After many years of purges and trials of treason, Rome welcomed its new emperor. The youngest son of the war hero, Germanicus, Gaius Caesar (not to be confused with Gaius Julius Caesar) had been raised around soldiers and his nickname, Caligula, meaning "little boots", stuck.
As a child, Caligula had suffered greatly. His mother had been exiled and his two elder brothers executed on false treason charges. As the only surviving son of his charismatic and beloved father, many hoped Caligula would finally breathe new life into Rome.
At first, Caligula lived up to expectations. He brought back many people exiled by his predecessor, Tiberius, and destroyed the notes of the treason trials held by Sejanus.
About seven months after seizing power,
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He forced senators to kiss his feet and even tried to seduce their wives at dinner parties.
He restored the widely hated treason trials of Tiberius, executing rivals and allies alike, including the leader of the Praetorian Guard, his personal protection squad.
At some times, his cruelty was completely random. For example; this one time he was about to sacrifice an animal as an offering to the gods. He raised his mallet to kill the animal, but at the last moment, however, he turned and killed a priest standing nearby just for the fun of it.
During this time, Caligula was spending huge amounts of money. His extravagance soon emptied the Roman treasury. He began blackmailing rich and powerful Roman families to confiscate their estates.
Caligula led an army north into Gaul in 40 AD, robbing its inhabitants before going to the shore to invade Britain. Just as the army was about to attack, he ordered them all to stop and just focus on gathering seashells. He called these the spoils of the conquered ocean.
The same year, he ordered his statue to be erected in the Temple at Jerusalem. This could have started a revolt in Palestine but luckily, Herod Agrippa, who ruled Palestinian Rome, managed to change Caligula’s mind about the