The Crimes of Elagabalus: The Life and Legacy of Rome's Decadent Boy Emperor

Icks, Martijn

ISBN 10: 1848853629 / ISBN 13: 9781848853621

Published by I.B. Tauris, 2011

About this Item

Volume cartonato rigido di pagine XI-276 con 17 illustrazioni fuori testo, sovraccoperta figurata. Testo in lingua inglese, English text. Opera in ottime condizioni. Spedizione in 24 ore dalla conferma dell'ordine. Elagablus, raised to the throne at the age of fourteen in 218 AD, and assassinated only four years later, remains among the most notorious and enigmatic of Roman Emperors. The contemporary and Byzantine sources on his reign portray a life of decadence and sexual and criminal excess, as well as religious affront to Rome's traditions. In this entertaining but scholarly read Martijn Icks treats the lurid contemporary stories alongside the emperor's afterlife in art and literature, seeking both to get at what may actually have happened in his reign and how his actions should be interpreted and at how they have resonated down the centuries. He takes a thematic approach, examining aspects of the reign and Elagabalus' otherness in turn, including his Syrian upbringing, his religious reforms and his reputation for decadence, whilst at the same time showing that religion aside, there is little from the non literary sources which actually marks out his reign as unusual.

Seller Inventory # 204404

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Crimes of Elagabalus: The Life and Legacy of Rome's Decadent Boy Emperor
• Publisher: I.B. Tauris
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1848853629
• ISBN 13: 9781848853621
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 1000 grams
• Book Type: Book

About this title

Synopsis

Elagabalus is one of the most notorious of Rome's 'bad emperors': a sexually-depraved and eccentric hedonist who in his short and riotous reign made unprecedented changes to Roman state religion and defied all taboos. An oriental boy-priest from Syria - aged just fourteen when he was elevated to power in 218 CE - he placed the sun god El-Gabal at the head of the established Roman pantheon, engaged in orgiastic rituals, took male and female lovers, wore feminine dress and prostituted himself in taverns and even inside the imperial palace. Since his assassination by Praetorian Guards at the age of eighteen, Elagabalus has been an object of fascination to historians and a source of inspiration for artists and writers. This immensely readable book examines the life of one of the Roman Empire's most colourful figures, and charts the many guises of his legacy: from evil tyrant to firebrand rebel, from mystical androgyne to modern gay teenager, from decadent sensualist to ancient pop star.

About the Author

Martijn Icks is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Dusseldorf, Germany. He obtained his PhD cum laude at the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands in 2008.