Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. His mother was one tough lady. Reports of his incest were greatly exaggerated. He may not have built his famous floating bridge, but he did launch pleasure barges in Lake Nemi. Recommended for you. How the Troubles Began in Northern Ireland. He delighted in watching torture and executions, and spent his nights in orgies of gluttony and passion.
Even the unstable Tiberius could see that Caligula was unhinged. In March of 37 A. He died a month later, and rumors swirled that Caligula had smothered him. It didn't matter. Romans were ecstatic over his death, in part because the empire now fell into the hands of Caligula, whom citizens believed packed the same qualities as his esteemed late father. The Roman Senate fell right in line, naming year-old Caligula, who had no experience in government, diplomacy or war, as sole emperor of Rome.
For a time, Caligula's efforts met with their enthusiasm. He freed citizens that had been unjustly imprisoned by Tiberius, and eliminated an unpopular tax.
He also staged lavish events, including chariot races, boxing matches, plays and gladiator shows. However, six months into his rule, Caligula fell severely ill. For nearly a month, he hovered between life and death. In October of 37 A. Tortured by headaches, Caligula wandered the palace at night. He abandoned the customary toga for silken gowns and often dressed as a woman. In addition, Caligula flaunted his power, eliminating his political rivals and forcing parents to watch the executions of their sons.
Most egregious, however, was Caligula's declaration that he was a living God, ordering a bridge to be built between his palace and the Temple of Jupiter so that he could have consultations with the deity. Not even marriage and the birth of a daughter seemed to change him. Rome soon grew to hate its leader, and citizens began a secret push to get rid of him. On January 24, 41 A.
If he ran across a man with a thick head of hair, he would have him seized and his scalp roughly shaved on the spot, as Caligula himself was balding. To pay for his extravagance, Caligula ended up raising some taxes, imposing new ones, and confiscating the property of citizens that he had murdered.
Under Augustus, the Jews had been granted certain rights and the freedom to follow their traditional practices. But Caligula deeply offended them by ordering that a statue of himself be placed in the Great Temple in Jerusalem as if he were a god, and he turned a blind eye to pogroms against them.
In an apparent desire to gain military glory, Caligula organized a massive army that he led into Gaul and Germany but accomplished nothing there. Then, with great fanfare, the emperor announced he would invade the island of Britain, but the troops never launched the attack. Instead, Caligula lined them up in battle formation on the beach facing the English Channel, ordered them to collect seashells, and declared that these were the spoils of a great victory that would be displayed in his triumph.
Another eccentric scenario involving the sea occurred on the Bay of Naples, where Caligula ordered a three-mile-long temporary bridge to be constructed across the width of the bay from Puteoli to Baiae. It was made by lining up a double row of merchant ships; an elaborate roadway was then laid down on top of them. So many grain freighters were diverted to indulge this whim that it resulted in a famine in Rome. Caligula spent several days triumphantly riding back and forth over this bridge, as well as parading the Roman army across it.
Caligula distributed bonuses to the soldiers and held sumptuous feasts and elaborate celebrations in honor of his pointless and wasteful accomplishment.
In a short time, such extravagances squandered the enormous treasury surplus that had been built up by Tiberius and plunged the empire into debt. Scholars still debate whether Caligula was merely a particularly extreme example of this phenomenon, or if he was mentally unbalanced in a clinical sense.
Some ancient authors are more direct. There is some ambiguity in the surviving sources regarding this issue.
But the worship of the genius is not the same as regarding that person as a god. Leaders could also be elevated to divine status after their deaths. In the eastern sections of the empire, there was a long tradition of ruler cults. Concerning Caligula, some sources claimed that he openly expressed the desire to be worshipped as a god, and may even have truly believed that he was some sort of deity.
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