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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 4277754, member: 110350&quot;]Wow.&nbsp; What exactly made this teenage boy a creep worthy of &quot;extermination&quot; other than his unusual religion and the fact that he was gay and/or transgender?&nbsp; (Hardly the only Roman Emperor with the former orientation! Let me introduce you to Hadrian and Antinous.&nbsp; You should read Marguerite Yourcenar&#039;s <i>Memoirs of Hadrian. </i>Not exactly action-packed, but highly worthwhile nonetheless.&nbsp; Yourcenar, by the way, was my mother&#039;s teacher at Sarah Lawrence, and they became friends -- probably because they were two Europeans who didn&#039;t have much in common with most of the Sarah Lawrence undergraduate population back then.)&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Considering all the murders and atrocities that certain other Emperors committed every day and twice on Sundays, Elagabalus hardly seems to merit such extreme condemnation for any reason beyond left-over Victorian fastidiousness and general bigotry. (Even assuming all the ancient claims about him are true.)&nbsp; Please show me the evidence of arbitrary mass executions and other murders!&nbsp; Have you used the same condemnatory language about Emperors who clearly were guilty of such atrocities?</p><p><br /></p><p>In any event, here&#039;s my one &quot;horned&quot; Elagabalus coin.&nbsp; (I totally buy the bull&#039;s penis theory, by the way.&nbsp; From everything I&#039;ve read, it&#039;s wholly consistent with Eastern religious practices.&nbsp; And it isn&#039;t as if Romans didn&#039;t engage in lots of phallic imagery themselves!)</p><p><br /></p><p>Elagabalus AR Denarius, 221-222 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate, horned &amp; draped bust right, bearded, IMP ANTONINVS PIVS AVG/ Rev. Elagabalus standing left, sacrificing from patera over lit tripod altar, holding branch, star in field left, SVMMVS SACERDOS AVG.&nbsp; RIC IV-2 146, RSC III 276 (bearded), Sear RCV II 7549.&nbsp; 17.71 mm., 3.97 g.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1088656[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>An interesting reverse image, I think.&nbsp; To me, it looks like he&#039;s wearing pants, rather than robes as described.&nbsp; If so, that&#039;s another unusual practice for a Roman Emperor![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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