"The Amazing Emperor Heliogabalus" by John Stuart Hay is a captivating exploration of one of history's most controversial figures. Heliogabalus, known for his extravagant lifestyle and eccentric behavior, ruled as Roman Emperor in the early 3rd century. Hay delves into the complexities of Heliogabalus's character, portraying him as both a tyrant and a visionary. The narrative is rich with historical detail, bringing to life the opulence of the Roman Empire and the challenges faced by its r...

The Emperor who is studied in this volume has commonly been treated as if his reign had no significance, unless it were to show to what deep places the Roman Empire had sunk when such a monster of lubricity could wield the supreme power. If the chronicle of his naughty life has been exploited to illustrate the legend that the pagan society of the Empire was desperately wicked and infamously corrupt, he has not been taken seriously as a ruler. Yet Elagabalus appeared under too ominous a con...

Heliogabalus was Roman emperor from 218 to 222. A member of the Severan dynasty, he was Syrian, the second son of Julia Soaemias and Sextus Varius Marcellus. In his early youth he served the god Heliogabalus as a priest in Emesa, the hometown of his mother's family. As a private citizen, he was probably named Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus. Upon becoming emperor he took the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. He was called Heliogabalus only after his death.

Heliogabalus was Roman emperor from 218 to 222. A member of the Severan dynasty, he was Syrian, the second son of Julia Soaemias and Sextus Varius Marcellus. In his early youth he served the god Heliogabalus as a priest in Emesa, the hometown of his mother's family. As a private citizen, he was probably named Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus. Upon becoming emperor he took the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus. He was called Heliogabalus only after his death.

A trusted member of the Byzantine establishment, Procopius was the Empire's official chronicler, and his History of the Wars of Justinian proclaimed the strength and wisdom of the Emperor's reign. Yet all the while the dutiful scribe was working on a very different - and dangerous - history to be published only once its author was safely in his grave. The Secret History portrays the 'great lawgiver' Justinian as a rampant king of corruption and tyranny, the Empress Theodora as a sorceress ...

In the period I have chosen to bring before the reader, civilization was on the decline, and progress imperceptible, but the germs of a riper growth were still existent, concealed within the spreading darkness of medievalism. When Grecian science and philosophy seemed to stand on the threshold of modern enlightenment the pall of despotism and superstition descended on the earth and stifled every impulse of progress for more than fifteen centuries. The Yggdrasil of Christian superstition sp...

Procopius of Caesarea (circa AD 500 – c. AD 565) was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palaestina Prima. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the "Wars of Justinian", the "Buildings of Justinian" and the celebrated "Secret History". He is commonly held to be the last major historian of the ancient world.The writings of Procopius are the primary source of information for the rule of...

A unique insight into the reign of the imperial couple Justinian and Theodora is presented. The private and public life of the emperors their deceit and destruction and its consequences are depicted. The book reveals secrets and gives voice to that age's common men. It is an essential landmark in the history of individual legal rights.

Procopius, from Palaestina Prima, or modern-day Israel, is an important firsthand source for the history of the 6th century, especially concerning the Emperor Justinian. Procopius was an incredibly learned man, having received a classical education, possibly from the famed School of Gaza. He would become a legal adviser for Belisarius, Justinian's chief military commander and accompany him to the war front, an experience he would document in his "Wars of Justinian". The ancient scholar's m...

THE four invading nations whose history has been already related left no enduring memorial of their presence in Italy. The Visigoth, the Hun, the Vandal, the Ostrogoth failed to connect their names with even a single province or a single city of the Imperial land. What these mighty nations had failed to effect, an obscure and savage horde from Pannonia successfully accomplished. Coming last of all across the ridges of the Alps, the Lombards found the venerable Mother of empires exhausted b...

Constantine the Great is a fascinating and in depth historical examination of the reorganisation of the Empire after its catastrophic fall, and the subsequent triumph of the Christian Church.Firth, in a grounded approach to the period, questions whether Constantine really did deserve his epithet ‘the Great’ in real life, leaving it to his readers to make up their own minds.What he does assert, though, is that under Constantine’s auspices, one of the most momentous ...

The object of this history is to trace some of the changes by which classical Italy, the kernel of the Roman Empire, the center of government and law for the Western world, became that Italy of the Middle Ages, whose life was as rich in intellectual and artistic culture as it was poor in national cohesion and enduring political strength.To some other historian will belong the delight of telling worthily in the English language the story of those wonderful Italian Commonwealths, whic...