Elagabalus was murdered this day in Rome in CMLXXV A.V.C. (222 AD). He was 19. His body was thrown into the Tiber.
     The Greeks celebrated the Festival of Hercules on this day. Called Heracles by the Greeks, he was known as the Son of God to all. So great was the people's love for this man that many fantastic tales were credited to his name. According to Greek legend he was born of God and an earthly virgin mother from an act of sex that lasted three days. He was known as the Healer and raised two people from the dead in his lifetime, one man and one woman. He once descended into Hell for three days. According to legend he suffered an excruciatingly painful, and most unfair, death at the hands of his enemies, notably the court of the powerful King of Thebes. After his death he re-appeared to show his closest friends that he was still alive and then ascended bodily into heaven. His friends and followers, known as the Heracleidae, were persecuted after his death.