Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,994
Caligula Is Murdered!
On January 24, 41, the Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus is generally (albeit quietly and behind his back!) called after his childhood nickname "Caligula" (= soldier's booties)...
...together with his fourth wife Milonia Caesonia...
...and his daughter Iulia Drusilla...
...murdered by members of the Praetorian Guard...:
Today, Caligula is generally regarded as the embodiment of the so-called "Caesar madness", which is repeatedly linked to an incident:
So he is said to have planned his favorite horse "Incitatus" (this monument shows Caligula and the horse)...
...to appoint a senator.
What is guaranteed is that he forced the senators individually to kneel before the animal!
Today, however, this matter with the "Caesar madness" is seen in a far more differentiated way:
There is no denying that the Emperor constantly humiliated the Senate.
He made fun of the highly ambiguous state structures created by Emperor Augustus!
Augustus had one - purely formally! - Existing republic (re)initiated, but in reality governed behind the scenes as sole ruler.
His motto may have been "It must all look Republican, but I (Augustus) must be in charge of everything!"
Even the successor of Augustus, Tiberius, could not cope with this reality! He really tried to give the Senate back its old (dominion) position, at least partially, and was accused of "hypocrisy" and "dissimulation" by the senators.
Caligula - son of Germanicus - who grew up in a legionary camp on the Rhine (digitally "rejuvenated" face of a Caligula bust!)...
...and walked around there in miniature uniforms to the delight of the soldiers (hence his nickname), now left the stage and publicly presented the Senate again and again as a powerless body.
And the common people loved him for it!
This is also the background to the story of his Senator horse! The matter was less insane than more symbolic and thus highly political (even if that is sometimes the same)...:
However, it is also undisputed that Caligula allowed hecatombs of murders to be committed. There was no blood on his hands, it was literally dripping!
His tyranny, however, was primarily aimed at one group of people: the senators, whom he hated fervently!
In addition, those who were on good terms with senators, helped or assisted them, or who were considered by Caligula to be a real or perceived threat because of their name, position (of power) or for other reasons lived dangerously.
The emperor is credited with the motto oderint, dum metuant ("Let them hate me while they fear me!").
And just as surely Caligula had a sadistic streak!
When he fell seriously ill shortly after taking office and was said to be dying (he had this rumor spread himself!), a number of Roman citizens swore to sacrifice their own lives if the emperor were to recover.
Caligula secretly had spies determine their names.
When he recovered, all those who had sworn such an oath and belonged to the upper classes were given an imperial order to commit suicide!
Those who refused were killed by Caligula's henchmen!
The assets of those who committed suicide and those who were killed were confiscated by the state (or by the emperor).
On the other hand, no hair was harmed to ordinary people who had let themselves be carried away to such an oath!
The historian Flavius Josephus writes that Caligula remained popular with sections of the population interested in elaborate games until his death, as well as with those sections of the army that had received their pay on time.
Other sources also indicate the emperor's relative popularity with the people of Rome and Italy, but probably not in the provinces of eastern Greece, where Caligula had made himself unpopular by stealing art and looting temples.
After only four years of rule, Caligula met his death at the hands of the Praetorian Guard. Initiator was her Praefectus Cassius Chaerea...
...whereby the conspiracy was co-organized by some of the senators and other influential personalities at the imperial court.
According to the ancient reports, the assassination took place in the underground corridor of a theatre, Caligula being slaughtered in the manner of a ritual sacrifice...:
The tunnel in question still exists today...:
Meanwhile, Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, who lives at the emperor's court, is hiding in the imperial palace in fear...
...an elderly relative of the murdered man.
When the praetorians search the palace and drag Claudius out of his hiding place, he thinks his last hour has come!
Instead, he sees himself proclaimed by the Guard to be the fourth emperor of Rome!
