Gaius julius caesar augustus germanicus of rome

Rome regarded Germany as a wild territory of forests and swamps, with little wealth compared to territories Rome already had. In addition to the recovery of two of the three lost eagles, Germanicus had fought Arminius, the leader who destroyed the three Roman legions in AD 9. In leading his troops across the Rhine without recourse to Tiberius, he contradicted the advice of Augustus to keep that river as the boundary of the empire, and opened himself to potential doubts from Tiberius about his motives in taking such independent action.

This error in political judgment gave Tiberius reason to controversially recall his nephew. At the beginning of AD 17, Germanicus returned to the capital and on 26 May he celebrated a triumph. He had captured a few important prisoners, but Arminius was still at large.

Gaius julius caesar augustus germanicus of rome: Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus,

And yet, Strabo, who may have been in Rome at the time, in mentioning the name of Thusneldathe captured pregnant wife of Arminius, draws attention to the fact that her husband, the victor at Teutoburg Forest, had not been captured and the war itself had not been won. Germans Defeated. His triumph included a long procession of captives including the wife of Arminius, Thusnelda, and her three-year-old son, among others of the defeated German tribes.

Tiberius gave money out to the people of Rome in Germanicus' name, and Germanicus was scheduled to hold the consulship next year with the emperor. As a result, in AD 18, Germanicus was granted the eastern part of the empire, just as Agrippa and Tiberius had received before, when they were successors to the emperor. Following his triumph, Germanicus was sent to Asia to reorganize the provinces and kingdoms there, which were in such disarray that the attention of a domus Augusta was deemed necessary to settle matters.

Germanicus had a busy year in He restored a temple of Spes[ 59 ] and allegedly won a chariot race in the name of Tiberius at the Olympic Games that year. However, Eusebius, our main reference for this, does not name Germanicus, and Tacitus makes no reference to this occasion either, which would have required Germanicus to make two trips to Greece within a year.

He sailed down the Illyrian coast of the Adriatic Sea to Greece. He arrived at Nicopolis near the site of the Battle of Actiumwhere he took up his second consulship on 18 January AD There he visited the site of Troy and the oracle of Apollo Claros near Colophon. Piso left at the same time as Germanicus, but traveled directly to Athens and then to Rhodes where he and Germanicus met for the first time.

From there Piso left for Syria where he immediately began replacing the officers with men loyal to himself in a bid to win the loyalty of his soldiers. Next Germanicus traveled through Syria to Armenia where he installed king Artaxias as a replacement for Vononeswhom Augustus had deposed and placed under house arrest at the request of the king of ParthiaArtabanus.

The king of Cappadocia died too, whereupon Germanicus sent Quintus Veranius to organize Cappadocia as a province — a profitable endeavor as Tiberius was able to reduce the sales tax down to. The revenue from the new province was enough to make up the difference lost from lowering the sales tax. The kingdom of Commagene was split on whether or not to remain free or to become a province with both sides sending deputations, so Germanicus sent Quintus Servaeus to organize the province.

Having settled these matters he traveled to Cyrrhusa city in Syria between Antioch and the Euphrateswhere he spent the rest of AD 18 in the winter quarters of the Legion X Fretensis. Evidently here Piso attended Germanicus, and quarreled because he failed to send troops to Armenia when ordered. Artabanus sent an envoy to Germanicus requesting that Vonones be moved further from Armenia as to not incite trouble there.

Germanicus complied, moving Vonones to Ciliciaboth to please Artabanus and to insult Piso, with whom Vonones was friendly. He then made his way to Egyptarriving to a tumultuous gaius julius caesar augustus germanicus of rome in January AD He had gone there to relieve a famine in the country vital to Rome's food supply. The move upset Tiberius, because it had violated an order by Augustus that no senator shall enter the province without consulting the emperor and the Senate Egypt was an imperial provinceand belonged to the emperor.

He returned to Syria by summer, where he found that Piso had either ignored or revoked his orders to the cities and legions. Germanicus in turn ordered Piso's recall to Rome, although this action was probably beyond his authority. In the midst of this feud, Germanicus became ill and despite the fact Piso had removed himself to the port of Seleuciahe was convinced that Piso was somehow poisoning him.

