Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Caligula pursued his pretensions to divinity further; in the summer of 40 he ordered his statue to be erected in the Temple at Jerusalem, but, under the suave persuasion of Herod Agrippa, Caligula countermanded this potentially disastrous order. When the emperor died in 37, Caligulas Praetorian ally Marco arranged for Caligula to be proclaimed the sole emperor. For his part, Dando-Collins asserts that Caligula could have been insane, but because he was driven so by a mental disorder. Caligula apparently also enjoyed performing and liked to show off whenever possible. Cruel and tyrannical Emperor Caligula ruled Ancient Rome through fear and terror. following a sporting event, before he was brutally stabbed over 30 times. Thin, pale, and covered in large amounts of fine hair, Caligula was not blessed with natural good looks. For centuries, the citizens of Lake Nemi knew that the sunken ships were there, but it wasnt until the era of Mussolini, when a ridiculous plan was finally hatched to locate the ships once and for all. He freed those his predecessor had unjustly imprisoned and eliminated a universally unpopular tax. Caligula always had the best clothes that money could buy. When they arrived on the scene, the emperor already lay deadbut that didnt stop them from getting their mad revenge. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. They ordered the destruction of his statues and public inscriptions, and his coins were pulled from circulation and melted down whenever possible. Discover why the name of Caligula is notorious throughout the world. It was virtually impossible for senators to decipher how Caligula might react to any given matter. Whether it was lowering taxes or buying extravagances for himself, none of these came cheap, and Rome started running out of money fast. In 1979 the film Caligula, directed by Tinto Brass and starring Malcolm McDowell, shocked the world with its explicit portrayal of the emperors cruel and salacious escapades. One of his favorites was to accuse someone of treason or some other crime, and have them fined, imprisoned, or even executed. 50. For most of his youth, Caligulas great-grandmother Livia shielded him from politicsbut a sudden tragedy changed all of that. It was an open secret throughout Rome that she intended to be the mother of emperorsbut she crossed the wrong man, and she would never live to see her dream come true. What is Caligula most known for? Read on for 42 facts about the man who thought himself a god. Gaius and his three sisters survived. He had brazen affairs with the wives of his allies and was rumored to have incestuous relationships with his sisters. One reason for this might be that he was afraid he would have a seizure and drown while in the water. This amused the other soldiers, who mockingly nicknamed him Caligula, meaning little boot.. Historical accounts of Caligula may vary, but nearly all historians agreed on one dark fact: this deranged emperor placed very little value on human life. Tiberius will named Caligula co-heir with his younger cousin Tiberius Gemellus, but the Senate rejected these provisions and gave complete imperial power to Caligula, who instead made Gemellus his heir. He worked to accentuate his natural ugliness by practicing terrifying facial expressions in a mirror. He flew into a rage and had him viciously whipped. Only after Caligula suffered a near-fatal illness seven months into his reign did his personality and ruling style change dramatically, Dando-Collins posited. The third emperor reintroduced treason trials and performed public executions. When asked to explain the reason for his mirth, he replied, Ive just thought that Ive only to give the word and youll all have your throats cut. Hilarious, right?! My mom never told me how her best friend died. He was diagnosed with epilepsy as a child, but his bipolar symptoms escaped diagnosis because the condition was unknown to physicians in his day. Caligula appeared unexpectedly on the Upper Rhine in October 39 and suppressed an incipient revolt, executing Drusillas widower M. Aemilius Lepidus and Gnaeus Lentulus Gaetulicus, commander of the Upper Rhine armies. Because Im sure that fooled everybody. In January 41, four months after his return to Rome from Gaul, Caligula was murdered at the Palatine Games by Cassius Chaerea, tribune of the Praetorian Guard, Cornelius Sabinus, and others. Soon after Ptolemy arrived in Rome, Caligula executed him without a trial and annexed Mauretania. He ordered the heads removed from statues of various gods all across Rome, and replaced them all with