Chapter 3: High Priest
Chapter 3: High Priest
[I’m going to be killed by the Praetorian Guard… I can’t believe it.]
The imperial guard, the Praetorians. The Praetorian Guard. The emperor’s personal escort unit and direct-command central army.
Augustus created it after realizing the need for an armed power bloc—an elite force of the empire, sure…but just like military academy types back home, they were basically political soldiers.
“Even now, haven’t plenty of emperors already been taken out by the Praetorians? They’re soldiers with heavy political color.”
[That’s true, but… then does Emperor Caracalla also get taken out by the Praetorians?]
“Caracalla isn’t killed by the Praetorians—he’s assassinated by a centurion named Martialis who holds a personal grudge. It happens while he’s on his way to a temple to pray. He needs to pee, sends the guards away, walks off alone to relieve himself, and gets jumped.”
[What? He dies while peeing? So he really gets hit out of nowhere while completely defenseless. What a bastard… no matter the grudge, how dare he attack the emperor in such a cowardly way.]
“You know what’s even weirder? You know the Praetorian Prefect, Macrinus, right? He’s the one behind it.”
[Huh? Macrinus? No way… is that really true?]
“If you look at it that way, the Praetorian Prefect put the centurion up to it, so in the end, it still counts as being taken out by the Praetorians.”
How I even knew this… honestly, I didn’t know either. After I fainted from that skull-splitting headache, the details just came back to me.
It wasn’t something I could explain. It wasn’t like I could say, “A bunch of data poured into my head.”
“What’s funny is that the centurion gets executed on the spot by Macrinus as the emperor’s assassin. Classic ‘use-and-discard,’ right?”
[Huh? What’s ‘use-and-discard’?]
“Ah, sorry. A weird phrase slipped out. It means you use someone, then throw them away.”
[Then that means Macrinus seizes power and becomes emperor.]
“Yeah. But not for very long.”
Right then, the door opened and someone came in.
“Varius, are you in there?”
Why were Roman noble names so complicated? Varius, Elagabalus, Bassianus, Antoninus… the records made it sound like he collected names.
Another woman entered. Older than Mother Julia Soaemias—she looked to be in her early fifties. Her expression and stride carried authority. She wore a luxurious purple garment, and gold ornaments glittered.
[That’s our grandmother.] Varius whispered. [Julia Maesa. You could call her the real power in our family. She adores me.]
Yeah. I knew she was a big deal. I could feel it instinctively too. Because of her, Varius would rise to the throne…and because of her, he would die in an emperor’s body.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell Varius that part.
Julia Maesa spoke rapidly, urgency in her voice.
[She says we must go to the temple. We must offer a gratitude rite for healing to the sun god Elagabal… a ceremony celebrating that the fever has broken.]
Now I could understand her without Varius translating. After I fainted with that headache, a few things had gotten convenient.
“Now?”
Damn it—I muttered in Korean without thinking.
Julia Maesa shot me a sharp look.
[Don’t mutter weird words! What if Grandmother gets suspicious?]
Julia Maesa asked again, her tone sharper.
[She’s asking why you’re making strange sounds. Say, “My head is still dizzy from the fever.” In Latin, it’s “Caput meum vertigine laborat.”]
I get it, so stop translating already!…Not like I could yell.
“Caput… meum… vertigine… laborat.”
My pronunciation was a mess, but it was better than before. At least I’d managed to say something.
Julia Maesa’s expression eased slightly. She nodded and replied.
[She understands. But gratitude to the god cannot be postponed… attendants will help you prepare.]
Julia Maesa walked toward the door and called someone.
Soon, three male attendants entered. They carried elaborate garments.
“Stop. I don’t need you translating anymore. After I fainted with that headache, I can hear and speak directly.”
[Huh? Really? You said you came from the future, so you have strange abilities. Honestly, it never made sense that you could understand me but not other people.]
“What the… why are you so logical for a twelve-year-old? Fine. You’re right. I’ve got nothing to say.”
But something still didn’t add up. According to the records, he either barely spoke Latin or had such a strong accent he sounded clueless… and got mocked by Romans a lot.
Did something change when I entered his body?
The attendants brought a deep purple-red robe and a white linen tunic. A complete mix of Syria and Rome. There was also a toga embroidered with gold thread, plus all kinds of jewelry.
Gold bracelets, a necklace, and…
“What’s that?” My gaze locked onto one object. A circular golden piece with a pattern in the center that looked like a sun symbol.
[That? It’s the priest’s crown. You must wear it as a priest of the sun god Elagabal.]
“Priest?”
[I… no. We are the High Priest of the Elagabal Temple in Emesa. We’re young, but it’s a position passed down through our family.]
The attendants stepped toward me to undress me.
I instinctively backed away.
“Wait—wait!”
[What are you doing? Hurry and change!]
“Having someone else take my clothes off is… kind of weird.”
