Caligula, Emperor of Rome

**Caligula** (August 31, 12 - January 24, 41) was portrayed by Ido Drent in Season 3 of Roman Empire.

## Family

Caligula was the son of popular Roman General Germanicus and his wife Agrippina the Elder. He has three sisters, Agrippina the Younger, Drusilla, and Livilla, and two brothers, Nero and Drusus.

## Marriage and Issue

In 39 C.E, Caligula marries a woman named, Caesonia, and has a daughter, Julia Drusilla.

## The Rightful Heir

In 19 CE, Caligula is on the borders of Rome, where barbarian tribes threaten to invade at all times. He is trained there by fellow soldiers and by his father in the ways of war.

Once Caligula returns home from training, he finds out that his father has died. Unbeknownst to him, The Emperor of Rome, Tiberius, has had Germanicus assassinated so that his son, Drusus, could take the throne after he died.

Later that year, prefect Sejanus, is ordered by Tiberius to arrest all the members of Caligula's family for suspected treason, but they catch everyone but Caligula, who has hidden in a piece of furniture.

Caligula's mother was exiled from Rome, Nero was imprisoned, and Drusus was executed due to their potential claim to the throne.

Caligula and his sisters are sent to live with their paternal grandmother, Antonia Minor, under close watch by Tiberius' guards.

In 28, Drusus, the son of Tiberius, dies to unknown causes and Tiberius is forced to find a new heir to the throne to be his successor. Caligula is chosen as one possible successor, and he is brought to the Island of Capri, by a member of the Praetorian Guard, Macro.

Caligula is introduced to Tiberius, who tells him that it was not he who had his family killed, but it was the head of the Praetorian Guard, Sejanus. He then has Sejanus strangled in front of him.

Caligula meets Tiberius again, who tells him that the Senate has urged him to name a new heir to the throne, and that he has two options, his grandson, Gemellus, who is a young boy, who has been spoiled all his life, and Caligula is another option as he is related to Tiberius and he is the son of a favored general of Rome. He then is told that if he earns Tiberius' trust, his mother would be released.

Caligula is later sat down in a meeting with Macro who tells them and Tiberius that there is unrest along the borders of Germania. Tiberius asks Gemellus what they should do about this, and he says that they should send an army to deal with it. Caligula is then asked, and he says they don't want war with Germania, but they should keep the tribes under supervision by sending a legion to patrol the border, with orders not to cross.

He later speaks to a senator who tells Caligula that Tiberius is a demented old man and the Senate will push for him to have the throne upon the emperor's death. Tiberius calls for Caligula, who tells him to come sit as he is watching prostitutes in front of him. He then asks whether or not Caligula would join them. He then orders Caligula to sleep with them while he watched.

He is then called by Tiberius to a prison cell, where the senator who spoke out against him was chained to a wall. Tiberius asks Caligula what the senator had said and after some probing, he tells Tiberius. The senator is then executed on the spot.

In 37 C.E. Tiberius, has fallen ill and he still has not named a successor. Caligula is told by Macro, that his mother had died a few years back, and that he has just found out. Caligula has no reaction to the news.

On Tiberius' deathbed, he has both Gemellus and Caligula brought to him and names them co-emperors of Rome. Caligula now has to determine whether or not to have Gemellus dealt with.

## A New Hope

After Caligula leaves Tiberius' chambers, Macro tells him that he can get the Senate to nullify the will and that Caligula has to take out Gemellus before Gemellus makes a move on him.

During the night, Caligula sneaks into Tiberius' chambers and kills him by suffocating him with one of his pillows.

Caligula has Gemellus brought to him and tells him that he is not going to kill Gemellus, but instead will name him his heir. Gemellus questions his plans, but he finds out that Caligula doesn't want to tear their family apart like Tiberius tried to. Caligula returns to Rome and he is made the next Emperor of Rome.

Macro gives him all the records of the senators and how they voted in the Treason Trials. He could've used this to get revenge on the senators, but he instead burns them in front of them to show that he will not be like Tiberius. He then allows all exiles to return to Rome.

After gaining the support of the Senate, he works to regain the support of the people. He does this by having a new amphitheater built and reinstates the games including gladiator fights. He then has Rome's infrastructure repaired and new aqueducts built.

He is visited by his uncle, Claudius, who tells him that he would be willing to help Caligula in any way that he could. Caligula asks for his sisters to be returned to Rome. When Claudius returns, he is appointed Consul of Rome.

