Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus was born on the 31st of August 12 AD. He was more commonly known by his nickname Caligula, which he grew to dislike. He lived a troubled childhood, but through his charms and wit, he became the third Roman Emperor, and quite possibly the worst. He was the son of Germanicus, who was the adoptive son of the emperor Tiberius, i.e Caligula was Tiberius adoptive grandson. Germanicus was a successful general, and brought his infant son Caligula with him to military campaigns. Caligula even had his own mini soldier uniform, which is from where his nickname appeared. The soldiers were amused with the baby and named him Caligula, a variation of the term of caliga, the term given to the boots soldiers wore. Caligula’s father died in 19 AD, and Caligula’s mother, Agrippina the Elder, returned back to Rome with all her six children, where she was in an increasingly bitter argument with the emperor Tiberius about each others ancestry. This fight caused the destruction of Agrippina’s family, with Caligula left as the sole male survivor. Only three of his sisters survived, but they were all exiled. Caligula seemed untouched by the fates of his closest relatives, and he even accepted an invitation by the emperor to stay on the island of Capri. Once the emperor died of ‘natural causes’ at age 77, Caligula succeeded the throne in 37 AD. He was loved by the people and welcomed when he became emperor. He restored peace, brought down taxes, brought back all exiles, including his sisters, allowed the public to vote again, gave grants to the military, and held splendid shows. After only six months of ruling, he became seriously ill, to the point of near death. When he recovered, he was a changed man. He became mad, added unreasonable taxes on marriage and prostitution. He became aggressive and cruel, decapitating anyone who annoyed him on the grounds that the victims were plotting against him. He never gave any trials to his victims either, and it is known that he openly declared “If only Rome was just one neck”. He became sexually perverse, often prostituting the wives of his senators, turning his palace into a brothel. He drank excessive amounts of alcohol, and there are rumors that he was also his sister Drusilla’s lover. One crazy thing he is most famous for, was that he seriously taught he was not a man but a god. He built two temples in Rome devoted entirely to his worship, and he often replaced the faces of gods in temples with his own face. Another crazy thing he is most famous for, is his race horse, Incitatus. This white stallion was spoiled and treated as a human by Caligula, not for the better. The horse had a marble stable, with an ivory manger, wore purple cloaks (only the emperor and his family could wear purple), and it is even said he drank out of a gold bucket. His meals consisted of oats with flakes of gold. Incitatus even had his own slaves, a fully furnished house in which he ‘invited’ his guests, and it was rumored that Caligula had found him several wives, some other female horses, some human women. Caligula believed that Incitatus was also a combination of all gods, and he wished for his beloved horse to be treated like one. There were also myths that Incitatus was Caligula’s ‘lover’, and the emperor would often ‘invite’ his friend into his bedroom. His objective was to make Incitatus a Senate, in addition to his already existing role of priest, but he was assassinated before he could accomplish that goal.
He was stabbed 30 times while attending the games by a group of co-conspirators. The main man behind the operation, also the first one to stab Caligula, was Cassius Chaerea, a soldier in Caligula’s army. He was tired of being made fun off and always being called demeaning names publicly by the emperor. Many of the Senators were aware of the prepared attack, some were even taking part. Caligula died on the 24th of January 41 AD, at age 29. It is unknown what exactly happened to Incitatus, some say the horse attacked his master and Caligula had his horse killed, others say the horse was killed by the same men who assassinated Caligula.

Reference: http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/Mediterranean/Caligula.html, http://www.nndb.com/people/775/000027694/, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula, http://www.artbycrane.com/caligula_incinatus.html, http://www.helium.com/items/1310089-emperor-caligulas-horse, http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/caligula.html

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