Caligula

Caligula (Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, 31 August 12 – 24 January 41) was the third Roman Emperor. He reigned from AD 37-41. After only four years of ruling, he was assassinated by members of his bodyguard and the Roman Senate. During his reign, many innocent people were killed without fair trials.Barrett, Anthony A. 1989. Caligula: the corruption of power. Batsford, London.  Even with all that, he was popular with the Roman public in his time. Note that the name Caligula was only given after his death.

 Life 
Caligula's father Germanicus was the nephew and adoptive son of emperor Tiberius. He was a very successful general. He was one of Rome's most beloved public figures.

When Germanicus died at Antioch in 19 AD, Caligula's mother, Agrippina the Elder, returned to Rome with her six children. She had a bitter feud with Tiberius. That eventually led to the destruction of her family. Caligula was the only male survivor. In the year 31, he joined the emperor on the island of Capri. Tiberius had gone there five years earlier. When Tiberius died in 37, Caligula became emperor.

There are few surviving sources on Caligula's reign. He is described as a noble and moderate ruler during the first two years of his rule. After this, the sources focus upon his cruelty, extravagance, and sexual perversity, presenting him as an insane tyrant.

Caligula worked to give more authority to the emperor. He put a lot of his effort into ambitious construction projects and luxurious dwellings for himself. He started the construction of two new aqueducts in Rome: the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus. During his reign, the empire took over the Kingdom of Tunisia and made it into a province.

In early 41, Caligula was assassinated. There was a conspiracy involving officers of the Praetorian Guard, members of the Roman Senate and members of the imperial court. After Caligula's death, the conspirators' tried to bring back the Roman Republic, but they were unsuccessful. The Praetorian Guard declared Caligula's uncle Claudius emperor in his place.

Ancestry

 Insanity? 
There are stories about Caligula that show cruelty and insanity. He was accused of killing just for amusement.Seneca the Younger, On Anger III.xviii.1. He was accused of committing incest with his sisters and prostituting them with other men.Cassius Dio, Roman History LIX.11, LIX.22; Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Caligula 24. He was accused of turning the palace into a brothel.Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Caligula 41

Caligula appeared in public dressed as various gods. He demanded to be worshipped as a god.Cassius Dio, Roman History LIX.26-28. There was a legend that he appointed a horse to the priesthood.Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Caligula 55; Cassius Dio, Roman History LIX.14, LIX.28.

It is difficult to know anything for certain about Caligula. Only two sources from his time still exist. Those are the works of Philo and Seneca. They give mostly anecdotes. At one time, there were detailed histories on Caligula. Now they are lost. Caligula's sister, Agrippina the Younger, wrote an autobiography which certainly had a lot of information about Caligula's reign. It is also lost. No surviving source paints Caligula in a favorable light. It is not known whether Caligula was insane. Philo describes the emperor as arrogant and cynical, but does not say he was psychotic.Philon, De legatione ad Gaium, 11(76); 13(93) Seneca was exiled in part because of Caligula. He writes that  Caligula caused people to be tortured and executed in brutal ways. Secena writes that Caligula was a sadist. Seneca ira 3,18–19Seneca also gives a definition of insanity as a variant of a tyranny, turned the wrong way; in this definition, he does not mention Caligula.Seneca clem. 1,25 Flavius Josephus uses the term insaity multiple time, when he talks abour the emperor. What remains unclear though if Josephus speakes about a psychological condition, or simply the way in which Caligula ruled. 

Relics
In 2017 a mosaic from one of Caligula's Lake Nemi pleasure ships was discovered in New York CityNBC NewsOct 20, 2017

 References 

 Other websites






Category:12 births
Category:41 deaths
Category:1st-century Roman emperors
Category:Assassinated Roman politicians