his own likeness. Persichini. . DeAgostini/Getty ImagesCaligula lies dead in the foreground after having already been executed, while his wife and daughter are murdered beside him. Apart from the early months of his reign and some innovative public infrastructure initiatives, he was a disaster as an administrator and leader., Caligula indeed became cruel, capricious, and, yes, crazy.. Revenge against the traitors who killed him was called for which Caligulas successor, his uncle Claudius, heartily provided. Caligula was born Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus on August 31, 12 AD, in Antium, Italia, to Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder. To procure the revenues needed to finance his extravagances, he then resorted to the extortion of prominent Roman citizens and the confiscation of their estates. A little self-conscious maybe? Soon, everyone and everything irritated him. Born on the 31st of August 12 AD in Antium, modern day Anzio, Italy, Caligula was a member of the Julio Claudian dynasty; the first ruling family of the Roman Empire.His father was a popular Roman General while his mother was the granddaughter of Augustus Caesar. What is Caligula most famous for? One historian, Tacitus, wrote that Macro smothered the dying Tiberius with a pillow to make sure that Caligula rose to the thronebut Suetonius suggested an even darker fate. Junia died in childbirth a year after their wedding, and Caligula was left alone once again. This would completely neuter both the Senate and the Praetorian Guard. But after only a few months he turned cruel and tyrannical, gradually changing into the most brutal leader the empire had ever seen. All Rights Reserved. According to reports, Chaerea struck first, but soon the entire crowd swarmed the Emperor, viciously cutting him down where he stood. Not the kind of man youd want to have absolute powerbut this is just the beginning of his cruel antics. Dick Cheney can be compared to Sejanus, head of the Praetorian Guard under Caligulas predecessor Tiberius. Remember that I have the right to do anything to anybody, hed remind people. Cruel and tyrannical Emperor Caligula ruled Ancient Rome through fear and terror. Adopting his fathers distinguished name, he became Gaius Caesar Germanicus. No traces of the stunt have ever materialized, so most historians dismiss it as myth. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. As Caligula became more unhinged, the aging emperor commented, I am nursing a viper in Romes bosom He didnt even know the half of it. She has produced writing for a wide range of arts organizations including Tate Modern, The National Galleries of Scotland, Art Monthly, and Scottish Art News, with a focus on modern and contemporary art. He galloped back and forth across the bridge on his horse for two days straight, wearing a dazzling golden cape. Both his wife and one-year old daughter were also murdered at the imperial palace. Two Pleasure Barges Were Built In Lake Nemi. As a joke, Dando-Collins was sure to add. He lavished his fine steed with attention, giving him his own house with a marble stall and an ivory manger, and even openly expressed his plans to declare his horse a Roman consulate. In a moment of utter cruelty that would have made George R.R. Cruel and tyrannical Emperor Caligula ruled Ancient Rome through fear and terror. His grandmother was utterly furious with him, but she too died shortly after. He was nonetheless named sole emperor of Rome. He may have suffered from epilepsy. The people of Rome had extremely high hopes for Caligulas rule. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Augustus ' granddaughter. Julius Caesar was his great-great-grandfather, Augustus was his grandfather, and his father Germanicus was one of Romes most effective and popular generals. Unlike her weasely son, Caligulas mother Agrippina the Elder was a famously tough and courageous woman. Thanks for your help! Whereas Nero was sane and malignantly evil. Hed reprehend landowners just so that he could take their belongings. The most famous story about Incitatus is that Incitatus made him a consul in the Incitatus.. Who made his horse a consul? He would also sometimes dress as a woman, or as female gods such as Diana and Juno. Omissions? Caligula was the son of Augustus' adopted grandson, the very popular Germanicus, and his wife, Agrippina the Elder who was Augustus' granddaughter and a paragon of womanly virtue. If a Roman wanted to honor someone on meeting them, or ingratiate themselves with them, they gave the other person the upper hand in the handshake deliberately offering their right hand palm up, so that the other person had the dominant position, palm down, Dando-Collins wrote. It wasn't just an upgraded stable, either. We spoke to award-winning historical writer and biographer Stephen Dando-Collins, whose upcoming biography Caligula: The Mad Emperor of Rome explores just how extreme the ruler was. Lets take a look at the most outlandish and unusual escapades surrounding his reign from 37-41 A.D. and how they ultimately led to his downfall. