Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, known as Gaius or by his childhood nickname Caligula, was born on 31 August AD 12 and ruled as the third Roman emperor from AD 37 until his murder on 24 January AD 41. His father was the celebrated general Germanicus, and his mother was Agrippina the Elder, a granddaughter of Augustus. Both parents belonged to the empire’s first ruling family. Caligula was born two years before Tiberius became emperor. As a child of about four or five, he accompanied his father, mother, and siblings on campaign in Germania. He was named after Gaius Julius Caesar, but his father’s soldiers gave him the affectionate nickname “Caligula,” meaning “little boot.”

Germanicus died in Antioch in AD 19. Agrippina then returned to Rome with her six children, where she became locked in a bitter feud with Emperor Tiberius—Germanicus’ biological uncle and adoptive father. This conflict destroyed her family, leaving Caligula as the only surviving male. In AD 26, Tiberius withdrew from public life to the island of Capri, and in AD 31, Caligula joined him there. When Tiberius died in AD 37, Caligula succeeded him as emperor at age 24.

Few sources survive about Caligula’s four-year reign, and most were written long after the events by members of the nobility and Senate. For the early part of his rule, he is described as “good, generous, fair and community-spirited,” but later as self-indulgent, cruel, sadistic, extravagant, and sexually perverted—an insane, murderous tyrant who demanded worship as a living god, humiliated the Senate, and planned to make his horse a consul. Most modern historians instead try to explain his position, personality, and historical context. Some dismiss many of these allegations as misunderstandings, exaggeration, mockery, or malicious fantasy.

During his brief reign, Caligula worked to increase the emperor’s unconstrained personal power, pushing back against other powers within the principate. He focused heavily on ambitious construction and public works for ordinary Roman citizens, including racetracks, theatres, amphitheatres, and improvements to roads and ports. He began building two aqueducts in Rome: the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus. His reign saw the annexation of the client kingdom of Mauretania as a province. He had to abandon an attempted invasion of Britain and the plan to install his statue in the Temple in Jerusalem. In early AD 41, Caligula was assassinated in a conspiracy involving officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators, and courtiers. Some conspirators may have hoped to restore the Roman Republic and aristocratic privileges. If so, their plan failed when the Praetorians spontaneously chose Caligula’s uncle Claudius as the next emperor. Caligula’s death marked the official end of the Julii Caesares in the male line, though the Julio-Claudian dynasty continued until the death of his nephew, Emperor Nero.

Caligula was born in Antium on 31 August AD 12, the third of six surviving children of Germanicus and his wife and second cousin, Agrippina the Elder. Germanicus was a grandson of Mark Antony; Agrippina was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder, making her Augustus’ granddaughter. The future emperor Claudius was Caligula’s paternal uncle. Caligula had two older brothers, Nero and Drusus, and three younger sisters: Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla, and Julia Livilla. At age two or three, he accompanied his father on campaigns in northern Germania. His mother devised a miniature soldier’s outfit for him, including army boots (caligae) and armour, to please the troops. The soldiers nicknamed him Caligula (“little boot”). Historian Winterling believes he enjoyed the soldiers’ attention as a kind of mascot, though he later grew to dislike the nickname.

Germanicus was respected and immensely popular among soldiers and Roman civilians of every class, and was widely expected to succeed his uncle Tiberius as emperor. For his successful northern campaigns, he was awarded a triumph. During the triumphal procession through Rome, Caligula and his siblings rode in their father’s chariot, receiving the crowd’s applause. A few months later, Germanicus was sent to tour Rome’s allies and provinces with his family. They were received with great honor; at Assos, Caligula gave a public speech at age six. Somewhere along the route, Germanicus fell fatally ill. He lingered for a time and died at Antioch, Syria, in AD 19, at age 33, convinced he had been poisoned by the provincial governor, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso. Many believed Tiberius had ordered the killing to eliminate a potential rival.

Germanicus was cremated, and his ashes were taken to Rome, escorted by his wife and children, Praetorian guards, civilian mourners, and senators, then placed in the Mausoleum of Augustus. Caligula lived with his mother Agrippina in Rome, in a very different environment from his early years. Agrippina openly pursued imperial ambitions for herself and her sons, and her relations with Tiberius quickly worsened. Tiberius, feeling constantly threatened by treason, conspiracy, and political rivalry, forbade Agrippina to remarry, fearing a remarriage would serve her ambition and introduce another threat. The last years of his principate were dominated by treason trials, with outcomes decided by senatorial vote. In AD 29, Agrippina and Caligula’s brother Nero were tried and banished for treason. The adolescent Caligula was sent to live with his great-grandmother, Tiberius’ mother.