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Heliogabalus (Elagabalus)

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Heliogabalus (Elagabalus)

emperor of Rome, was born at Emesa about A.D. 205. His name was Varus Avitus Bassianus, but he was made priest of Elagabalus (El-Gabal), the Syro-Phoenician Sun-god, about A.D. 217, and took that name. In May, 218, through the intrigues of his mother, Julia Maesa, with the soldiery, he was proclaimed emperor; and, soon after, Macrinus, who was marching to put down this usurpation, was defeated. His reign, which lasted not quite four years, was characterized by superstition, licentiousness, and cruelty to a degree hardly rivaled by the worst Roman emperors. He introduced the worship of the Sun god into Rome, and even passed a decree that no other celestial power should be worshipped. The praetorians slew him in camp, A.D. 222. As he himself introduced a new religion into Rome, it was not his policy to persecute, and so, during that time, the Christians had "rest."