Caligula

Caligula was Roman emperor from AD 37 to 41 and is the standard example of imperial madness, though almost everything known about him comes from writers hostile to his memory. Born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus in AD 12, he was the son of Germanicus, the most popular general of his day, and Agrippina the Elder. He spent his early childhood in army camps on the Rhine, where soldiers nicknamed him Caligula — little boot — after the miniature uniform he was dressed in. Germanicus died in Syria in AD 19, probably of illness, and Tiberius later destroyed the rest of the family: Agrippina and two of Caligula's brothers died in exile or prison. He survived by keeping silent on Capri under the emperor's eye. He succeeded Tiberius in March 37 to genuine public relief, recalled exiles, ended treason trials, published the imperial accounts, and staged games. Six months later he fell seriously ill, and the sources date the change from his recovery. He executed relatives and senators, revived treason prosecutions, spent the treasury Tiberius had accumulated, and demanded divine honours in a way earlier emperors had avoided. He built a temporary bridge of boats across the Bay of Baiae and rode across it. He is reported to have planned to make his horse Incitatus a consul, which may have been a calculated insult to the Senate rather than delusion, and to have ordered troops on the Channel coast to collect seashells. He ordered a statue of himself placed in the Temple in Jerusalem, nearly provoking a revolt. Officers of the Praetorian Guard, led by Cassius Chaerea, whom he had mocked, stabbed him to death in January 41.

• Lived: 12 CE – 41 CE
• Nationality: Italian
• Roles: ruler