20 Shocking Facts About Caligula, the Most Infamous Roman Emperor

20 Shocking Facts About Caligula, the Most Infamous Roman Emperor

Caligula, the third Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigned from 37 AD to 41 AD. His rule was marked by extravagance, cruelty, and bizarre behavior, making him one of the most infamous figures in Roman history. Although Gaius was named after Gaius Julius Caesar, he acquired the nickname Caligula meaning little boot, the diminutive form of caliga, a military boot, from his father’s soldiers during their campaign in Germania. When Germanicus died at Antioch in 19, Agrippina returned with her six children to Rome, where she became entangled in a bitter feud with the emperor Tiberiu. The conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor. 

In 26, Tiberius withdrew from public life to the island of Capri, and in 31, Caligula joined him there. Following the former’s death in 37, Caligula succeeded him as emperor. Caligula’s reign of terror came to an abrupt end in 41 AD when he was assassinated by members of his own Praetorian Guard. His death marked the end of an era, a period of madness and tyranny that had left the Roman Empire deeply scarred. Despite the brevity of his rule, Caligula’s legacy continues to endure, serving as a stark reminder of the dangers of unchecked power and the devastating consequences of unchecked ego. Read more to learn 20 shocking facts about Caligula. 

1. Caligula was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder

Caligula was born in Antium on 31 August AD 12, the third of six surviving children born to Germanicus and his wife and second cousin, Agrippina the Elder. 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.

The future emperor Claudius was Caligula’s paternal uncle. Caligula had two older brothers, Nero and Drusus, and three younger sisters, Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla. At the age of two or three, he accompanied his father, Germanicus, on campaigns in the north of Germania.

2. Caligula’s family experienced a series of tragic deaths

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Germanicus died at Antioch, Syria, in AD 19, aged only 33. Suetonius claims that Germanicus was poisoned by an agent of Tiberius, who viewed Germanicus as a political rival. After the death of his father, Caligula lived with his mother, Agrippina, until her relations with Tiberius deteriorated. Tiberius would not allow Agrippina to remarry for fear her husband would be a rival. 

 Agrippina and Caligula’s brother, Nero, were banished in the year 29 on charges of treason. The adolescent Caligula was sent to live with his great-grandmother Tiberius’ mother, Livia. After her death, he was sent to live with his grandmother Antonia Minor. In the year 30, his brother Drusus was imprisoned on charges of treason, and his brother Nero died in exile from either starvation or suicide. Suetonius writes that after the banishment of his mother and brothers, Caligula and his sisters were nothing more than prisoners of Tiberius under the close watch of soldiers.

3. Caligula became emperor at the age of 24 

Tiberius died on 16 March AD 37, a day before the Liberalia festival. Rumors circulated that Caligula, possibly assisted by Macro, smothered Tiberius with a pillow, recorded both by Suetonius and Tacitus.

However, Philo, who wrote during Tiberius’ reign, and Josephus, who began his service to the Romans under Nero, both record Tiberius as having died a natural death. Caligula assumed the leadership of the domus Caesaris and this was ratified by the senate, which acclaimed him imperator two days later on 18 March.

4. Caligula was initially popular with the Roman people 

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is described as the first emperor who was admired by everyone in all the world, from the rising to the setting sun. Caligula was loved by many for being the beloved son of the popular Germanicus and because he was not Tiberius. Suetonius said that over 160,000 animals were sacrificed during three months of public rejoicing to usher in the new reign. He describes the first seven months of Caligula’s reign as completely blissful.

Caligula’s first acts were said to be generous in spirit, though many were political in nature. Overriding Tiberius’ will, which left a legacy of 500 sesterces to each praetorian, he instead doubled it; further bonuses were granted to the city troops and the army outside Italy. Coinage indicates that donations to the praetorians may have been repeated through Caligula’s reign. A further distribution of 75 sesterces per citizen in Rome was given from 1 June to 19 July; Caligula wasted no time putting on lavish games, immediately requesting from the senate exemption from sumptuary laws limiting the number of gladiators.

5. While younger, he was nicknamed him Caligula meaning little boot

 At the age of two or three,  Caligula accompanied his father, Germanicus, on campaigns in the north of Germania. He wore a miniature soldier’s outfit, including army boots caligae and armour. The soldiers thus nicknamed him Caligula meaning little boot. He reportedly grew to dislike the nickname.

6. Caligula pardoned many who had been accused of treason during Tiberius’s reign

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Caligula also took action to win the support of the aristocracy. He made a public show of burning Tiberius’ secret papers, falsely claiming that he had not read them. On coinage, he advertised that he had restored the rule of law; to that end, he lifted a backlog on court cases in Rome by adding more jurors and lifting the need for imperial confirmation of sentences.

Refusing the title pater patriae on the grounds of his youth, he also recalled those who had been sent into exile. Stressing his descent from Augustus, he went in person to retrieve the remains of his mother and brothers for interment in the Mausoleum of Augustus. His sisters and other family members, including Claudius, who had not been a member of the imperial household during Tiberius’ reign were granted political and priestly honors. 

