Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known as Elagabalus, was born in (approximately) 204 and died on this day in 222. Born in Rome to the Severan dynasty, he was raised as a child-priest in the sun-god cult of Elagabal. His family was exiled to Syria by the emperor Macrinus to prevent a political challenge. In 216, his grandmother Julia Messa led a plot to overthrow Macrinus and put Elagabalus on the imperial throne. He was duly declared Emperor by the Senate, aged 14, and undertook a two-year tour of the empire, arriving in Rome in 219. He immediately replaced Jupiter as chief deity with Elagabal, shocking many Romans. Rampantly omnisexual, he had five wives, including (controversially) a Vestal Virgin. He also staged a public ceremony to marry his charioteer lover Hierocles, prostituted himself in taverns and commissioned an empire-wide search for well-endowed men. Referred to himself as the Empress, he promised surgeons massive wealth if they could give him a vagina, leading many historians to speculate that he was transgender. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his sexual appetites alienated the Senate and the Praetorian Guard, who organised his assassination. He was murdered in the year 222, aged 18. After being decapitated, his body was stripped naked, dragged through the streets of Rome and dumped in the River Tiber. His life has inspired plays, poetry, musical compositions, paintings and a Marilyn Manson album.