Empire Of The Sun? Civic Responses To The Rise And Fall Of Sol Elagabal In The Roman Empire

Abstract

The Roman elite was appalled by these actions, as were the soldiers, who could not identify themselves with an emperor who seemed obsessed with an exotic cult and did nothing which they considered positive. In early 222 AD, the praetorian guard revolted. During its long and turbulent history, the city of Rome witnessed many changes in its religious institutions and traditions. For many centuries, these came to pass under the benevolent eye of Iupiter optimus maximus, the city's supreme deity since time immemorial. Not until the fourth century AD would Iupiter finally loose this position to the monotheistic, omnipotent God of Christianity. In the eternal rivalry between the poleis of the empire, adopting the cult of the emperor's personal god was just another means of winning imperial favour. Keywords: empire; monotheistic; omnipotent; praetorian guard; Rome; Sol Elagabal