The Influence Of Caligula In Rome

During his adolescence while these events were unfolding, it was rumoured and publicly known throughout Rome that Caligula adored his sister Drusilla, maybe a little too much. One source stated that “He caught in incest with his sister Drusilla while still in his teens.” This was not considered normal or righteous in Roman custom during Caligula’s age. However, during Tiberius’s reign as Emperor, his way of life and ruling would have influenced and changed Caligula’s view on how to rule as an Emperor. When Caligula was living with Tiberius at his Court in Capri, he was getting old and needed to find a successor and the only option was Caligula. However, the world Caligula endured at Capri, would have been nothing for which he would have seen,
Sometime during his ruling, he fell terribly ill for two months. It is said that his extravagant and insane behaviour began after his recovery from this unknown illness. It appears that Caligula never fully recovered from his illness and heightened his mental instability. Suetonius a Roman historian quoted, “Up to this point I have written as If about a Princeps, everything else I write concerns the monster.” He was writing about him during the time of the Roman Empire where even his judgement was a misperception and altered over time as he started to realise that his actions were crazed, ruthless and evil. Caligula started to commit horrible actions such as killing and torturing people for fun. It is to be noted however that this was considered normal and happened on a daily basis in the Roman Empire, as Caligula was not the only emperor that took people’s lives. One of Caligula’s most famous and well known quote was “Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.” This clearly indicates that he had little regard for how people perceived him or being popular, as he had the absolute power and willingness to kill, injure, humiliate or exile anyone who opposed, disagreed with him or were a threat to him. As long as he had complete power and authority over his people, he used fear and threats in order to