“My name is Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, c. 204 – 13 March 222). I’m better known by my posthumous nicknames Elagabalus (/ˌɛləˈɡæbələs/ EL-ə-GAB-ə-ləs) and Heliogabalus (/ˌhiːliə-, -lioʊ-/ HEE-lee-ə-, -⁠lee-oh-[3]). I was Roman emperor from 218 to 222, while I was still a teenager. My short reign was notorious for religious controversy and alleged sexual debauchery. A close relative to the Severan dynasty, I came from a prominent Syrian Arab family in Emesa (Homs), Syria, where I served as the head priest of the sun god Elagabal from a young age. After the death of my cousin, the emperor Caracalla, I was raised to the principate at 14 years of age in an army revolt instigated by my grandmother Julia Maesa against Caracalla's short-lived successor, Macrinus. I’m only posthumously became known by the Latinised name of my god.”