Historical story

The Assassination of Heliogabalus Narrated by Cassius Dio

Face of Heliogabalus. Cassio Dione narrates his tragic murder

Let's say that Eliogabalo he tried hard to be hated, but the end of her was really bloody, even sadder if you think that it concerned a boy who was still very young.

Eliogabalo is remembered for having been one of the worst emperors of the centuries-old Roman history; ascended to the throne at the age of fourteen, an interminable series of abuses, violence and oddities by him brazenly perpetrated against anyone who came within his reach, led him to be brutally killed at the age of 18.

In fact, during his short reign, he was responsible for atrocities of all kinds, to the point that the Romans, although always accustomed to having to endure unpresentable rulers, just could not forgive him and cruelly eliminated him and without second thoughts among the general euphoria, not showing the slightest pity neither for the very green age, nor for the mother Giulia Soemia , also eliminated along with her beloved son.

Giulia Soemia, mother of Eliogabalo

The historian Cassio Dione describes the death of both in these gaunt and tragic lines:

"He made an attempt to escape, and would have managed to reach somewhere hidden in a latrine, had he not been discovered and killed, at the age of 18.

His mother, who hugged him and held him tightly, died with him; their heads were torn off their torsos and their bodies, after being stripped naked, were first dragged around the city, and then the mother's body was thrown in one place or another, while her was thrown into the river " .