Difference between revisions of "Caligula"

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*This page is edited by Samuele Rocca, Israel
#REDIRECT [[:Category:Caligula (subject)]]
*ANCIENT SOURCES: see [[Caligula (sources)]]
*SCHOLARLY AND FICTIONAL WORKS: see [[Caligula (works)]]
 
===Early Career===
[[Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus]], nicknamed [[Caligula]] (12-41 CE) was the third Roman Emperor. [[Gaius Caesar Caligula]] was born in 12 CE at [[Antium]]. He was the third son of [[Augustus]]'s adopted grandson, [[Germanicus]], and [[Augustus]]' granddaughter, [[Agrippina the Elder]]. [[Gaius Caesar]] was also nephew to [[Claudius]]. [[Gaius Caesar]] spent his early years with his father in [[Germania]]. There, he received the nickname [[Caligula]] by his father’s soldiers. After the death of his father [[Germanicus]] and the impeding deteriorations between his mother [[Agrippina the Elder]] and [[Tiberius]], [[Gaius Caesar]] was sent in 27 CE to live with his great-grandmother, [[Livia Augusta]]. Then he went back to his Julian relatives and was in care of his grandmother [[Antonia Minor]]. His sole companions were his three sisters, [[Agrippina the Younger]], [[Drusilla]], and [[Julia Livilla]], with whom he allegedly had an incestuous relation.
In 31 CE [[Gaius Caesar]] followed [[Tiberius]] on Capri until 37 CE.
===Imperial Succession===
[[Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus]] succeded [[Tiberius]] in 37 CE.  [[Tiberius]] had left the Imperial estates and the title of princeps to [[Gaius Caesar]] and his own grandson, [[Tiberius Gemellus]], who were to serve as joint heirs. However, [[Gaius Caesar]],  backed by [[Quintus Naevius Cordus Sutorius Macro]], the praefectus of the praetorius, [[Gaius Caesar]] had [[Tiberius]]’ will with regards to [[Tiberius Gemellus]] quashed. Later on, the Emperor had [[Tiberius Gemellus]] executed by [[Macro]]. [[Gaius Caesar]] relationship with the other embers of his family was not very positive. He made his uncle [[Claudius] a laughing stock. His beloved sister [[Julia Drusilla]] died in 38 CE. His other two sisters, [[Livilla]] and [[Agrippina the Younger]], were exiled. [[Gaius Caesar]] married [[Milonia Caesonia]]from whom he had a daughter, [[Julia Drusilla]]. It seems that his first acts were generous in spirit, though likely political in nature. He granted bonuses to the Praetorian Guard, destroyed [[Tiberius]]' treason papers, declared that treason trials were a thing of the past, recalled exiles, and helped those who had been harmed by the Imperial tax system. However, following an auspicious start to his reign, [[Gaius Caesar]] fell seriously ill in October of 37 CE. In the aftermath of the illness, [[Gaius Caesar]]' rule became more autocratic. In [[Italy]] [[Gaius Caesar]] had harbors at [[Rhegium]] and [[Sicily]] improved and had grain imports from [[Egypt]] increased. He had public works completed, temples built and walls repaired. His foreign policy was quite unsuccessful in the West, as his northern campaign and the attempt of crossing to [[Britannia]] resulted in a failure. However, during [[Gaius Caesar]]’s reign, [[Mauretania]] was annexed and reorganized into two provinces. [[Gaius Caesar]]'s actions as Emperor were described as being especially harsh to the Senate and the equestrian order. These actions led to at least three failed conspiracies against [[Gaius Caesar]].  However [[Gaius Caesar]] was murdered as a consequence of a successful attempt under the leadership of [[Cassius Chaerea]], one of the officers of the Praetorian Guard. Yet when in 41 C.E., [[Gaius Caesar]] was murdered by the plot, together with his wife and daughter, there was no heir. The Praetorians eventually chose [[Gaius Caesar]]’s uncle, [[Claudius]]. 
===Gaius the Jews and Judaea===
The reign of [[Gais Caesar]] was characterized by various clashes between the Jews and the Roman authorities both in [[Alexandria]] and in [[Judaea]]. In 38 CE, some members of the Greek population of [[Alexandria]] erected statues of the Emperor inside some of the synagogues of the city. The Jews broke them down. The result was that the Greek and especially the Egyptian mob of [[Alexandria]] for various days looted, burned and killed many of the Jewish residents, with the tacit complicity of [[Aulus Avilius Flaccus]], the praefectus of Egypti. The Greeks and the Jews sent each a delegation to [[Gaius Caesar]] in Rome. The Jewish delegation was under the leadership of the philosopher [[Philo]]. The two delegations arrived in 40 CE at Rome and were still there when the Emperor was murdered. In Judaea "Gaius Caesar]] had [[Marullus]] as his appointed governor for his entire tenure (37-41 CE). A similar clash occurred in the city of [[Jamnia]] in [[Judaea]]. The local Jews were angered by the erection of an altar to the Emperor and destroyed it. [[Gaius Caesar]] ordered the erection of a statue of himself in the Jewish [[Temple]] at [[Jerusalem]]. The governor of [[Syria]] [[Publius Petronius]] succeeded in delaying for nearly a year the imperial order. By then, under the mediation of [[Agrippa I]], [[Gaius Caesar]] had quashed the order. However the Emperor had also ordered the courageous [[Publius Petronius]] to take his own life. The ship bringing the new that the Emperor was dead, preceded that which ordered [[Publius Petronius]] to commit suicide. [[Herod Agrippa I]] at [[Gaius Caesar]]’s accession received the territories of [[Batanaea]] and [[Trachonitis]]. In 39 CE, as [[Agrippa I]] had [[Herod Antipas]] accused of planning a rebellion against Roman rule with the help of [[Parthia]]. The tetrarch was exiled, and [[Agrippa I]] was rewarded with his territories. Between 39 and 41 CE, [[Agrippa I]] was in Rome. [[Agrippa I]] was also instrumental in having the accession of [[Claudius]] recognized by the Senate, who wished to restore the Republic. 
 
 
==Related categories==
 
*[[Roman Emperors]]
*[[Herod Agrippa]] / [[Herod Antipas]] / [[Philo]]
 
==External links==
 
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula Wikipedia]
*[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=49&letter=C&search=Caligula Jewish Encyclopedia (1906)]
 


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[[Category:People]]
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Latest revision as of 16:58, 11 February 2012