Elagabal – also known as Elagabalus, Aelagabalus, or Heliogabalus – was an Arab sun god imported into Rome. The god resigned supreme there during the short reign of the emperor Elagabalus (218-222 CE) but was then reportedly returned to Syria. However, there is evidence that the god was more popular around the Empire than the ancient authors acknowledge.
Syrian Origins of Elagabal
The major cult center of Elagabal was at Emesa in Syria, which was ruled by the Emesene dynasty of Roman client kings from 46 BCE. The royal family acted as both rulers and priests of the chief god. The name appears to be Phoenician in origin, and the principal priest of the cult was always called Elagabalus in honor of the god. Their role seems to date from around the 1st century BCE.
Imported to Rome
The empress Julia Domna was from the Emesene family and married the Roman emperor Septimus Severus at the end of the 2nd century. In the chaotic aftermath of the deaths of the sons of Septimus Severus – Caracalla and Geta – Julia Domna’s sister Julia Maesa would put her grandson Elagabalus on the throne. While he was just 14 years old when he came to power, he grew up as a priest of Elagabal and therefore brought his god with him to Rome in 218 CE.
He brought with him the cult stone of Elagabal, called the Baetyl. This name means “house of the god” and was thought to be a mortal house for the divinity. It was not unheard of for Greco-Roman gods to have a Baetyl. There was a stone at Delphi that was supposedly the stone that Cronos swallowed instead of Zeus in the myth of the overthrow of the Titans. There was a stone believed to represent Cybele in Rome, brought to the city in a solemn ceremony in 204 BCE. There was also a Baetyl of Aphrodite at her temple at Paphos.
Worship in Rome
Interestingly with Elagabal, he seems to have had no other physical depiction, and even on Roman coins, his Baetyl was depicted inside the temple where the statues of other gods usually stood. A temple called the Elagabalium, was built on the Palatine Hill to hold the was brought from Syria.
As well as the stone itself, Elagabalus imported rituals for the gods. According to the Roman historian Herodian of Antioch, Elagabalus “forced” the Senate to watch him dance around the altar to the sound of drums and cymbals as was the Syrian custom. Unsurprisingly, his main festival was during the summer solstice, when food was distributed to the masses and the holy stone was paraded through the city in a chariot.
Reportedly the stone rode in the chariot alone controlling the horses with its divinity, though Elagalabus also ran in front of the chariot, holding it by the reigns, and running backward the whole time so as not to turn his back on the god.
Removal of Elagabal
The worship of Elagabal in Rome was controversial for two reasons. First, while the Romans were often willing to adopt gods from other parts of the world, they expected the worship of those gods to fit within their existing, acceptable religious practices. The elaborate and, in Roman eyes, “decadent” ceremonies that seem to have accompanied the cult of Elagabal seem to have been considered unacceptable. They might have been more acceptable if they were conducted by a dedicated priest, but instead, they were carried out by the emperor himself. The emperor was meant to represent Roman might and values, and seeing their new young emperor engage in these activities was probably challenging for many.
When Elagabalus was killed, the worship of Elagabal diminished in Rome, and importantly, his Baetyl was sent back to Syria.
Secondly, because of Elagabalus’ particular devotion to Elagabal, the implication is that the new god was displacing the traditional gods that had supported and ensured the success of the Roman Empire for centuries, in particular Jupiter. This was not just seen as a cultural insult, but a serious threat. Upsetting Jupiter could have real and dire consequences for the Empire, which was just emerging from civil war and was about to enter the Third Century Crisis. Elagabalus and his god were a threat, and this was part of the reason that the young boy was assassinated, supposedly by the order of the same grandmother who put him in power, making space for his cousin Severus Alexander.
Elagabal as Sol Invictus
In 274 CE, the emperor Aurelian revived the cult of Elagabal, but with the new name Sol Invictus. The cult was also adapted to be more acceptable to Roman sensibilities. He was now anthropomorphic, a man wearing a sun crown. The epithet Invictus is one that he shared with other important Roman gods including Jupiter and Mars.
Aurelian raised Sol Invictus to be one of the most important gods in Rome, with a college of pontiffs established for his worship, but he was not placed above the traditional gods. A new temple was dedicated to the god on 25 December 274 CE, the date of the winter solstice. Games were held in the god’s honor every four years from that date onwards.
His popularity lasted until the rise of Christianity, with the last known inscription dedicated to the god dating from 387 CE, though the 5th-century Christian writer Augustine said that the god still had followers in his day. Part of his popularity may have been that he was integrated into the mystery cult of Mithras.
Many emperors honored Sol Invictus on their coins over this century, suggesting that he was a genuinely popular god. Even Constantine celebrated Sol Invictus on his coinage and, in 321 CE, named the day of the week “Sunday,” the day of rest, in honor of the god.
Further Worship of Elagabal
While Elagabalus brought Elagabal to Rome, there is evidence that the god was worshipped as far west as Woerden in the modern-day Netherlands before the young prince’s reign. A dedication there is a dedication there to the health of Antoninus Pius (r. 138-161 CE) made to the sun Elagabal and Minerva by a standard bearer in the Roman army.
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