Tacitus reports that there were signs of black magic in Piso's house with hidden body-parts and Germanicus's name inscribed on lead tablets. Germanicus sent Piso a letter formally renouncing their friendship amicitia. Germanicus died soon after on 10 October of that year. This was never proven, and Piso killed himself while facing trial.

The death of Germanicus in dubious circumstances greatly affected Tiberius's popularity in Rome, leading to the creation of a climate of fear in Rome itself. Also suspected of connivance in his death was Tiberius's chief advisor, Sejanuswho would, in the 20s, create an atmosphere of fear in Roman noble and administrative circles by the use of treason trials and the role of delatoresor informers.

When Rome had received word of Germanicus' death, the people began observing a iustitium before the Senate had officially declared it. Tacitus says this shows the true grief that the people of Rome felt, and this also shows that by this time the people already knew the proper way to commemorate dead princes without an edict from a magistrate.

At his funeral, there were no procession statues of Germanicus. There were abundant eulogies and reminders of his fine character and a particular eulogy was given by Tiberius himself in the Senate. The historians Tacitus and Suetonius record the funeral and posthumous honors of Germanicus. His name was placed into the Carmen Saliareand onto the curule seats that were placed with oaken garlands over them as honorary seats for the Augustan priesthood.

His ivory statue was at the head of the procession during the Circus Games; his posts as priest of Augustus and Augur were to be filled by members of the imperial family; knights of Rome gave his name to a block of seats at a theatre in Rome, and rode behind his effigy on 15 July AD After consulting with his family, Tiberius made his wishes known whereupon the Senate collected the honors into a commemorative decree, the Senatus Consultum de memoria honoranda Germanini Caesarisand ordered the consuls of AD 20 to issue a public law honoring the death of Germanicus, the Lex Valeria Aurelia.

Although Tacitus stressed the honors paid to him, the funeral and processions were carefully modeled after those of Gaius and LuciusAgrippa's sons. This served to emphasize the continuation of the domus Augusta across the transition from Augustus to Tiberius. Commemorative arches were built in his honor and not just in Rome, but at the frontier on the Rhine and in Asia where he had governed in life.

The arch of the Rhine was placed alongside that of his father, where the soldiers had built a funerary monument honoring him. Portraits of him and his natural father were placed in the Temple of Apollo on the Palatine in Rome. On the day of Germanicus' death his sister Livilla gave birth to twins by Drusus. The oldest was named Germanicus and died young.

Gaius julius caesar augustus germanicus of rome: Byname of: Gaius Caesar ; In

In 37, Germanicus' only remaining son, Caligula, became emperor and renamed September Germanicus in honor of his father. Less monumental, Augustus' horse received a funeral mound, which Germanicus wrote a poem about. Piso was rumored to have been responsible for Germanicus' death. As accusations accumulated, it was not long before the well known accuser, Lucius Fulcinius Triobrought charges against him.

The continued support of the Pisones and his own friendship with Piso made Tiberius hesitant to hear the case himself. After briefly hearing both sides, Tiberius referred the case to the Senate, making no effort to hide his deep anger toward Piso. Tiberius made allowances for Piso to summon witnesses of all social orders, including slaves, and he was given more time to plead than the prosecutors, but it made no difference: before the trial was over Piso died; ostensibly by suicide, but Tacitus supposes Tiberius may have had him murdered before he could implicate the emperor in Germanicus' death.

The accusations brought against Piso are numerous, including: [ 84 ] [ note 9 ]. He was found guilty and punished posthumously for treason. The Senate had his property proscribed, forbade mourning on his account, removed images of his likeness, such as statues and portraits, and his name was erased from the base of one statue in particular as part of his damnatio memoriae.

Yet, in a show of clemency not unlike that of the emperor, the Senate had Piso's property returned and divided equally between his two sons, on condition that his daughter Calpurnia be given 1, sesterces as dowry and a further 4, as personal property. His wife Plancina was absolved. In AD 4, Germanicus wrote a Latin version of Aratus 's Phainomenawhich survives, wherein he rewrites the contents of the original.

