"History celebrates the greatest of Roman emperors for their vast conquests, civic architecture, engineering, and legal institutions, but Elagabalus, who ruled from AD 218 to 222, is remembered, to the extent that he is remembered at all, for his outrageous behavior and his fondness for young boys and silk. During his reign he managed to shock the jaded populace of the ancient world's capital with a parade of scandalous acts, ranging from harmless pranks to the capricious murder of children. Nothing, however, commanded Rome's attention (and fired its envy) as much as his wardrobe and the lengths he went to flaunt it, such as removing all his body hair and powdering his face with red and white makeup. Although his favorite fabric was occasionally mixed with linen - the so-called sericum - Elagabalus was the first Western leader to wear clothes made entirely of silk. – William J. Bernstein, A Splendid Exchange”
Doesn’t he kinda look like Bob Denver?
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4 comments:
Gilliganus the First.
Emperor Maynardus, who ruled from AD 1959 to 1963, is remembered, to the extent that he is remembered at all, for his outrageous behavior and his fondness for petrified frogs, torn sweatshirts, Dizzy Gillespie records, and his good buddy Dobe.
Where's the Emperor Fabulous?
Elagabalus is a really interesting and should be much better known. If I can pimp my blog post on him, that is as a good a place to find out more about him as any. Thanks for keeping the little weirdo's name alive.
http://historybooksreview.blogspot.com/2010/04/elagabalus-gibbons-decline-and-fall-of.html
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