Was Caligula Mad, or a Man Ahead of His Time?
Was Caligula Mad, Or A Man Ahead Of His Time?
The emperor Gaius is a very misunderstood man, who is often brandished with the label of being ‘Mad’ both by ancient and modern scholars. However, it is my belief, it was the absolute power given to him, at such a young age, which caused him to have a mental breakdown. As emperor, he had no one but himself to stop him doing whatever his heart desires, which explains his increasingly cruel and erratic behaviour between AD 37 when Caligula fell ill and AD 41 when the Praetorian Guard took matters into their own hands and assassinated the 29-year-old emperor. The immense power that Gaius was given is bet described by Ferrill, “The powers it had taken Augustus a lifetime to accumulate, Caligula received in a single moment” .
Caligula was born Gaius Julius Caesar in AD 12 to Germanicus and Agrippina, he sent his early childhood in Germany surrounded by the military, where the nickname ‘Caligula’ meaning ‘little boot’ originated as Agrippina would dress him up as a soldier. Gaius was only seven years old when his father died under highly suspicious circumstances, which must have greatly affected the rest life. Gaius was the first emperor to have never seen the Roman Republic, meaning that at the age of twenty-nine when he became emperor there were no restraints to his rule, meaning that he had absolute power to do whatever he wanted. He would also become the first Emperor to be openly assassinated .
“The new emperor began his reign under the most favourable conditions” as he was everything Tiberius was not and as such, “…he fulfilled the highest hopes of the Roman People” . Tiberius’ unpopularity was polarized due to his predecessor’s, Augustus, popularity and legacy, which proved impossible to supersede or even equal. Caligula was also a blood relative to Augustus and Julius Caesar, whereas Tiberius was only an adopted son of Augustus. So, the Roman people believed that after Tiberius’ death that Caligula
The emperor Gaius is a very misunderstood man, who is often brandished with the label of being ‘Mad’ both by ancient and modern scholars. However, it is my belief, it was the absolute power given to him, at such a young age, which caused him to have a mental breakdown. As emperor, he had no one but himself to stop him doing whatever his heart desires, which explains his increasingly cruel and erratic behaviour between AD 37 when Caligula fell ill and AD 41 when the Praetorian Guard took matters into their own hands and assassinated the 29-year-old emperor. The immense power that Gaius was given is bet described by Ferrill, “The powers it had taken Augustus a lifetime to accumulate, Caligula received in a single moment” .
Caligula was born Gaius Julius Caesar in AD 12 to Germanicus and Agrippina, he sent his early childhood in Germany surrounded by the military, where the nickname ‘Caligula’ meaning ‘little boot’ originated as Agrippina would dress him up as a soldier. Gaius was only seven years old when his father died under highly suspicious circumstances, which must have greatly affected the rest life. Gaius was the first emperor to have never seen the Roman Republic, meaning that at the age of twenty-nine when he became emperor there were no restraints to his rule, meaning that he had absolute power to do whatever he wanted. He would also become the first Emperor to be openly assassinated .
“The new emperor began his reign under the most favourable conditions” as he was everything Tiberius was not and as such, “…he fulfilled the highest hopes of the Roman People” . Tiberius’ unpopularity was polarized due to his predecessor’s, Augustus, popularity and legacy, which proved impossible to supersede or even equal. Caligula was also a blood relative to Augustus and Julius Caesar, whereas Tiberius was only an adopted son of Augustus. So, the Roman people believed that after Tiberius’ death that Caligula
Bibliography: Alston, R. (1998) Aspects of Roman Histrory AD 14-117. London: Routledge. Baldwin, B Ferrill, A. (1991) Caligula: Emperor of Rome. London: Hudson