A Roman emperor pranked his dinner guests with an ancient whoopee cushion.
The Roman emperor known posthumously as Elagabalus (or Heliogabalus) reigned for just under four years, from 218 to 222 CE, but that short time period is packed with tales both salacious and silly. Ascending to the throne at just 14 years old, Elagabalus was known for enjoying juvenile pranks — one of which involved what historians have described as an early form of the whoopee cushion.
The historical record of Elagabalus, who was born Varius Avitus Bassianus and ruled under the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, is notoriously hard to verify; he was unpopular among the era’s most prominent storytellers, who likely exaggerated the young ruler’s behavior. But according to accounts from the ancient biography collection Historia Augusta, the emperor’s dinner guests were especially prone to practical jokes.
Sometimes, Elagabalus served food of only a single color such as green or blue. His least-desired guests were even known to find that the food in front of them was not food at all, but wax replicas of what everyone else was eating. Other unfortunate guests would find themselves sitting on what Historia Augusta describes as “air-filled pillows” that “let out air while they were dining.” These were much larger than modern whoopee cushions, and while it’s possible they made a similar noise, they took much longer to deflate. Eventually, the guests seated on the air cushions would find themselves on the floor.