Incidentally, the story about Caligula's horse as a visible symbol of "Caesar madness" celebrates a happy resurrection in the USA during the reign of the "greatest president of all time"...:
On January 24, 41, the Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus is generally (albeit quietly and behind his back!) called after his childhood nickname "Caligula" (= soldier's booties)...
...together with his fourth wife Milonia Caesonia...
...and his daughter Iulia Drusilla...
...murdered by members of the Praetorian Guard...:
Today, Caligula is generally regarded as the embodiment of the so-called "Caesar madness", which is repeatedly linked to an incident:
So he is said to have planned his favorite horse "Incitatus" (this monument shows Caligula and the horse)...
...to appoint a senator.
What is guaranteed is that he forced the senators individually to kneel before the animal!
Today, however, this matter with the "Caesar madness" is seen in a far more differentiated way:
There is no denying that the Emperor constantly humiliated the Senate.
He made fun of the highly ambiguous state structures created by Emperor Augustus!
Augustus had one - purely formally! - Existing republic (re)initiated, but in reality governed behind the scenes as sole ruler.
His motto may have been "It must all look Republican, but I (Augustus) must be in charge of everything!"
Even the successor of Augustus, Tiberius, could not cope with this reality! He really tried to give the Senate back its old (dominion) position, at least partially, and was accused of "hypocrisy" and "dissimulation" by the senators.
Caligula - son of Germanicus - who grew up in a legionary camp on the Rhine (digitally "rejuvenated" face of a Caligula bust!)...
...and walked around there in miniature uniforms to the delight of the soldiers (hence his nickname), now left the stage and publicly presented the Senate again and again as a powerless body.
And the common people loved him for it!
This is also the background to the story of his Senator horse! The matter was less insane than more symbolic and thus highly political (even if that is sometimes the same)...:
However, it is also undisputed that Caligula allowed hecatombs of murders to be committed. There was no blood on his hands, it was literally dripping!
His tyranny, however, was primarily aimed at one group of people: the senators, whom he hated fervently!
In addition, those who were on good terms with senators, helped or assisted them, or who were considered by Caligula to be a real or perceived threat because of their name, position (of power) or for other reasons lived dangerously.
The emperor is credited with the motto oderint, dum metuant ("Let them hate me while they fear me!").
And just as surely Caligula had a sadistic streak!
When he fell seriously ill shortly after taking office and was said to be dying (he had this rumor spread himself!), a number of Roman citizens swore to sacrifice their own lives if the emperor were to recover.
Caligula secretly had spies determine their names.
When he recovered, all those who had sworn such an oath and belonged to the upper classes were given an imperial order to commit suicide!
Those who refused were killed by Caligula's henchmen!
The assets of those who committed suicide and those who were killed were confiscated by the state (or by the emperor).
On the other hand, no hair was harmed to ordinary people who had let themselves be carried away to such an oath!
The historian Flavius Josephus writes that Caligula remained popular with sections of the population interested in elaborate games until his death, as well as with those sections of the army that had received their pay on time.
Other sources also indicate the emperor's relative popularity with the people of Rome and Italy, but probably not in the provinces of eastern Greece, where Caligula had made himself unpopular by stealing art and looting temples.
After only four years of rule, Caligula met his death at the hands of the Praetorian Guard. Initiator was her Praefectus Cassius Chaerea...
...whereby the conspiracy was co-organized by some of the senators and other influential personalities at the imperial court.
According to the ancient reports, the assassination took place in the underground corridor of a theatre, Caligula being slaughtered in the manner of a ritual sacrifice...:
The tunnel in question still exists today...:
Meanwhile, Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, who lives at the emperor's court, is hiding in the imperial palace in fear...
...an elderly relative of the murdered man.
When the praetorians search the palace and drag Claudius out of his hiding place, he thinks his last hour has come!
Instead, he sees himself proclaimed by the Guard to be the fourth emperor of Rome!
Incidentally, the story about Caligula's horse as a visible symbol of "Caesar madness" celebrates a happy resurrection in the USA during the reign of the "greatest president of all time"...:
