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Notes -
Reads more to me as a puppet of his grandmother and mother, who plotted to get him elevated to the throne and then granny later instigated his assassination and replacement with a more acceptable to the people cousin, another grandson of hers. I definitely get the feeling granny wanted him weak, so she could control him, and that the internal family power struggle (maybe mom felt that as mother of the emperor she could oust granny as matriarch of the family) was behind his fall. Having him concentrate on being the priest of the Sun God Elagabal, with the practices associated with that, instead of consolidating his hold on the army and the politics of Rome, was one way of ensuring that the reins of power stayed with granny.
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