AN IMPERIAL BIOGRAPHY DEDICATED TO CONSTANTINE THE GREAT

Abstract

From the description that this historical source offers it can be concluded that Antoninus Elagabalus was unwilling to accept the tasks and duties of a Roman emperor. His oriental origin is the key for understanding many of his unsuccessful attempts to totalitarian and absolutism, with one man as the ruler and “a god”. He tried to remove unnecessary government body such as the Senate. He wanted to be connected with the people directly, rather than through the institution of the Senate. But with the fall of the Senate, the elite of the Empire would fall too, and that would lead to the collapse of the aristocracy. Rome of 222 was not ready for a Dominate, and this would only happen some sixty years later with Diocletian's rise to power, when everyone would understand that the era of the Senate and restoration of the Republic was long gone. Therefore, this hedonistic biography is a good example of how not to rule an empire and a great example of the hypocrisy of the Roman Empire.