 Elagabalus and his entourage spent the winter of 218 in Bithynia at Nicomedia , where the emperor 's religious beliefs first presented themselves as a problem . The contemporary historian Cassius Dio suggests that Gannys was in fact killed by the new emperor because he was forcing Elagabalus to live " temperately and prudently " . To help Romans adjust to the idea of having an oriental priest as emperor , Julia Maesa had a painting of Elagabalus in priestly robes sent to Rome and hung over a statue of the goddess Victoria in the Senate House . This placed senators in the awkward position of having to make offerings to Elagabalus whenever they made offerings to Victoria . 
