Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus
31st August, 12AD
In March of 37AD, the 78 year old Tiberius was on his last legs. He had taken to his bed in the villa of one Lucius Licinius Lucullus at Misenum and was fading fast. His doctor, Charicles, told the Praetorian Prefect, Marco, that the old emperor was sinking fast and wouldn’t last the next two days. Generals, senators, officials and governors scurried back and forth, making arrangements for the inevitable. On March the 16th, Tiberius stopped breathing.
Immediately a crowd surrounded the young Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, congratulating him. All thoughts of mourning could wait for another time. Handshakes were all around, backs were patted, laughter filled the air.
Gaius was delighted. He had just become the emperor of Rome. He stood in the center of an admiring throng, everyone eager to touch his robe. Everyone keen to be his best friend. This is what he had been born to do.
Suddenly, Charicles hurried back in. Tiberius was not only breathing again; he was sitting up in bed and asking for his evening meal.
The mood changed instantly. There was panic. If word got to Tiberius that they were celebrating with Gaius as he lay ‘dead' in the room next door, there would be hell to pay. Everyone suddenly pretended to either still be deep in grief or completely unaware of what was going on. Grown men who had been cheering only moments before now pretended to have been crying and wailing in grief all along. Messengers raced from the building, trying to catch up with earlier missives before chaos began.
And in the middle of this constantly ebbing and flowing maelstrom stood Gaius. Shocked. Stunned into silence. A young man alone in the middle at the heart of the most powerful empire on Earth. His hopes of glory dashed. It was to become a theme for the rest of his life.
Marco looked around at the unfolding mess around him. There was going to be bloodshed. Even if Tiberius lasted another week, people were going to die because of this. There were laws against slighting the image of the emperor. One man was executed for carrying a coin bearing the emperor’s head into the latrine with him. Another barely escaped alive after touching a bedpan whilst wearing a ring bearing the emperor’s cameo on it. Only the quick thinking of a slave, who slipped it off his master’s hand before the guard arrived, saved him. Laughing and cheering when he died….. It was a terrifying prospect.
And Marco instantly knew what to do.
He slipped out of the room, into the bedroom where Tiberius sat, propped up by his pillows, weakly but angrily demanding bread and hot water. Marco ordered the doctors and nurses from the room, knelt before the emperor, picked up some bedclothes and smothered the old man to death.
And with that, Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus became the emperor of Rome.
Again.
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known as Caligula, was born on August 31, 12 AD, into the prestigious Julio-Claudian dynasty. His father, Germanicus, was a highly respected Roman general, and his mother, Agrippina the Elder, was the granddaughter of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Caligula was affectionately nicknamed "Caligula," meaning "little boot," by the soldiers in his father’s army due to the small military boots he wore as a child.
Caligula’s early life was marked by tragedy and political intrigue. His father, Germanicus, died under suspicious circumstances when Caligula was only seven years old. Following his father's death, Caligula and his family became embroiled in the deadly power struggles within the Roman imperial family. His mother, Agrippina, and two of his brothers were accused of treason and either died in prison or were executed. Caligula, however, managed to survive by maintaining a low profile, eventually finding refuge in the household of his great-uncle, Emperor Tiberius.
Tiberius, who ruled Rome from 14 to 37AD, was a paranoid and reclusive emperor who spent much of his reign on the island of Capri. It was there that Caligula was summoned as a teenager, and he quickly learned to navigate the treacherous waters of the imperial court. Tiberius, despite his suspicion of almost everyone around him, took a liking to Caligula, perhaps seeing in him a useful tool for his own purposes. Some historical accounts suggest that Caligula was forced to participate in the emperor's debauched activities, which may have contributed to the dark and erratic personality he would later exhibit.
When Tiberius died, Caligula’s ascension to the throne was met with widespread joy and optimism, as he was seen as the son of the beloved Germanicus and a breath of fresh air after Tiberius’s oppressive reign. The Senate even granted him the title of "Pater Patriae" (Father of the Fatherland) and showered him with honors. However, the initial euphoria quickly faded as Caligula’s true nature began to reveal itself.
The first few months of Caligula’s reign were relatively calm, but he soon fell gravely ill. After recovering, his behavior took a dramatic turn for the worse. Many historians believe that this illness may have been a turning point, possibly affecting his mental stability. Caligula began to exhibit signs of megalomania and paranoia, leading to a reign characterized by cruelty, extravagance, and bizarre actions that shocked the Roman populace.
One of the most notorious aspects of Caligula’s reign was his extravagant lifestyle. He squandered vast amounts of money on lavish games, feasts, and construction projects, including the construction of two massive ships on Lake Nemi, which were later discovered and are considered marvels of ancient engineering. Caligula also declared himself a living god and demanded to be worshiped as such, erecting statues of himself in temples across the empire. His divine pretensions reached a peak when he ordered the erection of a statue of himself in the Temple of Jerusalem, an act that nearly led to a rebellion in the province of Judea.
Caligula's cruelty extended to both the Senate and his own family. He humiliated senators, forcing them to run alongside his chariot for miles or to kiss his feet in public. He also engaged in sadistic games, such as inviting senators to dinner only to have them executed during the meal. His relations with his family were equally brutal. He exiled or executed several of his relatives, including his sisters, whom he initially adored.
