Varius Avitus Bassianus, known to the modern world as Heliogabalus, was proclaimed emperor. The next four years were to be the strangest in the history of the empire.
Heliogabalus humiliated the prestigious Senators and threw extravagant dinner parties for lower-class friends.
He ousted Jupiter from his summit among the gods and replaced him with Elagabal.
He married a Vestal Virgin – twice. Rumours abounded that he was a prostitute.
In the first biography of Heliogabalus in over half a century, Harry Sidebottom unveils the high drama of sex, religion, power and culture in Ancient Rome as we’ve never seen it before.
The Mad Emperor: Heliogabalus and the Decadence of Rome by Harry Sidebottom is published on 6 October, 2022.
Read Harry’s feature about the third century AD and why it’s such a fertile ground for writers.
