XI: Obama as Social Fascist 411monster Heliogabalus, and Julia Avita Mamaea, mother of Alexander Severus. It was in fact this
feminine cabal that secured the throne for Heliogabalus in 218.
HELIOGABALUS: TEENAGE EMPEROR AND MONSTER
Heliogabalus provides lasting proof that the participation of young people in politics is not
necessarily a good thing, since he was only about 15 years old when he seized the Imperial throne,
and racked up his entire record of monstrous slaughters and perversions before he was liquidated
somewhat short of the age of 20. Heliogabalus ranks with Nero and Caligula as one of the greatest
monsters to rule Rome. According to some reports, he suffocated the guests at one of his dinner
parties by releasing masses of rose petals on them from above. He married one of the vestal virgins,
a very serious violation of Roman tradition and law. Like Nero, he also married one of his own
male lovers. He is said to have prostituted himself inside his own Imperial Palace. One of
Heliogabalus’ obsessions was his quest to obtain a sex change operation so that, like Tiresias, he
could also experience life as a woman. Heliogabalus has often been characterized by modern writers
as transgender, most likely transsexual. The parallels to Obama’s reported homosexuality and
bisexuality are evident. With Heliogabalus devoting so much time and energy to these lascivious
activities, the administration of the empire fell into the hands of his grandmother and mother (Julia
Soamias). Late in his reign, Heliogabalus replaced Jupiter, the central figure of the Roman
pantheon, with a new Oriental god, Deus Sol Invictus, whose original name, Elagabalus or El-
Gabal, happened to be identical with the Emperor’s own assumed name. Heliogabalus forced the
Roman notables to comply with these changes, meaning that by praying to the new god they would
be praying to the Emperor at the same time. Julia Maesa in particular was aware that the outrageous
behavior of Heliogabalus was likely to trigger a rebellion, and could easily lead to the loss of power
by the family as a whole. She therefore organized a conspiracy which led to the assassination of
Heliogabalus and the installation of Alexander Severus, the last of the dynasty, in 222. Alexander
won some successes against the Persian Empire in the East, but his increasing inability to control
the money-hungry army led eventually to its mutiny and his assassination in 235. Heliogabalus’
religious edicts were reversed and the statue of El-Gabal, which Heliogabalus had erected for public
worship, was removed from Rome. Women were barred from ever attending meetings of the
Senate. The extreme sanction of damnatio memoriae—erasing and expunging a person from all
public records—was decreed upon Heliogabalus.
THE BREAKDOWN CRISIS OF THE THIRD CENTURY, 235-284 AD
The death of Alexander Severus began a period of about half a century which can be considered
the first collapse of the Roman Empire. This period is known as the crisis of the third century,
extending from 235-284 AD. It is also called the period of the “military anarchy.” During this time,
as a direct consequence of the abuses and failures of the Septimius Severus dynasty, the Empire
underwent military, political and economic crises and began to collapse. The leading factors in this
collapse were a constant series of barbarian invasions by Germanic tribes coming out of Central
Asia, a civil war inside the empire, and the galloping hyperinflation which had been triggered by
Septimius Severus’ increase in the size and pay scales of the Army. The crisis of the third century
was marked by acute political instability, with about 25 Emperors seizing and losing power, usually
by assassination, in a period of 50 years. Many of these emperors were lower-class adventurers,
and a number were quite exotic, such as the Emperor Philip the Arab. The western provinces of the
empire broke away to form an ephemeral empire of Gaul, while the Eastern provinces created an
equally unstable empire of Palmyra.