If you don’t know who Elagabalus is, you’re not missing much. When he was ingloriously assassinated in 222, not even his own grandmother missed him. It would have been surprising if she had, as she’d arranged the whole thing.

His life began a lot more auspiciously than it ended. He was born Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus in what was now Syria, the son of an aristocrat and prominent politician. Elagabalus, as he was later called, proved to be so precocious that his grandmother, Julia Maesa, successfully schemed to have him appointed Emperor of Rome after the incumbent, Marcus Opellius Macrinus, was defeated at the Battle of Antioch. Her efforts were successful. The outcome? Not so much.

Once he was crowned Emperor in 218 at the tender age of 14, Elagabalus acted exactly like what he was: a teenager in charge of the world’s biggest empire. He had no respect for anything or anyone. He forced prominent members of the Roman government to partake in religious rites celebrating his favorite god, who just happened to be named Elagabalus too. He was married and divorced five times, wore female attire, and reportedly prostituted himself within the imperial palace. Today he’d probably get away with it, but in ancient Rome, he was breaking taboos that hadn’t even been created yet. Historians have credited him with one of the worst reputations among Roman emperors.

Julia Maesa, knowing that Rome wasn’t built in a day but sure that her grandson could destroy it that quickly, arranged for him to be assassinated on March 11, 222 and replaced by his cousin Severus Alexander, whose peacetime reign would be remembered as prosperous.

Like ancient Rome, your business needs to have a succession plan in place. If you plan to leave it to a family member, it’s important to make the right decision as to who will end up in the driver’s seat. An qualified estate planner can help you set up a buy-sell agreement that establishes who actually gets the business and how while allowing other beneficiaries to benefit.

Maybe you have four kids, but your youngest son is the only one who’s ever been involved with the business. He knows the company and can be trusted to keep the momentum going after you’re no longer in the picture, so you want to leave him a controlling interest and provide equitable amounts of money to your other three kids. A properly prepared buy-sell agreement with your son could lay out the conditions for transferring the company and set up a life insurance policy that pays out to his siblings.

Legacy planning is no easy undertaking: ask Julia Maesa. But working with a qualified estate planner will help you craft a succession arrangement that people won’t be laughing about centuries later.