Yanxiao He, Tsinghua University
Elagabalus (they/them/their), the first Roman emperor of Syrian background (218-222 CE), is often depicted in existing sources through a notorious, stereotyped lens. This paper argues that Elagabalus embodies the intersection of two established tropes in ancient Greco-Latin texts: 1.) internal orientalism, which attributes internal elements discordant with dominant elite ideology to the “Orient,” (Lowrie and Vinken (2022)); and 2.) standard orientalism regarding other ethnic groups and people.
As I explore in this paper, Herodian’s portrayal of Elagabalus illustrates how these two stereotypes interact. It has been demonstrated that Herodian has a different source for his information about Elagabalus compared to Cassius Dio and Historia Augusta (Bowersock (1975): 229-36). This paper highlights Herodian’s constant emphasis on Elagabalus’ dance, including ethnic (choreia) and pantomime (orchesis), which is unique to his account. My focus is on Herodian’s vivid description of the competing visions of teaching Elagabalus’ cousin, Alexander Severus, between the emperor and his aunt Julia Mamaea. The debate centers on whether to teach Alexander Greco-Latin classics or dance (Hdn, 5.7.4-5). I argue that these competing visions capture Greco-Roman intellectuals’ sense of insecurity in the face of the spectacular success of pantomime dancers during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE (Lada-Richards (2009): 285-314). In this context, I suggest that Herodian does not hold an essentialized view of Elagabalus’ Syrian background, but rather emphasizes the failure of Greco-Latin classics to convert a Syrian when pantomime was embraced as the imperial culture instead.
Moreover, taking Herodian’s writing as a whole, I propose that his account of Elagabalus reflects Greco-Roman elites’ anxiety about the rise of Sasanian Iran. While Herodian’s writing on Elagabalus’ short reign does not mention any Iranian affairs, I contend that Herodian’s portrayal of a Syrian on the eve of Sasanian Iran, whose challenge occupied Elagabalus’ cousin Alexander Severus’ reign later, is a historiographical device that shows an internal eastern challenge from the former Achaemenid landscape. Sasanian historians are familiar with the famous statement made by the Sasanian king Ardashir I, which claims the Roman East as Persia’s old territory, an episode that Herodian records (Hdn, 6.2.2; Shayegan (2011): 30-8). Regardless of the empirical validity of this claim, my concern is how Herodian constructs the image of a Syrian from the old Achaemenid landscape when he also recounts Ardashir I’s territorial ambition. Through the portrayal of Elagabalus’ dancing body, Herodian constructs the image of an “internal oriental” by utilizing the standard Greco-Latin ethnographic stereotype towards the “Orient.”