Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus (August 31, 12 – January 24, 41), most commonly known as Caligula, was the third Roman Emperor and third member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from AD 37 to 41. Caligula represents a turning point in the early history of the Principate. Known for his extremely extravagant, eccentric and sometimes cruel despotism, he was assassinated in AD 41 by several of his own guards.

Legacy

Whatever damage Tiberius?s later years had done to the carefully crafted political edifice created by Augustus, Caligula multiplied it a hundred-fold. When he came to power in 37 AD, Caligula had no administrative experience beyond his honorary quaestorship, and had spent an unhappy early life far from the public eye. He appears, once in power, to have realized the boundless scope of his authority and acted accordingly. For the elite, this situation proved intolerable and ensured the blackening of Caligula's name in the historical record they would dictate. The sensational and hostile nature of that record, however, should in no way trivialize Caligula's importance. His reign highlighted an inherent weakness in Augustus?s Principate, now openly revealed for what it was -- a raw monarchy in which only the self-discipline of the incumbent acted as a restraint on his behavior rather than the "first among equals" Augustus had intended. That the only means of retiring the wayward Princeps was murder marked another important revelation: Roman emperors could not relinquish their powers without simultaneously relinquishing their lives. Caligula would be the first of many emperors to be brutally executed in the years to come.

Related Topics:
Tiberius - Augustus - Principate - Monarchy

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