I
see in Heliogabalus, not a madman, but an insurgent.
First, against Roman polytheism.
Second, against the Roman monarchy which he caused to be fucked in his
own ass.
But in his person, the two revolts, the two insurrections, mix, they rule
all his behaviour, they command his actions, up to the most shameful,
during his four year reign.
His insurrection is systematic and wise and is directed first of all against
himself.
When Heliogabalus dressed as a prostitute and sold himself for forty cents
at the door of Christian churches and the temples of the Roman gods he
wasn’t simply satisfying a vice, he was humiliating the Roman empire.
Antonin Artaud
