OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

23S-'

of the constitution was probably dictated either chap.

by the ignorance of his Syrian courtiers, or the_^

fierce disdain of his military followers . 1

As the attention of the new emperor was di- Picture ofverted by the most trifling amusements, he wast- ® ldgaba 'ed many months in his luxurious progress from A - D - 219,Syria to Italy , passed at Nicomedia his firstwinter after his victory, and deferred till the en-suing summer his triumphal entry into the capi-tal. A faithful picture, however, which precededhis arrival, and was placed by his immediate or-der over the altar of victory in the senate-house,conveyed to the Romans the just but unworthyresemblance of his person and manners. He wasdrawn in his sacerdotal robes of silk and gold,after the loose flowing fashion of the Medes andPhoenicians ; his head was covered with a loftytiara, his numerous collars and bracelets wereadorned with gems of an inestimable value. Hiseyebrows were tinged with black, and his cheekspainted with an artificial red and white. d Thegrave senators confessed with a sigh, that, afterhaving long experienced the stern tyranny oftheir own countrymen, Rome was at lengthhumbled beneath the effeminate luxury of ori-ental despotism.

The sun was worshipped at Emesa , under the His super .name of Elagabalus , e and under the form of a stition -

c Dion, 1. lxxix, p. 1353.

d Dion, 1. lxxix, p. 13G3. Herodian, 1. v, p. 189.

e This name is derived by the learned from two Syriac words,

Ela, a god, and Gabel, to form, the forming, or plastic god, a pro-per, and even happy epithet for the sun. Wottoa’s History of Rome,p. 378.