The future emperor Claudius was Caligula's paternal uncle. Germanicus was a grandson of Mark Antony, and Agrippina was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder, making her the granddaughter of Augustus. Right: Marble portrait of Germanicus, Caligula's fatherĬaligula was born in Antium on 31 August AD 12, the third of six surviving children of Germanicus and his wife and second cousin, Agrippina the Elder. Left: Marble portrait of Agrippina, Caligula's mother Caligula's death marked the official end of the Julii Caesares in the male line, though the Julio-Claudian dynasty continued to rule until the demise of Caligula's nephew, the emperor Nero. At least some of the conspirators might have planned this as an opportunity to restore the Roman Republic and aristocratic privileges but if so, their plan was thwarted by the Praetorians, who seem to have spontaneously chosen Caligula's uncle Claudius as the next emperor. In early 41, Caligula was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy by officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators, and courtiers. He had to abandon an attempted invasion of Britain, and the installation of his statue in the Temple of Jerusalem. During his reign, the empire annexed the client kingdom of Mauretania as a province. He began the construction of two aqueducts in Rome: the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus. He directed much of his attention to ambitious construction projects and luxurious dwellings for himself. Many of the allegations against him are dismissed as misunderstandings, exaggeration, mockery or malicious fantasy.ĭuring his brief reign, Caligula worked to increase the unconstrained personal power of the emperor, as opposed to countervailing powers within the principate. Most modern commentaries seek to explain Caligula's position, personality and historical context. They portray Caligula as a noble and moderate emperor during the first six months of his rule, but increasingly self-indulgent, cruel, sadistic, extravagant and sexually perverted thereafter, an insane tyrant who demanded and received worship as a living god, and planned to make his horse a consul. Of the few surviving sources about Caligula and his four-year reign, most were written by members of the nobility and senate, long after the events they purport to describe. Tiberius died in 37 and Caligula succeeded him as emperor, at the age of 24. In 26, Tiberius withdrew from public life to the island of Capri, and in 31, Caligula joined him there. The conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor. Germanicus died at Antioch in 19, and Agrippina returned with her six children to Rome, where she became entangled in a bitter feud with emperor Tiberius, who was Germanicus' biological uncle and adoptive father. He had been named after Gaius Julius Caesar, but his father's soldiers affectionately nicknamed him "Caligula" ('little boot') Gaius accompanied his father, mother and siblings on campaign in Germania, at little more than four or five years old. He was born two years before Tiberius was made emperor. He was the son of the Roman general Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Augustus' granddaughter, members of the first ruling family of the Roman Empire. Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula ( / k ə ˈ l ɪ ɡ j ʊ l ə/), was Roman emperor from AD 37 until his assassination in AD 41.
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