Roman emperors - a bit mental
I'd forgotten, you see, how mental some of them were. Well, forgotten is too strong. Become desensitised. Today I have been reading A Boring Book. But it did remind me of some facts I had forgotten, and yes, don't flinch, I'm going to share:
1) Septimus Severus married Julia Domna because of her astrological profile.
2) Elagabalus (I really should remember him more often, cos he's great) spent most of his reign trying to turn himself into a god (the Syrian god El-Gabal, should you be interested. You can see why). He built himself a large temple called the Heliogabalum, and then followed it up with a second. He then decided that shagging the Vestal Virgins (clue's in the title) was a good move. Did I leave out the makeup? The accusations of child sacrifice? Sadly (and I'll know you'll agree) his grandmother (who had had him put on the throne in the first place) had him murdered in favour of his cousin before he could marry his horse, but what a glorious 3 years and 9 months that was. Full marks.
1) Septimus Severus married Julia Domna because of her astrological profile.
2) Elagabalus (I really should remember him more often, cos he's great) spent most of his reign trying to turn himself into a god (the Syrian god El-Gabal, should you be interested. You can see why). He built himself a large temple called the Heliogabalum, and then followed it up with a second. He then decided that shagging the Vestal Virgins (clue's in the title) was a good move. Did I leave out the makeup? The accusations of child sacrifice? Sadly (and I'll know you'll agree) his grandmother (who had had him put on the throne in the first place) had him murdered in favour of his cousin before he could marry his horse, but what a glorious 3 years and 9 months that was. Full marks.