7. Caligula was known for his extravagant lifestyle

According to Suetonius, in the first year of Caligula’s reign he squandered 2.7 billion sesterces that Tiberius had amassed. According to Cassius Dio, a financial crisis emerged in 39. Suetonius places the beginning of this crisis in 38. Caligula’s political payments for support, generosity and extravagance had exhausted the state’s treasury. Ancient historians state that Caligula began falsely accusing, fining and even killing individuals for the purpose of seizing their estates.

Historians describe a number of Caligula’s other desperate measures. To gain funds, Caligula asked the public to lend the state money. He levied taxes on lawsuits, weddings and prostitution.Caligula began auctioning the lives of the gladiators at shows. Wills that left items to Tiberius were reinterpreted to leave the items instead to Caligula. Centurions who had acquired property by plunder were forced to turn over spoils to the state. The current and past highway commissioners were accused of incompetence and embezzlement and forced to repay money.

8. Caligula was criticized for executing people without full trials

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In the year 38, Caligula focused his attention on political and public reform. He published the accounts of public funds, which had not been made public during the reign of Tiberius. He aided those who lost property in fires, abolished certain taxes, and gave out prizes to the public at gymnastic events. He allowed new members into the equestrian and senatorial orders.

Perhaps most significantly, he restored the practice of elections. Cassius Dio said that this act though delighting the rabble, grieved the sensible, who stopped to reflect, that if the offices should fall once more into the hands of the many, many disasters would result. During the same year, though, Caligula was criticized for executing people without full trials and for forcing the Praetorian prefect, Macro, to commit suicide.

9. Caligula began auctioning the lives of the gladiators at shows to gain funds for his administration

Historians describe a number of Caligula’s other desperate measures. To gain funds, Caligula asked the public to lend the state money. He levied taxes on lawsuits, weddings and prostitution. Caligula began auctioning the lives of the gladiators at shows.

Wills that left items to Tiberius were reinterpreted to leave the items instead to Caligula. Centurions who had acquired property by plunder were forced to turn over spoils to the state. The current and past highway commissioners were accused of incompetence and embezzlement and forced to repay money.

10. Caligula executed several prominent senators, further alienating the Roman elite

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In 39, relations between Caligula and the Roman Senate deteriorated. The subject of their disagreement is unknown. A number of factors, though, aggravated this feud. The Senate had become accustomed to ruling without an emperor between the departure of Tiberius for Capri in 26 and Caligula’s accession. Additionally, Tiberius’ treason trials had eliminated a number of pro-Julian senators such as Asinius Gallus.

Caligula reviewed Tiberius’ records of treason trials and decided, based on their actions during these trials, that numerous senators were not trustworthy. He ordered a new set of investigations and trials. He replaced the consul and had several senators put to death. Suetonius reports that other senators were degraded by being forced to wait on him and run beside his chariot.

11. Caligula declared himself a god and demanded to be worshiped as such during his reign

When Tiberius died, hated by his subjects, Caligula dutifully asked the Senate to approve his deification but was turned down, in line with senatorial and popular opinion. Philo, Caligula’s contemporary, claims that Caligula costumed himself as various heroes and deities, starting with demigods such as Dionysos, Herakles and the Dioscuri, and working up to major deities such as Mercury, Venus and Apollo. Philo describes these alleged impersonations in a context of private pantomime or theatrical performances, as evidence that Caligula wanted to be a god himself.

Dio claims that Caligula sometimes referred to himself as a divinity in public meetings, and was sometimes referred to as Jupiter in public documents; Caligula’s special interest in Jupiter, king of the gods, is confirmed by all surviving sources. Simpson believes that Caligula may have considered Jupiter an equal, perhaps a rival.

12. Caligula’s attempts to conquer Roman Britain were unsuccessful

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Caligula brought up abortive attempts to extend Roman rule into Britannia. Two legions had been raised for this purpos. Ancient sources depict Caligula as being too cowardly to have attacked or as mad, but stories of his threatening decimation indicates mutinies. Beyond mutinies, it may have simply been that British chieftains acceded to Rome’s demands, removing any justification for war.

Alternatively, it could have been merely a training and scouting mission or a short expedition to accept the surrender of the British chieftain Adminius. Suetonius reports that Caligula ordered his men to collect seashells as spoils of the sea; this may also be a mistranslation to musculi, meaning siege engines. The conquest of Britannia was later achieved during the reign of his successor, Claudius.

13. Caligula was accused of engaging in incest

The later sources of Suetonius and Cassius Dio provide additional tales of insanity. They accuse Caligula of incest with his sisters, Agrippina the Younger, Drusilla, and Livilla, and say that he prostituted them to other men. Additionally, they mention affairs with various men including his brother-in-law Marcus Lepidus. 