During a lunch, later on, he welcomes his sisters and Drusilla's husband, Lepidus, into the royal family. Caligula promotes his three sisters as his advisors, which was something never done before.

To gain more support among the Roman people, Caligula threw decadent parties to bolster his popularity and as a result the city entered a golden age. In October of 37 C.E. Caligula has a "brain fever" and fell into a coma.

Caligula awakes from his coma in January 38 C.E. and Rome takes a devastating turn. He finds out that Macro was grooming Gemellus for the throne if anything should happen to Caligula.

While eating dinner, Caligula finds out that Macro performed a search of the palace, and says a vial of poison was found in the chambers of Gemellus. Caligula has Gemellus arrested and thrown in prison. He visits his cell and forces Gemellus to commit suicide using one of the blade of his head guard, Cassius.

## In Search of an Heir

Caligula calls Macro and tells him that he is to be to be appointed Prefect of Egypt, but he has no intentions of doing so. He is in fact having Macro killed on the way there.

One night, his sister, Agrippina, speaks with him and says that he needs a son, and that she can give him one. Caligula ignores her thinking she is kidding, but then she tells him that no one could question their child's claim to the throne and compared their family to the Pharaohs of Egypt. Caligula ends up sleeping with Agrippina.

Caligula continues sexual relations with Agrippina, but she never conceives and Caligula moves onto his other sisters. He first seduces Drusilla. Drusilla refuses his advances, but eventually accepts it. Livilla is the last one to be seduced and he eventually begins a relationship with all three. Eventually Drusilla conceives and he tells all the important people of the palace that he and his sister is having his heir. People give him weird looks, but Claudius praises them for his own protection. Caligula gives Drusilla a higher role in the empire and eventually starts treating her as his wife.

A pregnant Drusilla falls ill and dies on June 10, 38 C.E killing the heir. Caligula buries her in a pyre and mourns her. He snaps after her death and starts building images of her as if she were a goddess and starts to ignore the Roman people. He starts changing rules that govern Rome in her name like marriage vows and he has people executed for the smallest of offenses.

Agrippina tries to get him to make an heir again, but he refuses her and sends her away.

He starts ignoring his duties as emperor, and has Claudius take over his role. During a match in the woods, he faces off against a soldier training another soldier and duels him. This duel results in the soldier's death.

He is so desperate for an heir, he ends up marrying a pregnant woman, Caesonia, who will surely give him an heir. A month later, she births a baby girl, Julia Drusilla. She is named after Drusilla.

During a meal, Caligula is given a message by Agrippina, who leads him to his chambers.

## Descent into Madness

Caligula arrives at his chambers to see both Lepidus and Livilla arrested by guards. He tells them that he is disappointed in them and has them taken away. He then has Agrippina taken with them. This marks the failure of the Plot of Three Daggers.

Caligula goes to the prison where Agrippina is in and questions her about the plot to have him killed, but she doesn't give him any information. He then has Lepidus executed and his sister shipped far from Rome. He has statues of himself put up alongside bridges and temples. His extravagant lifestyle results in the emptying of Rome's treasury, causing him to become unpopular among the Senate.

Caligula then is told by Claudius that his massive projects are bankrupting Rome and recommend that he re-instate the Treason Trials. As a result thousands of people are executed or killed which bolster Rome's treasury as any property held by anyone guilty was given to the emperor.

The Treason Trials failed to produce enough money to pull him out of debt so he raised taxes on the Roman people, making him highly unpopular.

In a private meeting with Claudius, he tells him that he is worried about the millions of people who hate him, but Claudius tells him that even Julius Caesar wasn't loved by everyone. Caligula asks what his father would have done, but Claudius tells him that his father was always at war, so he didn't know.

Caligula decides he needs to garner his support among the people again and decides to invade Britain, something no one had ever done before. On there way to Britain, he is told by his generals that he should wait for all of his men to arrive in the new land and that they should get some rest, but he insists they keep moving.

One night, he starts noticing that the men are not building ships, and his generals tell him that it is too dangerous to go across the English Channel in winter and they won't build the ships. He then orders a decimation, but Claudius tells him that he will be killed if he issues that order.

Knowing that the invasion won't happen as planned, he instead has the soldiers that look the most like the people of Britain and march them back to Rome in chains. The facade works and his people cheer him on believing they have won Britain. Some however, are not convinced.

On January 24, 41, Caligula makes his way through the passages to get to the games, when he is confronted by all the senators armed with knives. He calls Cassius to his defense, but he instead stabs Caligula who falls to the dirt dead.