Caligula, third emperor of Rome, is one of the Roman
Empire’s most notorious emperors. His infamous exploits have been covered in
novels and films but he is largely ignored in most historical writings about
the Roman Empire. Early narratives of his life and rule have painted him as a
madman, living only to cater to his own cruel and sadistic insanity and doing
nothing of value for Rome. However, many scholars feel that Caligula’s
reputation is undeserved; most accounts written about the period of Caligula’s
rule exaggerate or misconstrue reality, minimize the actual events, and ignore
the fact that Caligula was beloved by the citizens of Rome until his death.
Caligula was born in AD 31 as Gaius. His mother Agrippina
was the daughter of Agrippa and Julia; Julia was the daughter of Rome’s former
ruler, Augustus1. Caligula’s
father was Germanicus, a much beloved hero of the Romans. After Germanicus’s
adoption by Tiberius, Augustus’s heir to the Empire, he married Agrippina2.
Germanicus and Agrippina had many children, the most important being Caligula
and Agrippina, the mother of the future emperor Nero. Upon the death of
Germanicus and exile of his mother, Caligula was sent to live in Rome; he had
little experience with court life, having spent his younger years in the field
with his parents and the Roman troops, often dressed as they were in miniature;
this is how he earned the name of Caligula, which means “little boots” or
“little sandals” in reference to the footwear of the soldiers. This name would
follow him throughout his rule; At times, Caligula would be said to be amused
by the name and other times, he despised it.
After the death of Tiberius, Caligula became princeps. Upon his elevation, the crowd
rejoiced. They had grown tired of Tiberius’s rule and welcomed the young leader
with cheers and referring to him with endearing nicknames. Caligula was the exoptatissimus princeps, “the emperor
most earnestly desired”3 because of his popularity with the soldiers
of his childhood and his popularity with people, as well. He began his rule as
an ally of the Roman senators also. He gave a speech announcing his intent to
rule with the help of the Senate4; although this would last only a
few months before Caligula and the Senate were at odds. Caligula declared that
citizens imprisoned or exiled during Tiberius’s rule would be freed and allowed
back into the Roman Empire and all documents concerning these cases be burned,
although copies were secretly kept5. He also reinstated the nominal control that
the citizens of Rome had over the elections, more a symbolic gesture than a
necessary one6.
During
the time of Tiberius the treasury had increased to a large amount due to the
extreme frugality of Tiberius. When Caligula took office, he quickly began to
spend the funds his predecessor had acquired; he had many obligations to attend
to that had been ignored while Tiberius was in control. There were building
projects to finish, legacies, the bequests of Tiberius’s will to the people,
the Praetorians, legionnaire’s, the Vigiles, the Vestal Virgins, and even
Claudius7. The sum of the bequests provided a boost to the economy,
along with the abolishment of the 1 percent sales tax but took a toll on the
Caligula’s treasury right from the start of his reign. As Caligula’s spending
did not decrease with the abolishment of the taxes and the large sums he had
paid out, the treasury began to dwindle until the entire surplus was gone in
approximately in the second year of his rule8.
As
the ready money Caligula had access to disappeared, he resorted to many
methods, ranging in popularity, to acquire more funds. He resorted to
auctioning off gladiators, family heirlooms, and his sister’s possessions,
using agents and extravagant descriptions to raise bids. In fact, his behavior
at these auctions – the cajoling of bidders, his mocking humor, his rebukes
–and the fact that he would sell his personal belongings were used as an
example of his madness; later emperors would be praised for the same idea9.
It was rumored that he started a brothel, worked by the relatives of Senators
and other prominent families10. He accepted gifts and legacies,
often by using threats or forcible coercion, to get money. The senate decreed
that whoever left money to Tiberius but lived longer than he did would be
obliged to give the bequest to Caligula instead. This decree would have lasting
effects, becoming a constitution under Antoninus Pius11. Caligula
also created a direct tax on the Roman citizens. This tax was on slavery
business, taverns, food sold, and prostitution. This tax was one of the only
acts that Caligula would institute that was unpopular with the general
population of Rome and the prostitution tax would remain a staple of the Roman
Empire12. However, Caligula did not leave the treasury bare when he
died. Although he built villas, spent money on showy and ornate clothes, and
was rumored to drink pearls dissolved vinegar and food covered with gold leaf,
he left enough money for Claudius, his successor, to abolish the taxes as well
as engage in expensive building projects.
