The Roman Empire had a number of negatively-impacting, and often mentally unstable, emperors who aided in the empire’s eventual downfall. One of these emperors is known as Caligula.
Nicknamed “Caligula”
Caligula (real name Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) was born in 12 CE. His father was Germanicus Julius Caesar, who was a prominent and popular Roman general.
“Caligula” is a nickname, referring to “little boots”. As a child, he often wore his father’s military boots, which were too big for him. Historians often use “Caligula” as his name, since many other emperors have “Gaius Julius Caesar” in their name, and his father is often simply called “Germanicus”.
However, during his reign, it’s unlikely that anyone ever called him “Caligula”.
Traumatic Childhood
Throughout his childhood, Caligula experienced many traumatic incidents.
As a boy, he often accompanied his father during the Roman campaigns in Germania (present-day Germany). The battles were bloody, and the young boy likely witnessed much of the fighting.
Caligula eventually saw his father murdered, and his mother was exiled from Rome soon after. The young boy was left as an orphan.
Around the same time, Rome’s second emperor, Tiberius, was in search of a successor to the throne. He found that successor to be the young Caligula, and took the boy in as his own.
Tiberius brought the young boy to the island of Capri on many occasions. Practically a pleasure palace for Tiberius, Capri was full of hedonism and violence. As Caligula spent much time on Capri, his experiences there would shape him into adulthood.
By the time he was ready to take the throne, Caligula was mentally unstable and possibly even insane.
Seizing The Throne
When Tiberius died in 37 CE, Caligula was prepared to declare himself as the new emperor. However, Caligula had actually jointly inherited the throne with Tiberius’s grandson, Gemellus.
Caligula soon after had Gemellus killed, making him the sole ruler of Rome.
The people of Rome seemed to love the new emperor, as his father and grandfather had been previously well-known and loved.
The first year of Caligula’s reign saw many generous acts by the emperor, though many were for political gain. The Emperor committed many acts for the people to further their love for him. This included:
- Giving large donations to both the army and the people
- Throwing massive and lavish public games
- Restoring democratic elections for certain positions in office
Most Romans saw Caligula as good as a Roman as his father was.
The Sickness
During the second year of Caligula’s rule, 38 CE, the Emperor’s attitude seemed to drastically change. It started once he became extremely ill, to the point that many people around him believed that he would not survive the illness.
A few Roman senators publicly begged the gods to spare Caligula and take them instead. This goes to show just how much the Emperor was loved.
Caligula did recover, though he was mentally much different afterward.
His first matter of business was to find all of the senators who had begged to the gods for his life, and force them to commit suicide. Caligula believed that, since he had recovered and they had taken the deal, the gods had granted their wishes. Thus, it was time for them to die.
After this act of madness, Caligula’s true reign of terror began.
Sexual Exploits
Caligula was known to enjoy sexual intercourse. He often threw lavish sexual parties at the expense of the Roman Treasury.
The Emperor also practiced incest by marrying and sleeping with all three of his sisters. Caligula believed his blood to be divine, and thus his successor should only come from him and his sister. There are also reports of him prostituting his sisters, and using the money for his own pleasure.
If this wasn’t bad enough, Caligula deemed any woman he saw fit to belong to him. There are reports of him walking into the homes of Roman citizens, eating their dinner, then raping their wives/daughters.
Caligula once found a woman that he claimed was highly attractive. He had her paraded naked in front of his guests, and demanded them to compliment her.
Acts Against The Treasury
The Emperor wasted much of the Roman Treasury’s money. His lavish sexual parties and public games were expensive.
On one occasion, Caligula had a bridge built over a massive lake, only for him to ride his horse over. The building of the bridge nearly bankrupted the Treasury.
Abusing Power
Caligula was known to despise of the Senate. He once appointed his horse as a member of the Senate as an insult, and to prove to the senators that he did not respect them.
Allegedly, the Emperor was so insane that he declared war on Neptune, Roman god of the sea. He ordered his men to stab at the ocean water and collect sea shells. While there is no solid evidence that this happened, there are many stories of it, and it does fit into Caligula’s style of action.
Paranoia
As his reign continued, the Emperor grew extremely hedonistic, hateful, and paranoid. As his mental state weakened, Caligula constantly believed that someone around him was attempting to overthrow him.
He eventually had most of his family, friends, and even top generals of Rome killed out of paranoia. He also had anyone executed who showed the slightest insult or threat toward him.
Yet, these murders were typically not merciful. Caligula enjoyed watching people get tortured. He is reported to have said:
“Make them feel that they are dying.”
Assassination
Caligula inflicted many horrors upon Rome and its people.
In 41 CE, four years into his reign, Caligula was assassinated by his own guards. His terrible rule had come to an end.
The people had turned against him, and even his own guards would no longer protect the insane Emperor.
Conclusion
As horrible as Caligula seems, he was likely not the worst ruler of the Roman Empire. He was arguably not even among the top three worst emperors. Unfortunately for Rome, it would experience many other insane emperors who also wasted the Treasury’s money, depleted Rome’s resources, and led the Empire into its eventual downfall.
