02-27-2011, 02:45 AM
The Emperor Elagabalus: Fact or Fiction? by Leonardo Arrizabalaga y Prado was actually published last year. A review by Mary Beard has just appeared in the TLs, repeated here
Beard suggests that modern historians have chosen to “forget” Elagabalus simply because his reported misdeeds seem so unbelievable, which may be true enough.
However, she doesn't seem to think that this recent study will redress the balance. In particular, Prado's 'rigorous' criteria for the establishment of historical facts rankles: a blinkered, if not plain silly, approach to historical evidence. :wink:
The reign of Elagabalus is often assumed to represent the absolute nadir of Imperial power - how could the Romans have allowed such a maniac to become Emperor? Then again, the fact that they did might suggest the opposite: that Rome and the Roman state was so strong at this point that it could easily assimilate any amount of eccentricity from the Palatine, while the gears of government ran on regardless... The worst damage seems to have been to the prestige of the Roman name for generations of scholars!
- Nathan
Beard suggests that modern historians have chosen to “forget” Elagabalus simply because his reported misdeeds seem so unbelievable, which may be true enough.
However, she doesn't seem to think that this recent study will redress the balance. In particular, Prado's 'rigorous' criteria for the establishment of historical facts rankles: a blinkered, if not plain silly, approach to historical evidence. :wink:
The reign of Elagabalus is often assumed to represent the absolute nadir of Imperial power - how could the Romans have allowed such a maniac to become Emperor? Then again, the fact that they did might suggest the opposite: that Rome and the Roman state was so strong at this point that it could easily assimilate any amount of eccentricity from the Palatine, while the gears of government ran on regardless... The worst damage seems to have been to the prestige of the Roman name for generations of scholars!
- Nathan
Nathan Ross