They say he sent troops on illogical military exercises, turned the palace into a brothel, and, most famously, planned or promised to make his horse, Incitatus, a consul, and appointed a priest to serve him. In Roman political culture, insanity and sexual perversity were often presented hand-in-hand with poor governance.

14. Caligula was described as an insane emperor

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Philo and Seneca the Younger, contemporaries of Caligula, describe him as an insane emperor who was self-absorbed and short-tempered, who killed on a whim and indulged in too much spending and sex. He is accused of sleeping with other men’s wives and bragging about it, killing for mere amusement, deliberately wasting money on his bridge, causing starvation, and wanting a statue of himself in the Temple of Jerusalem for his worship.

Once, at some games at which he was presiding, he was said to have ordered his guards to throw an entire section of the audience into the arena during the intermission to be eaten by the wild beasts because there were no prisoners to be used and he was bored.

15. Caligula constructed two extravagant palaces, both of which drained the Roman treasury

He constructed two massive and extravagant palaces, the Palatine Hill and the Gardens of Maecenas, both of which drained the Roman treasury. He also restored the right to elect praetors to the comitia, which meant in practice that aediles had incentives to spend money to put on lavish spectacles to win popularity. Building projects on the Palatine hill and elsewhere were also announced, which would have been the largest of these expenditures.

The Palatine Hill which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city and has been called the first nucleus of the Roman Empire. The site is now mainly a large open-air museum while the Palatine Museum houses many finds from the excavations here and from other ancient Italian sites.

16. Caligula famously appointed his horse, Incitatus, as a consul, highlighting his insane behavior

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Incitātus was the favourite horse of Roman Emperor Caligula. According to legend, Caligula planned to make the horse a consul, although ancient sources are clear that this did not occur. 

Supposedly, Incitātus had 18 servants for himself, he lived in a marble stable, walked in a harness decorated with rare and special stones/jewels, and dressed in purple, the colour of royalty and ate from an ivory manger.

17. Caligula removed Flaccus from his position as governor of Roman Egypt and executed him

Caligula needed to quell several riots and conspiracies in the eastern territories during his reign. Aiding him in his actions was his good friend, Herod Agrippa, who became governor of the territories of Batanaea and Trachonitis after Caligula became emperor in 37. The cause of tensions in the east was complicated, involving the spread of Greek culture, Roman law and the rights of Jews in the empire. Caligula did not trust the prefect of Egypt, Aulus Avilius Flaccus. 

Flaccus had been loyal to Tiberius, had conspired against Caligula’s mother and had connections with Egyptian separatists. In 38, Caligula sent Agrippa to Alexandria unannounced to check on Flaccus. According to Philo, the visit was met with jeers from the Greek population who saw Agrippa as the king of the Jews. As a result, riots broke out in the city. Caligula responded by removing Flaccus from his position and executing him.

18. Caligula was assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard, in 41 AD

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Caligula’s actions as emperor were described as being especially harsh to the Senate, to the nobility and to the equestrian order. According to Josephus, these actions led to several failed conspiracies against Caligula. Eventually, officers within the Praetorian Guard led by Cassius Chaerea succeeded in murdering the emperor. The plot is described as having been planned by three men, but many in the Senate, army and equestrian order were said to have been informed of and involved in it. 

The situation had escalated when, in the year 40, Caligula announced to the Senate that he planned to leave Rome permanently and to move to Alexandria in Egypt, where he hoped to be worshipped as a living god. The prospect of Rome losing its emperor and thus its political power was the final straw for many. Such a move would have left both the Senate and the Praetorian Guard powerless to stop Caligula’s repression and debauchery. With this in mind Chaerea persuaded his fellow conspirators, who included Marcus Vinicius and Lucius Annius Vinicianus, to put their plot into action quickly.

19. Claudius, Caligula’s uncle succeeded him as emperor

Claudius became emperor after procuring the support of the Praetorian Guard. Claudius granted a general amnesty, although he executed a few junior officers involved in the conspiracy, including Chaerea. 

According to Suetonius, Caligula’s body was placed under turf until it was burned and entombed by his sisters. He was buried within the Mausoleum of Augustus; in 410, during the Sack of Rome, the ashes in the tomb were scattered.

20. It is claimed that that Caligula became ruthless after nearly dying of an illness in the eighth month of his reign in 37

Several contemporary and near-contemporary Roman sources describe Caligula as insane. Several modern sources suggest various possible medical explanations, including encephalitis, epilepsy or meningitis, acquired during the illness early in his reign. 

Philo, Josephus and Seneca see Caligula’s insanity as a personality trait acquired through self-indulgence and the unlimited exercise of power. Seneca states that Caligula became arrogant, angry and insulting once he became emperor. According to Josephus, the power Caligula was able to exercise led him to think himself a living God.

These shocking facts paint a picture of Caligula as a depraved and tyrannical ruler. His cruelty, extravagance, and bizarre behavior made him one of the most infamous figures in Roman history.