Emperor Caligula Research Paper

Eastern New Mexico University | Emperor Caligula | Beyond the Madness: Mad or just Misunderstood | | Rebecca Delurgio | History 321: Ancient Greece & Rome Fall 2014 | December 10, 2014 |

Emperor Caligula
Beyond the Madness
Mad or just Misunderstood

What drives one to go “mad” or “lose their head” is a topic of much debate among many professionals; some believing it possible being the pressures of life and others thinking that in ancient times it happen perhaps due to inbreeding among families or possible poor medical care. Whatever the cause, it is certain that history has shown us that a number of nations have been ruled by “madmen”. Throughout history many rulers have been describe as “mad” or insane; people…show more content…
Recounting the highlights we see that he was born around 12 AD and he was named Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus; he only became known as Caligula due to a childhood nickname that stuck with him. It being said that as a young child starting at around the age of two or so he would follow his father around on the Rhine frontier and that he was such a favorite among the soldiers serving under his father they stated calling him Caligula because of the stylish military boots he wore. This popularity among the soldiers would prove invaluable at later points in his life; Suetonius describing a scene right after the death of Augusta where the site of him calmed down the soldiers, stopping them from mutiny. He has been described as delicate and possible suffering from seizures as a young child, Suetonius himself writing “as a boy he was troubled with the falling sickness…because of sudden faintness he was hardly able to walk, to stand up, to collect his thoughts, or to hold up his head”. Born into perhaps the most powerful family in ancient Rome, the Julio-Claudian family you would think his life would have been a stroll in park but unfortunately this would be the case for young Caligula, he experiencing a life filled and marked with grief and tragedy. At the age of six or seven his father dies under mysterious…show more content…
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Winterling, Aloys. Caligula: A Biography. Berkley & Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2011.

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[ 1 ]. Shelly Barclay & Jamie Frater Top 10 Truly Insane Rulers Accessed November 10, 2014 http://listverse.com/2010/10/14/top-10-truly-insane-rulers
[ 2 ]. J.C. Rolfe The Lives of the Caesars—Suetonius Barnes & Noble 2004 (pg. 142)
[ 3 ]. J.C. Rolfe (pg. 138)
[ 4 ]. Winterling, Aloys Caligula: A Biography University of California Press – (front inside cover)
[ 5 ]. The Mad Monarchist: Monarch Profile: Emperor Caligula Accessed November 15,