Antonia Minor Octavia Minor Caligula Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa 6. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa 3. Agrippina the Elder Augustus Julia the Elder Lucius Scribonius Libo Scribonia Relics [ change change source ].

Gaius julius caesar augustus germanicus of rome: Caligula was born in

References [ change change source ]. Caligula: the corruption of power. Batsford, London. Retrieved June 30, Other websites [ change change source ]. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Caligula. Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Caligula. Julio-Claudian dynasty. Roman and Byzantine emperors. Vaballathus Zenobia Septimius Antiochus.

Authority control. Categories : 12 births 41 deaths 1st-century Roman emperors Assassinated Roman politicians. Toggle the table of contents. Emperor of the Roman Empire. Bust of the Emperor Gaius, known as Caligula. But he literally wallowed in luxury, allegedly rolling around in piles of money and drinking precious pearls dissolved in vinegar.

According to the ancient historian Suetonius, the Roman emperor known as Caligula loved one of his horses, Incitatus, so much that he gave the steed a marble stall, an ivory manger, a jeweled collar and even a house. Another chronicler, Cassius Dio, later wrote that servants fed the animal oats mixed with gold flakes. Famous […]. A conspiracy formed between the Praetorian Guard, the Senate and the equestrian order, and in late January of 41, Caligula was stabbed to death, along with his wife and daughter, by officers of the Praetorian Guard led by Cassius Chaerea.

You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States. Your Profile. Previous attempts had foundered or faded out when faced with the rewards and risks of betrayal by colleagues, whether through torture, fear of torture or promised reward. The Senate was a disunited body of self-interested, wealthy and mistrustful aristocrats, unwilling to risk their own prospects, and determined to present a virtuous, united front.

He was also known to do Caligula's "dirty work" for him, including torture. Chaerea, Sabinus and others accosted Caligula as he addressed an acting troupe of young men beneath the palace during a series of games and dramatics being held for the Divus Augustus. They killed several of Caligula's party, including some innocent senators and bystanders.

The killing only stopped when the Praetorians took control. Josephus reports that the Senate tried to use Caligula's death as an opportunity to restore the Republic. This would have meant the abolition of the office of emperor, the end of dynastic rule, and restoration of the former social stature and privilege of nobles and senators. Some modern scholars believe he was the conspiracy's main instigator.

Almost all the named conspirators were from the elite. When Caligula's death was confirmed, the nobles and gaius juliuses caesar augustus germanicus of rome who had prospered through hypocrisy and sycophancy during his reign dared to claim prior knowledge of the plot, and share the credit for its success with their peers. Others sought to distance themselves from anything to do with it.

The assassins, fearing continued support for Caligula's family and allies, sought out and murdered Caligula's wife, Caesoniaand their young daughter Julia Drusilla[ ] but were unable to reach Caligula's uncle, Claudius. In the traditional account, a soldier, Gratusfound Claudius hiding behind a palace curtain. A sympathetic faction of the Praetorian Guard smuggled him out to their nearby camp, [ ] and nominated him as emperor.

The Senate, faced with what now seemed inevitable, confirmed their choice. Caligula's "most powerful and universally feared adviser", the freedman Callistusmay have engineered this succession, having discreetly shifted his loyalty from Caligula to Claudius while Caligula lived. The killing of Caligula had been extralegal, tantamount to regicideand those who carried it out had broken their oaths of loyalty to him.

Claudius, as a prospective replacement for Caligula, could acknowledge his predecessor's failings but could not be seen to condone his murder, or find fault with the principate as an institution. Caligula had been popular with a clear majority of Rome's lesser citizenry, and the Senate could not afford to ignore the fact. Claudius appointed a new Praetorian prefect, and executed Chaerea, a tribune named Lupus, and the centurions involved.

He allowed Sabinus to commit suicide. Claudius refused the Senate's requests to formally declare Caligula hostis a public enemyor condemn his memory see damnatio memoriae. He also turned down a proposal to officially condemn all the Caesars and destroy their temples. Caligula's name was removed from the official lists of oaths and dedications; some inscriptions were removed or obliterated; most of his statues had the heads recut, to resemble Augustus, or Claudius, or in one case, Nero, who would suffer a similar fate.