Caligula
was active with foreign policy, also. He divided Africa “into two parts,
assigning the military force together with the Numidians in its vicinity to
another official [i.e. an imperial legate], an arrangement that has continued
from that time down to the present”13. By doing this, he not only
began the process that would lead to the creation of Numidia, it limited the senators’
military power14. He would also begin to incorporate Mauretania and
had the king, Ptolemy, killed to aid in the incorporation; Claudius would
complete this incorporation during his reign15. Caligula often
treated princes and client kings in the surrounding areas well; he would visit
them and give them gifts of land and money. He also traveled the areas
surrounding Rome, such as the rest of Italy, Gaul, German and Britain. Caligula
began a campaign into Britain and Germany that is often spoken of negatively because
so little of the truth is known about the actual events – there were murders,
dismissals, and possibly plots against Caligula. Whatever that actual reasons
and events, Caligula succeeded in ending invasions into the territory by
barbarians and left behind troops that were loyal in Germany and never fully
realized the campaign into Britain; however he paved the way for later emperors16.
While
Caligula was not popular with the Senate and the aristocracy of Rome, he was a
popular leader to the general population of Rome. They had welcomed him with
jubilation when he became princeps and he would do many things during his reign
to please them. During his reign, he would allow social clubs to start again –
these had been banned under Caesar17. He extended the three day celebration
of Saturnalia was extended to four and five days and renamed Juvenalis18.
Once, when a fire occurred in the Aemiliana district, he not only offered financial
support those that had lost belongings and home, he helped to put the fire out himself19.
Caligula was assassinated in January of AD 41 by members
of the Praetorian Guard, and Claudius became Emperor of Rome20. When
Caligula was assassinated, his death was not a joyous occasion among the
citizens of Rome, as it had been upon the death of Tiberius. He died as well
loved by the general population as he was when he started his reign21.
The enemies Caligula made of the Senators and the guard brought about his
downfall; his unpopularity with the Roman aristocracy caused him to be “reviled
as a monster and a madman and thus expelled outright from human society”22.
However, Caligula was most likely not any of these – just an inexperienced, sarcastic,
egotistical, and sometimes cruel, young man trying to lead an Empire and allowing
the absolute power of his position to control him; as a ruler, his policies and
innovations often had a lasting influence on the Roman Empire.
Notes
1.
Aloys Schneider Winterling, Caligula: A
Biography (Berkeley, University of California Press, 2009), 2.
2.
Ibid., 4.
3.
Ibid., 52.
4.
Anthony Barrett, Caligula: The Corruption
of Power (London, Routledge, 2003), 234.
5.
Winterling, Caligula: A Biography,
54.
6.
Barrett, Caligula: The Corruption of Power,
230.
7.
Ibid., 225.
8.
Ibid., 226.
9.
Ibid., 226-227.
10.
Ibid., 226.
11.
Ibid., 228.
12.
Ibid., 228.
13.
Sam Wilkinson, Caligula, (London,
Routledge, 2005), 35.
14.
Ibid., 35.
15.
Ibid., 36.
16.
Ibid., 38-40.
17.
Barrett, Caligula: The Corruption of Power,
230.
18.
Ibid., 229.
19.
Ibid., 225.
20.
Wilkinson, Caligula, 68.
21.
Ibid., 69-70.
22.
Winterling, Caligula: A Biography, 22.
Bibliography
Barrett,
Anthony. 2003. Caligula : The Corruption of Power. Routledge, 2003. eBook
Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed July 9, 2012).
Wilkinson,
Sam. 2005. Caligula. Routledge, 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost),
EBSCOhost (accessed July 9, 2012).
Winterling,
Aloys Schneider. 2009. Caligula: A
Biography. University of California Press, 2009.
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