Wer heiratete Elagabalus?

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, c. 204 – 13 March 222), better known by his posthumous nicknames Elagabalus ( EL-ə-GAB-ə-ləs) and Heliogabalus ( HEE-lee-ə-, -⁠lee-oh-), was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while he was still a teenager. His short reign was notorious for religious controversy and alleged sexual debauchery. A close relative to the Severan dynasty, he came from a prominent Syrian Arab family in Emesa (Homs), Syria, where he served as the head priest of the sun god Elagabal from a young age. After the death of his cousin, the emperor Caracalla, Elagabalus was raised to the principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by his grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus. He only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of his god.

Elagabalus is largely known from accounts by the contemporary senator Cassius Dio who was strongly hostile to him, Herodian, who likely relied extensively on Dio, and the much later Historia Augusta. The reliability of the accounts of Cassius Dio and the Historia Augusta, particularly their most salacious elements, has been strongly questioned. Elagabalus showed a disregard for Roman religious traditions. He brought the cult of Elagabal (including the large baetyl stone that represented the god) to Rome, making it a prominent part of religious life in the city. He forced leading members of Rome's government to participate in religious rites celebrating this deity, presiding over them in person. According to the accounts of Cassius Dio and the Augusta, he married four women, including a Vestal Virgin, in addition to lavishing favours on male courtiers they suggested to have been his lovers, and prostituted himself. His behaviour estranged the Praetorian Guard, the Senate, and the common people alike. Amidst growing opposition, at just 18 years of age he was assassinated and replaced by his cousin Severus Alexander in March 222. The assassination plot against Elagabalus was devised by Julia Maesa and carried out by disaffected members of the Praetorian Guard.

Elagabalus developed a posthumous reputation for extreme eccentricity, decadence, zealotry, and sexual promiscuity. Among writers of the early modern age, he endured one of the worst reputations among Roman emperors. Edward Gibbon, notably, wrote that Elagabalus "abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures with ungoverned fury". According to Barthold Georg Niebuhr, "the name of Elagabalus is branded in history above all others; [...] "Elagabalus had nothing at all to make up for his vices, which are of such a kind that it is too disgusting even to allude to them". An example of a modern historian's assessment is Adrian Goldsworthy's: "Elagabalus was not a tyrant, but he was an incompetent, probably the least able emperor Rome had ever had". Despite near-universal condemnation of his reign, some scholars write warmly about his religious innovations, including the 6th-century Byzantine chronicler John Malalas, as well as Warwick Ball, a modern historian who described him as "a tragic enigma lost behind centuries of prejudice".

Modern scholars have questioned the accuracy of Roman accounts of his reign, with suggestions that the reports of his salacious behaviour and sexual excess likely reflected a desire to politically discredit him in the immediate aftermath of his death, as well as reflecting Roman stereotypes regarding people from the Orient as effeminate.

Annia o Ania Aurelia Faustina fue una emperatriz de Roma y tercera esposa del emperador Heliogábalo durante un corto período en el año 221. Era la bisnieta de Marco Aurelio.

Iulia Aquilia Severa war ab Ende 220 die zweite Frau des römischen Kaisers Elagabal, der von 218 bis 222 regierte. Da sie sich als Vestalin zur Bewahrung ihrer Jungfräulichkeit verpflichtet hatte, wurde ihre Heirat als Skandal betrachtet. Elagabal sah sich zur Scheidung gezwungen, heiratete aber Aquilia einige Monate später erneut. Die Ehe schädigte das Ansehen des Kaisers schwer und trug zu seinem Sturz bei.

Iulia Cornelia Paula war die erste Frau des römischen Kaisers Elagabal, der von 218 bis 222 regierte.

Über Iulia Paula ist wenig bekannt, denn in den erzählenden Quellen wird sie nur kurz erwähnt. Wie der zeitgenössische Geschichtsschreiber Herodian berichtet, war sie von sehr vornehmer Herkunft. Vermutlich war sie mit dem Juristen Iulius Paulus verwandt, vielleicht war sie seine Tochter. Elagabal, der die Kaiserwürde 218 in Syrien erlangt hatte, heiratete sie im Sommer 219, bald nachdem er in Rom eingetroffen war. Darauf wurde sie zur Augusta erhoben. Elagabal war damals erst fünfzehn Jahre alt und in Rom ein Fremdling. Vermutlich hat seine Großmutter Julia Maesa die Ehe arrangiert, um ihrem Enkel in der hauptstädtischen Führungsschicht Rückhalt zu verschaffen. Gegen Ende 220 verstieß der Kaiser seine Gattin. Anschließend heiratete er Aquilia Severa.

Die Umstände der Scheidung werfen ein helles Licht auf den scharfen, unversöhnlichen kulturellen und religiösen Gegensatz zwischen dem Syrer Elagabal und der vornehmen Gesellschaft Roms. Der Scheidungsgrund, den Elagabal angab, war ein körperlicher Makel Iulias. Nach römischem Empfinden war eine Scheidung wegen eines Körpermals tyrannische Willkür. Aus der Sicht des Kaisers hingegen war die Auflösung der Ehe eine religiöse Notwendigkeit, da er Priester der syrischen Gottheit Elagabal war und seine Frau als Priestergattin ebenfalls kultischen Anforderungen zu genügen hatte; in seiner Religion setzte dies körperliche Makellosigkeit voraus.

Iulia Paula zog sich nach der Scheidung ins Privatleben zurück. Von ihrem weiteren Schicksal ist nichts überliefert.

Das Aussehen Iulia Paulas lässt sich nur ihren Münzbildnissen entnehmen. Kein rundplastisches Porträt kann ihr mit Sicherheit oder zumindest großer Wahrscheinlichkeit zugeordnet werden.