[Sidenote: U.C.971 A.D.218]
27. The senate and citizens of Rome being obliged to submit, as usual,
to the appointment of the army, Heliogaba'lus ascended the throne at
the age of fourteen. His short life was a mixture of effeminacy, lust,
and extravagance. 28. He married six wives in the short space of four
years, and divorced them all. He was so fond of the sex, that he
carried his mother with him to the senate-house, and demanded that she
should always be present when matters of importance were debated. He
even went so far as to build a senate-house for women, appointing them
suitable orders, habits and distinctions, of which his mother was made
president. 29. They met several times; all their debates turned upon
the fashions of the day, and the different formalities to be used at
giving and receiving visits. To these follies he added cruelty and
boundless prodigality; he used to say, that such dishes as were
cheaply obtained were scarcely worth eating.
30. However, his soldiers mutinying, as was now usual with them, they
followed him to his palace, pursuing him from apartment to apartment,
till at last he was found concealed in a closet.
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