According to Suetonius, Caligula's body was placed under turf until it was burned and entombed by his sisters. Caligula's childhood health may have been delicate; Augustus appointed two physicians to accompany his journey north to join his parents, in AD 14; Suetonius connects this to possible childhood bouts of epilepsy.

Gaius julius caesar augustus germanicus of rome: Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus

As an adult, he was subject to fainting fits. He was a habitually light sleeper, prone to nodding off during banquets, sleeping no more than 3 hours in any one night, and subject to vivid nightmares. Barrett describes him as "nervous and highly strung". When speaking in public, he would fidget and move about, overcome by the flood of his own words and ideas; despite that, he was an eloquent speaker.

He grew stronger with age, but was probably never robust or athletic, despite his practise as a charioteer. Little is known of his illness in 38, nor what it changed, if anything, but it was a serious, possibly life-threatening event. Philo blames it on Caligula's habitual over-indulgence in rich foods and wine, general intemperance and a stress-induced nervous breakdown.

Philo believed that the illness removed Caligula's pretence of decency, and revealed his inner cruelty and ruthlessness, evident in the murders of his own father-in-law, Silanus, and young cousin Gemellus. The sources are somewhat contradictory on the matter of Caligula's sex life. Seneca claims that during a public banquet he humiliated senator Decimus Valerius Asiaticushis "especial friend", with a loud first-hand account of Valerius' wife's disappointing performance in bed.

Like most marriages in Rome's upper echelons and, perhaps, all but one of Caligula's four marriages, this was a political alliance, intended to produce a legitimate heir and further Caligula's dynasty. Junia and her baby died in child-birth, less than a year later. Suetonius and Dio claim that Caligula met Livia Orestilla at her marriage to Gaius Calpurnius Pisoand abducted her so that he could marry her instead and father a legitimate heir.

When she proved faithful to her former husband, Caligula banished her. The Arval Brethren 's records confirm her marriage to Piso, but under ordinary Roman custom. His fourth and last marriage, to Caesoniaseems to have been a love-match, in which he was both "uxorious and monogamous", and fathered a daughter whom he named Julia Drusillain commemoration of his late sister.

Tales reported by Josephus, Suetonius and the satirist Juvenal regarding Caligula's sexual dynamism are inconsistent with rumours that Caesonia had to arouse his interest with a love potion, which turned his mind and brought on his "madness". Allegations of incest between Caligula and his sisters, or just he and his favourite, Drusilla, go back no further than Suetonius, who admits that in his own time, they were hearsay.

Seneca and Philo, moralising contemporaries of Caligula, do not mention these stories even after Caligula's death, when it would have been safe to do so. Caligula's devotion to his youngest sister was evident but then as now, allegations of incest fit the amoral, "mad Emperor" stereotype, promiscuous with money, sex and the lives of his subjects.

Dio repeats, as fact, the rumour that Caligula also had "improper relations" with his two older sisters, Agrippina and Livilla. There is no reliable evidence of Caligula's mental state at any time in his life. Had he been thought truly insane, his misdeeds would not have been thought his fault: Winterling points out that in Roman law, the insane were not legally responsible for their actions, no matter how extreme.

Responsibility for their control and restraint fell on those around them. Given near limitless powers to use as he saw fit, he used them to feed his sense of self-importance, "practically devoid of any sense of moral responsibility, a man for whom the tenure of the principate was little more than an opportunity to exercise power". Caligula "clearly had a highly developed sense of the absurd, resulting in a form of humour that was often cruel, sadistic and malicious, and which made its impact essentially by cleverly scoring points over those who were in no position to respond in kind.

Philo saw Caligula's illness of 37 as a form of nervous collapse, a response to the extreme stresses and strains of Imperial rule, for which Caligula was temperamentally ill-equipped. They include maniabipolar disorderschizophreniaencephalitismeningitisand epilepsythe so-called "falling sickness". In the ancient world, a person's physique was believed to be a reliable guide to their character and behaviour.

Most facts and circumstances of Caligula's reign are lost to history. The two most important literary gaius juliuses caesar augustus germanicus of rome on Caligula and his reign are Suetonius, a government official of equestrian rank, born around 70 AD; and Cassius Dio, a Bithynian senator who held consulships in AD and Suetonius tends to arrange his material thematically, with little or no chronological framework, more biographer than historian.