[What’s weird about it? You’re nobility—imperial blood! It’s normal for attendants to dress you.]
Julia Maesa looked at me with a puzzled expression.
The attendants also looked at each other, flustered.
[If you act strange, they’ll get suspicious! Normally, Varius would accept this as natural!]
Ha… damn it.
I had no choice but to let the attendants do as they pleased.
It was humiliating for the mind of a thirty-five-year-old man, but in the body of a twelve-year-old boy, it wasn’t that strange.
Only then did the attendants skillfully change my clothes.
A white tunic, then a gold-embroidered toga over it, then the deep purple-red robe layered on top.
It was heavy. For a child’s body, it was a lot.
[Stand straight! Shoulders back!]
Varius barked at me to fix my posture.
I did as he said.
A priest at twelve…Maybe that was why his tone and presence were like that—because he’d carried this role since childhood.
The attendants added the jewelry one by one. Gold bracelets, the necklace, and finally the priest’s crown placed on my head.
The crown’s weight made my neck ache.
“How do you even endure something this heavy?”
[You get used to it. And it’s a symbol of authority. You can’t take it off just because it’s heavy.]
Julia Maesa gave the attendants instructions.
They bowed and left, and Julia Maesa stood before me.
She spoke in a serious, solemn tone. “Varius, today’s rite is very important. The god has healed your illness, so you must offer proper gratitude… and…”
Julia Maesa paused. Her expression was grave.
[Why is Grandmother dragging it out like that?]
“It is also politically important… an envoy from Emperor Caracalla may arrive.”
“An envoy from Emperor Caracalla?”
“Yes. Just know this—our relationship with him is politically… very complicated.” Julia Maesa placed a hand on my shoulder and added a final warning.
“She’s saying don’t make mistakes. Many people will be watching today… and it’s also a day that concerns our family’s future.”
“Our family’s future?”
That could be true. After all, Emperor Caracalla was the one who elevated this clan into imperial status.
I nodded. I didn’t have a choice.
Julia Maesa opened the door and left.
I followed, and even more people were waiting in the corridor.
Guards, attendants, and even nobles in lavish clothing.
[These are the people who follow us. They’ll participate in the rite with us.]
A procession formed. Guards led in front, then Julia Maesa and I walked behind them. Other family members and nobles followed after.
Hot sunlight beat down on my face. Syria’s sun was brutal.
In the distance, a massive building came into view. A temple decorated with towering columns and ornate carvings.
Even 1,800 years ago, they built something like that…
[That is the Temple of Elagabal. The house of the sun god our family has served for generations.]
“So… I have to perform the rite there?”
[Yes. And remember—you are not Varius right now. You are the High Priest. You must act as the god’s representative.]
The procession began moving toward the temple. People crowded both sides of the road, watching us. Their attention was focused entirely on me.
A bizarre situation—thirty-five-year-old mind in a twelve-year-old body. And the pressure of having to perform an ancient religious rite.
Seriously… was this real?
But the blazing sun, the heavy crown, and the countless stares were all painfully real.
I was truly in the ancient Roman era, and I was about to offer a sacrifice to the sun god.
When we entered, a distinctive smell filled the air. A temple steeped in smoke and fragrance—cedar and myrrh.
Behind red silk curtains that filled the sanctuary, dozens of bronze lamps burned.
On the altar stood a cone-shaped black stone, reflecting a grotesque, ominous sheen.
[That… is our god. Emesa’s guardian deity, the incarnation of the sun. The god’s breath dwells within that stone.]
A divine body…So that was Elagabal’s most important symbol.
In Elagabal, “El” meant god, and “Gabal” meant mountain—so “mountain god”… like a local mountain spirit back home?
Thinking that way made it feel strangely folk-religious.
Was it a black meteorite?
A chilling presence pulsed from it. Not a simple rock—more like something living, beating like a heart.
After Varius ascended as Emperor Elagabalus, he placed the god Elagabal above Jupiter, Rome’s chief god, gave Elagabal the title “Invincible Sun God,” and tried to overturn Rome’s religious order.
He even forcibly moved Rome’s most sacred relics—things like the Vestal flame and the Palladium—into Elagabal’s temple.
Rome tolerated polytheism… so they might’ve endured a lot.
But even as emperor, he remained Elagabal’s High Priest, wearing flamboyant garments and performing bizarre rites in the temple, shocking Romans.
By forcing such an alien eastern religion on them, it was seen as an insult to Rome’s long-standing faith.
That’s why the Senate and conservative Roman citizens rebelled against him.
As I fell into those thoughts, priests in red robes formed a circle and circled the stone.
Boom! Boom! Boom-boom! Boom-boom-boom!
As the drums and flutes sped up, the dancing priests stomped the ground hard with their toes.
Sheep and goats to be offered as sacrifices were led in, and red wine was sprinkled together with perfumed oil.