GENITALIA SIBI DEVINXIT
GENITALIA SIBI DEVINXIT

Summary/Abstract: Issued from a rather insignificant Oriental sacerdotal dynasty of a semi-nomadic ancestry, Elagabalus seemed unfit to rule an Empire whose imagery of power and religious traditions varied considerably from those deeply embedded into the minds of his people of origin. His typical conduct, even if seen immoral, pervert, depraved, etc. could be perceivable through the perspective of a well-defined cultural Eastern legacy. It was not for the first time when the Romans encountered and coped with Oriental cults and customs on their soil, due to their having adopted the Idaean Mother along with her own chorus cinaedorum that dissuaded poets like Juvenal. But to fully support an Oriental-type sovereign trying to replace values of their own, that was hardly bearable.

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