He dedicates 13—21 chapters [ clarification needed ] to positive features of Caligula's reign but nearly 40 to Caligula as "monster". Philo 's works On the Embassy to Gaius and Flaccus give some details on Caligula's early reign, but more on events involving Jews in Judea and Egypt, whose political and religious interests conflicted with those of the ethnically Greek, pro-Roman population.

Philo saw Caligula as responsible for the suffering of the Jews, whom he invariably portrays in a morally positive light. Seneca was prone to "grovelling flattery" of whoever reigned at the time. His experience under Caligula "could have clouded his judgment". He narrowly avoided a death sentence in AD 39, probably imposed for his association with known conspirators.

Caligula had a low opinion of his literary style. Further contemporaneous histories of Caligula's reign are attested by Tacitus, who describes them as biased for or against Caligula; of Tacitus' own work, little of relevance to Caligula survives but Tacitus' works testify to his general hostility to the imperial system. Among the known losses of his works is a substantial portion of the Annals.

Tacitus describes Fabius Rusticus as a friend of Seneca, prone to embellishments and misrepresentations. Caligula's sister, Agrippina the Youngerwrote an autobiography that included a detailed account of Caligula's reign, but it too is lost. Agrippina was banished by Caligula for her connection to Marcus Lepidus, who conspired against him. Gaetulicus flattered Caligula in writings now lost.

Suetonius wrote his biography of Caligula 80 years after his assassination, and Cassius Dio over years after; the latter offers a loose chronology. Josephus gives a detailed account of Caligula's assassination and its aftermath, published around 93 AD, but it is thought to draw upon a "richly embroidered and historically imaginative" anonymous biography of Herod Agrippa, presented as a Jewish "national hero".

Of the few surviving sources on Caligula, none paints Caligula in a favourable light. Little has survived on the first two years of his reign, and only limited details on later significant events, such as the annexation of Mauretania, Caligula's military actions in Britannia, and the basis of his feud with the Senate. Contents move to sidebar hide.

Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item. Roman emperor from AD 37 to For other uses, see Caligula disambiguation. Marble bustAD 37— Julia Drusilla Tiberius Gemellus adoptive. Early life [ edit ]. See also: Julio-Claudian family tree.

Capri [ edit ]. Emperor [ edit ]. Early reign [ edit ]. Princeps [ edit ]. Illness and recovery [ edit ]. Public profile [ edit ]. Public reform and finance [ edit ]. Tax and treasury [ edit ]. Coinage [ edit ]. Construction [ edit ]. See also: Caligula's Giant Ship and Nemi "gaius juliuses caesar augustus germanicus of rome." Treason trials [ edit ].

Incitatus [ edit ]. Bridge at Baiae [ edit ]. Provinces [ edit ]. Judaea and Egypt [ edit ]. Germany and the Rhine frontier [ edit ]. Auctions [ edit ]. Britannia [ edit ]. Mauretania [ edit ]. Italy and Roman provinces. Independent countries. Client states Roman puppets. Mauretania seized by Caligula. Former Roman provinces Thrace and Commagena made client states by Caligula.

Religion [ edit ]. Assassination and aftermath [ edit ]. Personal life [ edit ]. Mental condition [ edit ]. Contemporary historiography [ edit ]. Modern depictions [ edit ]. In film and series [ edit ]. In literature and theatre [ edit ]. In opera [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. Notes [ edit ]. Caligula's publication was thought a highly creditable act, but he did not repeat it.

This would have caused a local grain famine during Caligula's planned visit to Alexandria. In effect, this made consulship a gift of the emperor. The Flamen Dialis was sworn to his service, and was hedged about with an exhaustive range of prohibitions. References [ edit ]. The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy. Cambridge University Press. ISBN See also Malloch, S J V Acta Fratrum Arvalium.

American Journal of Archaeology. ISSN JSTOR The Classical Quarterly. S2CID Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Acta Classica. Classical Quarterly. The imperial cult and the development of church order: concepts and images of authority in paganism and Early Christianity before the Age of Cyprian. Leiden: Brill.