Caesar Caliigula's Madness

Many world leaders are remembered for their wisdom, fair judgement, or military might. Every so often there will come a leader who stands out in the course of history for their madness. One such leader was Gaius Caesar Germanicus, better known as Caligula. To understand what might have lead to such madness, a closer look must be taken at his origins. Caligula was born on August 31st, 12 AD, in what was then known as the Antium territory (¨Caligula¨, Encyclopedia of World Biography). His parents were Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus, a general of the Roman Empire, Germanicus’ military fame resulted in most of Caligula 's childhood to be spent in military camps, where he earned the nickname ¨Caligula¨, or ¨little boots¨ for playing in a soldier

Germanicus ' popularity eventually lead to his downfall. On October 10, 19 AD, Germanicus was assassinated, leaving Caligula with his siblings and grief-stricken mother. Agrippina then became distraught and distrustful, which caused Emperor Tiberius to begin the distrust her. Her suspicious actions led Tiberius to imprison two of her sons and eventually banish her to the island of Pandataria, where she died of starvation. Caligula, now an orphan, was then adopted by Tiberius and taken to Capri, where he witnessed Tiberius ' actions first hand. Although Tiberius did not care too much for Caligula, he hired scholars to teach Caligula all manner of imperial subjects (Lattanzi). Caligula 's career began in 31 AD, when he held public office, and continued until 33 AD. He was declared emperor in 37 AD at age 24 (¨Caligula Biography¨). His rule, for the first month 's, painted him as a generous and benevolent ruler. He freed political prisoners kept by Tiberius and Livia during their rule. He also held lavish chariot and races and games, much to the delight of the common people. However, Caligula fell ill late in 37 AD, and after months of laying on death 's door, he recovered in spring 38 AD. However, while his body may have recovered, his mind had taken a

The group of guards were successful, the Mad Emperor was dead, and his reign of terror was over. The senate was relieved, but the same cannot be said of the Roman people. There was outrage over the late Emperor 's murder, and how his murderers were not being punished appropriately for their crime (¨The Madness of Caligula¨). Im order to keep the peace with the civilians, the senate had to arrange for the death of all the guards involved in Caligula 's killing, including Cassius Chaerea. Chaerea 's death was arranged to look like a suicide, the portray how much he regretted in participating in the Caligula 's murder (¨The Life of Caligula¨). History remembers Caligula for his madness, cruelty, and ruthlessness. Rome remembers Caligula 's rule as a disaster that drove the country in a hole it took years to recover (Cavendish). Caligula is remembered as little more than a madman, driven crazy by an illness, or poison as some sources say, who spiraled off into his own world of madness and bloodlust. We might not ever know just why Caligula turned as mad as he did, but we will always remember him as one of the most insane of the