Elagabalus

About Elagabalus

Elagabalus, reigning as Roman Emperor from 218 to 222 CE, is historically significant primarily due to his notoriously unconventional tenure at a young age. Born Varius Avitus Bassianus, he ascended the throne around age 14 and was infamous for replacing traditional Roman religious practices with the worship of the Syrian sun god, Elagabal, which included marrying a Vestal Virgin and being referred to as a queen. While his brief reign ended with his assassination, the sheer scandal and religious upheaval cemented his place as a distinct, if controversial, figure in the history of the Roman Empire, earning him the #921 rank in historical influence.

Despite this historical weight, Elagabalus enjoys a notable surplus of modern attention, showing a +3x overattention factor relative to his importance score. In 2025, his Wikipedia page garnered 796K annualized views. For comparison, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, ranked significantly more important at #578, captured only 55K views that same year, illustrating a stark modern imbalance where a controversial, brief imperial reign draws disproportionately more traffic than a major military and political leader.

However, this high interest appears fragile. Elagabalus's 2025 data shows a declining trajectory, with a year-over-year view change of -11.2% and a dramatic -40% drop in engagement when comparing Q1 to Q3 interest metrics.