Caligula- Ancient Rome’s Tyrant Emperor

“Rome will stand as long as Coliseum does; As Coliseum falls, Rome will fall too and when Rome falls the world will collapse too” 

Since the beginning of time, it has always been believed that one will have no future if one does not know its past history, and this can apply to individuals like us, to big nations such as India or the United States of America. Because, what does history give us? History gives us knowledge of what is proven, and what is not. 

In the ancient days of battle, rulers used to ascend to the throne due to dynasty succession. It means that, in the olden days, the king, after he becomes old, and no longer fit to be a ruler of a region, hands over the throne to his son. This is known as dynasty succession. So during those old days, the son used to learn the mistakes of his father whether it be in how to hold court, to planning battles. The son used to learn from the numerous mistakes that history had taught him. If he puts the knowledge to the right use, he has already won the battle.

Let me share a story about who is known as the worst emperor that ancient Rome had ever seen. 

His name does not match his personality, for such an innocent name belonged to one of the cruelest and vicious emperors that ruled over ancient Rome for a significant period of time. He goes by the name Caligula, or by his commonly known name, Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. He was Rome’s third emperor. A funny fact about him, Caligula, in Latin, actually means “Little boots”.

So speaking about his ruling methods, we have to go further back,  from the very beginning, because every villain or hero has an origin story that makes them who they are. Therefore, it is vital to know the origin or backstory of something or someone. Now, I consider Caligula a very mad person. For he considered himself God; he used to send his numerous legions to the ends of the, then discovered world, to collect less significant items. From a very young age, Caligula was given many luxury items and was very much spoiled. However, speaking in regards to his intelligence, Caligula was considered a prodigy. 

When Caligula was seven, the ruler, Augustus died. Augustus had held his throne for nearly four decades. In public minds, Augustus was a very good, and generous king. His wish was for one of his two brothers to take his throne, however, both his brothers had died when they were young. After having a bad relationship with the third considered successor, Augustus turned to a general called ‘Tiberius’. No one was a fan of Tiberius, so Augustus thought that the only way for him to get Tiberius on the throne was to make his image a bit better for the public to accept him. Augustus told Tiberius to adopt Caligula’s father, who was Germanicus. Augustus thought that no matter how terrible Tiberius was, Germanicus would soon be in power. After Augustus’s death, Tiberius wanted to foil his plans, which resulted in Germanicus’s ‘Mysterious death. 

So in short, parents murdering their adoptive sons, rulers being ruthless and basically taking advantage of their power, this was basically Rome’s history in a nutshell. Finally going back to Caligula, Tiberius, the ruler who killed Caligula’s family, told Caligula to stay with him indefinitely. This was a sick joke, but an offer that Caligula could not decline since Tiberius was the emperor. Tiberius often brought up the deaths of Caligula’s family, trying to goad him to a fight, but Caligula was smart and never engaged. Tiberius never killed him, and with time, grew fond of him. Caligula was shown killings and tortures, and Tiberius soon found that Caligula liked watching sufferings. One fateful day, Tiberius died in his sleep. The public insisted that his body not be given proper rituals for he truly was a tyrant. Caligula became the ruler at the age of 24. The people were happy that Tiberius was finally replaced.  Initially, everyone loved Caligula, however, later on, not so much.

One day, a few years later, Caligula became sick. He was on the border of life. The public was frantic, with many priests pleading to God to make him better. Caligula, then became better,  was considered to have come back from the verge of death a changed man. To the public, Caligula said that he wanted to have fun, little did the people know, that his definition of fun was truly sadistic. 

Caligula’s behavior made a 180-degree roundabout. It was so revolting that the public was soon finding it difficult to ignore. He used to torture people just to put the fear of God in them. In AD. 39, Rome’s treasury became empty. This was mainly due to Caligula using the money for multiple torturings, wasteful extravaganzas, and funding his lavish lifestyles.  Caligula truly had a dark nature. People were taken at random from the streets, and all their properties were confiscated. Some lucky ones who were chosen at random were exiled, some unlucky, were terminated. 

Caligula was very distracted from his duties as an emperor of Rome, and during that period, his senates, and opponents started pondering and planning the rise of a new ruler. Caligula was ignorant of this and went on with his despotic rule. There were suddenly many battles and Caligula was needed at the front line of those battles. They were to battle Germans and other oppositions. There are stories about Caligula dressing up his legions as Germans so that he could slay them and appear as a hero.

In AD.40, Caligula had decided to invade a country such as Britain. He went with all his legions with the idea of a great victory, and once there, he ordered them to go to the beaches and collect seashells. Caligula then went back to Rome to celebrate his victory. He truly had been mad. Later on, rumors of Caligula had begun to spread. He claimed that he could communicate with the Gods, such as Jupiter. He wanted himself to be portrayed as god and put up his statues all over Rome. 

One day, as a planned mission by the public, Cassius Career slew him and his family. With no emperor for Rome, Cassius and their team went up to Caligula’s uncle, Claudius, and declared him emperor. Immediately, Caligula’s statues and temples were brought down to the ground. His name was wiped from history, giving Claudius a clean slate to rule.

Why is it that history remembers such a vicious and sadistic ruler? This is because history wants to show that even the quiet and celebrated people, when given unlimited powers, can become corrupt. 

But can one really believe the stories that have been presented to us? The stories of the victory over evil and its forces? Can modern historians really say that modern folk are capable of tapping into the minds of those before us? This is the reason why history can no longer be considered accurate. When there is a war, and at the end, when the battle and the events are written, who is alive that writes the stories? The victors. They write about our past, and they have the means to manipulate it in any manner. Some are overstated and exaggerated while some are understated. We only have what is written to be a statement of our origin and history. If you have the right sources, you may find different stories, but after all, history is written by man, and man is not perfect in shape or form.