He started a number of large building projects, and kept the roads and bridges safe.
GRANDMA
Early in his reign, his grandmother, Antonia, one of few good influences in his life, died. After this, Caligula became ill, and after his recovery, Caligula seems to have changed for the worse.
BIG SPENDER
In less than a year, he spent the entire treasury surplus of about 2.7 billion sesterces ($405 million CDN) that Augustus and Tiberius had built up. Caligula built a palace and huge pleasure boats equipped with baths, banquet halls, and gardens. He spent ten million sesterces, about equivalent of 1.5 million dollars Canadian today, on single banquets.
To raise the money to be able to maintain his luxuries, he ordered many wealthy Romans to present him with gifts and to name him in their wills. He also imposed heavy and unfair taxes on everything he could think of. Caligula even opened a brothel in his palace where Roman women could be paid for sex.
CRAZY
He did a lot of crazy things.
During his illness, there was a very faithful Roman citizen who said he would sacrifice his life for the Emperor’s recovery. Caligula made him do so, even though it was after his recovery, and made it a public showing. He was thrown off a cliff.
On one occasion, when an athlete who was to fight the lions and tigers in the arena failed to show up, Caligula ordered all his relatives be dragged out into the arena to fight those animals.
Another time, Caligula wanted to show that he was more powerful than the sea by walking over it. What he actually did was built a three mile long bridge of boats across the Bay of Naples. He then crossed the boats on horseback. He then claimed that he was like the god of Neptune, who had also “walked on water.”
He loved his horse. He gave it jewelry, made it a priest of his temple, and proposed to make it a senator.
SENATE
Although he started off well with the Senate, he soon began to dis and humiliate them. He wanted to rule without their interference. He took the power to conduct elections away from the Senate and the Senators hated him for this, but they still respected him as they feared for their own lives.
UGLY
Caligula was damn ugly. But whenever he felt lonely, he would send for women of high rank that he felt would please him best. He would have one-night stands with them and then tell all his buddies about it. He also did not like commitment. He bounced around to four different wives in about three years.
GAY
He had sexual relations with men too. One of those men, Lepidus, ended up marrying his favourite sister, Drusilla. Caligula hated Lepidus for this so he forced Drusilla to live with him. He committed incest with her and impregnated her. He was so anxious to see their god like child that he cut her open and try to rip the baby out of the womb. Drusilla died because of this and Caligula had her consecrated. Caligula declared a period of mourning in which laughing or bathing was a capital offense, punishable by death.
It is said that he blamed Lepidus for her death and had him killed the next year.
MILITARY
Caligula’s military campaigns are embarrassing. In 39 AD, Caligula assembled a huge military force of 250,000 troops with plentiful supplies of equipment and food. They set out from Mevania in Italy and quickly made it to Mainz on the Rhine river in forty days, a distance of about one thousand Roman miles. He wanted to conquer Lower Germany up to the Elbe river but ended up killing Gaetulicus, the governor of Upper Germany, whom Caligula had learned that had an assassination planned out along with a couple of Caligula’s sisters. His sisters were banished to an island. He then rested in Lyon for a few months, then gathered his troops on the coast of Gaul for an invasion of Britain, for reasons that only Caligula knows. They set up on the channel facing Britain with catapults but then told his troops to back off. When they returned to the shore, Caligula took a seat in a high tower and shouted out a command to his troops gather seashells. Everyone was confused but they captured a few hostages. They trained them to be part of the Roman army and returned to Rome.
GOD
Caligula demanded to be worshipped like a god. He built a special temple with a life-sized statue of him in gold, which was dressed up each day to resemble the clothes he was wearing that day. Standing near an image of Jupiter one day, he asked the actor Apelles who was greater, Jupiter or Caligula? When Apelles hesitated, Caligula had him killed and said “Remember, I have the power to do anything to anyone.” He then had statues of Jupiter replaced by statues of him.
SICK
Since both of the strongest influences in his life died in his first year of his reign, Caligula was disturbed. Historians say that Caligula suffered from a disease which causes aggressive behaviour. Caligula also had inherited epilepsy. At times, Caligula was unable to stand or move any of his limbs. He could not sleep for more than three hours a night and even during that time, he woke up often.
DEAD
After a 4-year reign, the Praetorians stabbed Caligula to death after he left a theatre. They also stabbed his fourth wife and killed his child. Most of the conspirators were people who Caligula had offended. After his death, Caligula’s reign had been so severe, Romans refused to believe he was actually dead.
WHO CARES?
After his death, land was still Rome’s main source of wealth, agriculture its’ major source of jobs, lived in pretty much the same houses and villas, and still attended the arena to watch sporting events. Life in Rome had little changed, even after having an insane ruler lead for four years.
