biden is told what to do....
But as with Elagabus Bidens presence has created enormous resentment.....so his ice-creams would be the perfect vehicle for delivering a cure for American woes.
Ironically Iran/Persia is still around!!.
@@bertplank8011 You're a moron.....and a traitor by the sounds of it.
He was not transsexual but homosexual
He had 4 wives and Roman concept of sexuality was based on active-passive roles rather than modern gender one. There was no heterosexuality or homosexuality or bisexuality to them - only a Roman on top
@@vituscorvinus3110 Touché
@@vituscorvinus3110 he may have had four wives, did he have any happy ones or any children?
@@vituscorvinus3110well there were homosexuals and heterosexual. Being monosexual is still a genetic traits where you needed to mate with the opposite sex and vise versa for gay people if people today can only like "one sex" (meaning they only like the physical characteristics of the sex they like). Its just that it's not rigid to where YOU CAN ONLY like the same or opposite biological sex as you cant really read anyone's chromosomes. It probably explains why the Roman's had no rigid categories to categorize sexuality because despite monosexuality being a thing, like all sexualities, it was inherently flexible.
Not being on hrt or going through any operations doesn't mean you can't be trans. Now his sexuality can be debated if he is trans but even then, both can are debatable.
I like how mentioning a historical fact that people don't like now count's as "inserting woke politics" what ever that means.
I've seen some people saying that trans people are going to loose it, but so far I've only seen "the anti woke" crowd having a meltdown.
Was Elegabalus trans by our standards ? Perhaps, perhaps not. But it is a fact that people wrote that he crossed dressed and he wanted to be a woman, those aren't things written by modern historians. Since they are our main sources for the times, we have to talk about what they wrote, even if they completely invented things or exaggerated events, we have to talk about them and discuss them.
I really fail to see what is the problem here. Sure the title was a bit clickbait but it's also a legitimate question. Based on what we are told about Elegabalus, about him being a cross dresser and him wanting to be a woman...etc. I think it's fair to wonder if he was indeed trans. It's not like you brought it up as if it were a fact, you just said this is what we are told and you even clarified that it's unlikely that Elegabalus was indeed trans.
It's also not like you tried to present Elegabalus as positive figure either, so really I don't see why people are mad.
In fact, I'd be willing to bet that if you hadn't brought it up, that same crowd would have accused you of hiding historical facts just to push a political agenda.
Septemius Severus and Constantine and their respective dynasties both claimed legitimacy by claiming to be related to Marcus Aurelius and Claudius Gothicus respectively. So we shouldn't bring that up just because it's not true?
Emperor Constance was supposedly killed for his homosexuality, that's what his enemies said at least. However we don't know for sure and he was probably killed for other reasons.
So when SPQR starts talking about Constance, are you lot gonna get mad that they brought up that he may or may not have died for being gay? Even tho that's what his enemies said?
Because it's "inserting woke politics into history" ?
Anyways, the video is good, just fought i'd let my frustrations out.
Thank you for your comment, I agree with everything you wrote.
I was actually really surprised about the initial reception, I didn't see the "problem" at all because, as you said, I just presented the knowledge we have on the matter and didn't put any personal opinion at all.
Our sources are pretty bad and very hostile towards him so it's hard to judge where facts ends and fiction begins. But honestly, our arguably best/least biased source on Elagabalus is Herodian, and while he doesn't go as far as Cassius Dio, he does mention Elagabalus' effeminate ways and his preference for wearing female clothes.
But overall most viewers don't care, it's just a vocal minority in the comment section.
Is calling him trans clickbaity? Maybe? Kinda? A bit? But at the same time, that's how RUclips is played right? I want as many eyeballs on the video as possible...
I don't have any political agenda, I just try to make the most historically accurate video I can. That's it.
You are forcing modern concepts and ideas on a historical figure with what is known to be inaccurate historical records. Firstly it takes away someone's right to choose as not only can they deny or affirm whether they agree with their association with being trans or gay, but it applies sexualised ideas of what a child did during their reign. It's fine to speculate the potential nature of it. But the leap from crossdresser which is not actually definitively reliable, to transgender is a very big leap and a very inappropriate one. I don't have any issue with trans people and I'm a gay man. It's a different thing to question the nature of relationships of monarchs who were adults or lived to a ripe old age. But the way the accounts are sexualised (one guy claimed he wrote articles about how he's a power bottom) is a very vivid descriptor of sexual acts which a child would have taken part in not only based on inaccurate politically motivated propaganda, but also against the movement of the LGBT community who have fought to be disassociated with the pedophilia idea that heterosexual people have tried to tie to us and still do. Transgender people are currently lobbying for giving kids pills which permanently alters their body shape when they are children undergoing puberty with changing and impressionable concepts, yes they should be able to choose their identity, but it definitely matters if they are being influenced by the way that the internet tells them what they are facing is because they are transgender and the way that the medical system has little universal medical process to identify if they are suffering from a mental health condition which is distorting their reality, but also trying to understand why they think this, is it based on their own actual thoughts or did they just google it online and decide that someone on tiktok saying that means that you are trans. Yes we need to question kids thoughts because not only is there no real studies on the long term side effects of blockers but we also don't know how they are impacted afterwards if they choose not to transition. These are important facts to consider and as a member of the community it isn't in any way based on someone being anti woke or because we are Donald Trump voters, it's because not only is it propaganda for kids to believe that people have been trans since the dinosaurs based on unreliable information, but the kids aren't aware of how to approach historical information and how to not understand it as fact, as even dumb highschool dropouts in their 40's would have some sort of idea that it's not really something that can be relied on as fact, the kids though have absolutely no concept and no one is explaining it to them. So in summary making these claims is inappropriate, takes away their right for self determination, verges on sexualisation of children, associates the gays that have fought for rights with pedophilia which the anti-gays like to say we are and finally gives oxygen (valid or not) to the anti-trans movement by applying sexualised concepts and vivid imagery of a child's body and speculation of their wanting to allegedly transition based on unreliable accounts on platforms that are easy to access without fully explaining how to approach the information they are being given (the fact is, unless you explicitly say otherwise, children will assume this is a factual reliable documentary when it isn't as they don't know how ancient source or sources in history work, and lastly clickbait or not, it doesn't make it OK just because you use tiktok to sell crap you don't use and make outlandish claims online to make yourself some money or get more views so you can sit at home and not get a real job - use accurate descriptions, inappropriate titles are never OK clickbait or not)
Hey Ela...you go girl!
YAAS QUEEN
Elagabalus was not Transgender. While Cassius Dio does suggest he was feminine and "married" both men and women desired to become a woman. even gender re-assignment, this never happened. Herodian never mentions this in his history, both he and Dio were contemporaries of Elagabalus. This Emperor was despised by the Senate and the army. Dio was a member of the Senate. and report. is suspicious.
Well, we also will never know since it was so long ago. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. Either way, doesn't matter.
Literally chudulus
He not only got circumcised in the name of his arab cult God Ilah Jabbal, but also paraded a black stone in horse chariot. Does it sound familiar?
Poor Elagabalus, who only wanted to become a priest and not an emperor at all! 🌹