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Caligula-Roman-emperor, GlobalSecurity.org - Biography of Caligula. After all, he came from a pretty amazing pedigree, and many were sympathetic to the nightmares he went through as a child. For one thing, its important to remember that Caligulas real name was Gaius. The Roman people knew him as the emperor Gaius. Caligulas nickname stemmed from the little boots he wore as a child while accompanying his father on military campaigns. However, right across the Mediterranean in Egypt, people had spent millennia worshipping their rulers as divine. Though known for his harsh treatment of others, the infamous Roman emperor Caligula lavished attention upon his horse Incitatus, giving the animal his own house with a marble stall and ivory manger. But it was the other members of the Roman senate who appeared to suffer the most. But if his leadership skills were so abysmal, some scholars have argued, how did he wind up annexing new provinces, expanding westward and formulating a feasible plan to take over Britain? Though the Praetorian Guard had turned on Caligula, his personal Germanic Guard was still rabidly loyal to him right to the end. A certain Valerius Catullus complained publicly that the emperor treated him hardly. Known for: Though he ruled Rome as Emperor for only four years, Caligula has been immortalised as one of history's most cruel and erratic leaders. And as if that wasnt enough, he also had his dinner table set with golden loaves of bread. Perhaps desperate to shut the narrative down, Tiberius banished Agrippina to prison on a remote island. Writers describe him as skinny, pale, and sickly, with hollow eyes and thin hair. His recorded symptoms suggest he did in fact suffer from bipolar disorder, Dando-Collins reported. Caligula is often remembered as a selfish and capricious ruler whose ineptitude weakened the Roman empire during his four-year reign. Most people know him from the infamous 1979 explicit film Caligula, but if anything, the real emperor was even more disturbing than the one we saw on screen. He served Tiberius so well that one writer commented: Never was there a better servantor a worse master., Even before he was Emperor, Caligula had an innate viciousness. Both Gaius great-grandfather Augustus and father Germanicus were largely heralded and respected in their times, but his legacy would be a sadistic one. He Turned A Military Campaign Into Performance Art, 8. If he moved to Alexandria, Rome, and the people who lived there, would lose their political influence. The Roman historian Philo described those first few months as blissful, but the bliss ended almost as quickly as it started. He often bragged that he once carried a dagger into Emperor Tiberiuss bedroom with the intention of killing him, avenging his mother and brothers. So Caligula, who now had access to absolute power, discovered new ways to secure funds. Caligula had become more paranoid. But he gives a straight up and down handshake to others mostly female leaders such as Theresa May and Angela Merkel. And so, when the respected general Germanicus brought his son Gaius on campaign, the tyke sported soldiers footwear, or caligae, scaled down to his size. Caligulas wife Caesonia and his daughter were also put to death. Tiberius acted first and accused her and Caligulas two older brothers of treason. It could be that Gaius Caesar Germanicus was simultaneously treated like a prince while forced to remain on the island as Tiberius prisoner. When Caligula recovered, he discovered Macros plansand condemned his one-time ally to a horrifying fate. Rachel Seigel is an avid reader and book enthusiast with over 15 years of experience writing. After his accession Caligula quickly squandered the vast sums Tiberius had accumulated in the state treasury. They include the. To other accounts, he perhaps experienced a breakdown or an epileptic seizure. Historians wrote that he would sleep with his own officials wives, then brag about it publicly in front of them. Its thought that during this tumultuous period in Caligulas life, he began to relish in the macabre.
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