Caligula’s personal life was as turbulent and controversial as his reign. His relationships with his wives and family were marked by scandal, violence, and excess. Caligula was married four times, and each marriage was emblematic of the instability and ruthlessness that characterized his rule. His first marriage was to Junia Claudilla, the daughter of a prominent senator, in 33AD, before he became emperor. This marriage was likely arranged to strengthen political alliances, but it ended tragically when Junia died during childbirth in 36AD. Her death left Caligula deeply affected, and some accounts suggest that it contributed to his increasingly erratic behavior.
After Junia’s death, Caligula’s marriages became more strategic and ruthless. His second wife, Livia Orestilla, was already married when Caligula became enamored with her. During a wedding celebration in 37AD, he reportedly ordered her to leave her husband and marry him instead. This marriage, however, was short-lived; Caligula divorced her after only a few months, claiming that she had committed adultery—a charge that was likely fabricated to suit his whims. After the divorce, Caligula banished Orestilla from Rome, showcasing his callousness toward those who crossed him.
Caligula’s third marriage was to Lollia Paulina, another woman who was already married when Caligula set his sights on her. He ordered her to divorce her husband and marry him, which she did, fearing the consequences of refusal. However, this marriage, like the previous one, did not last long. Within a year, Caligula divorced Lollia, citing his dissatisfaction with her, and ordered her never to remarry under threat of death. Lollia was later accused of plotting against Caligula’s successor, Emperor Claudius, and was forced to commit suicide—a tragic end that underscored the perilous nature of being connected to Caligula.
His fourth and final marriage was to Milonia Caesonia, a woman who was neither young nor particularly beautiful by Roman standards. Caesonia was already a mother when Caligula married her, and their relationship was marked by a passionate and public love affair. Caligula’s affection for Caesonia was intense; he flaunted her in public, and some sources even claim that he would show her off to his friends, sometimes in compromising situations. Their marriage produced a daughter, Julia Drusilla, whom Caligula adored and treated as a divine figure, much like her namesake, his sister Drusilla.
Speaking of his sister Drusilla, Caligula’s relationship with her was perhaps the most scandalous aspect of his personal life. Drusilla was Caligula’s favorite sibling, and their bond was so close that it sparked rumors of an incestuous relationship. Ancient historians, such as Suetonius and Cassius Dio, suggest that Caligula treated Drusilla not just as a sister but as a consort, and he allegedly engaged in sexual relations with her. When Drusilla died in 38AD, Caligula was devastated. He declared a period of public mourning, during which he ordered that anyone who laughed, bathed, or dined with their family would be put to death. He also deified Drusilla, officially naming her "Diva Drusilla," and consecrated her as a goddess in the Roman pantheon, an unprecedented act that scandalized the Roman elite.
Caligula’s relationships with his other sisters, Agrippina the Younger and Julia Livilla, were also fraught with tension and suspicion. After Drusilla’s death, Agrippina and Livilla found themselves falling out of favor with their brother. They were accused of conspiring against Caligula, possibly due to their perceived ambitions or simply because Caligula’s paranoia had grown to such an extent that he trusted no one, not even his own family. In 39AD, both sisters were exiled, and their property was confiscated. Agrippina the Younger would later return to Rome and play a crucial role in the reign of her son, Nero, but during Caligula’s rule, her fortunes were precarious.
Caligula’s paranoia extended beyond his immediate family to other members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He viewed potential rivals with suspicion and dealt with them ruthlessly. His cousin, Tiberius Gemellus, who had been named co-heir by Tiberius, was one such victim. Although initially spared, Caligula eventually ordered Gemellus’s execution, accusing him of plotting against him. Caligula also targeted his brother-in-law, Marcus Lepidus, whom he initially favored but later executed on charges of treason.
Caligula's erratic behavior and tyrannical rule eventually led to widespread discontent. He made particular sport of humiliating a Praetorian tribune named Cassius Chaerea, mocking the way he spoke and his supposed effeminate manner. Caligula would change the watchwords for Chaerea’s duty to ‘Venus’, an incredibly feminine word, or ‘Priapus’, the name of a minor phallic god with a huge prick. When Chaerea bowed to kiss the emperor’s ring, Caligula would “hold out his hand to kiss, forming and moving it in an obscene fashion”.
Chaerea could take no more. Although there were probably dozens of plots ready to go at any second, he struck first. On the 24th of January, 41AD Caligula was, shockingly, mingling with actors - male actors at that - in a narrow corridor below the palace when Chaerea drew a blade and stabbed him in the throat. The tight passage, thronged with people, left no room for escape. Chaerea and his fellow plotters hacked wildly at the falling emperor, stabbing those around him, too. Innocent senators and bystanders fell under the whirling blades. Caligula’s Batavian guards scrambled to stop them, but couldn’t get near the dying emperor in the confined space.
In a rage of carnage, it took the Praetorians to stop the slaughter. In the end, Chaerea didn’t have enough influence to dictate what happened next and in the chaos, the plotters hunted down Caligula’s wife, Caesonia, and their young daughter Julia Drusilla, cutting them to pieces. They ransacked the palace, looking for Claudius to chop him up, too, but the rescuing Praetorians found him first and swept him, somewhat reluctantly, to power.
Chaerea was arrested, one of few who were. He was sentenced to death and, being a soldier, asked that it was done with his own sword. A request that was granted.