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Why Was Caligula Insane

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Another famous and well documented act of lunacy by Caligula was his planned military campaign against Britain. Suetonius, a historian documents that his execution was bizarre as he allegedly stopped his planned attack on Britain to suddenly gather his troops so they could declare war on the sea. He supposedly forced his troops to gather and collect sea shells and attack ocean waves. These troops had to carry these seashells back to Rome as tokens of emperor’s glorious victory over the sea-god Neptune. Some say Caligula was insane, but historians have hypothesized that Caligula could have possibly suffered from a disease. “In the latter years of his life, his behavior became same outlandish and extreme that many believe he was suffering from insanity. Some say he was driven to madness by the events in his life, …show more content…

Whilst much has been written about him both from historians during and after his lifetime, based on many of his actions as discussed above, it would be very easy to conclude that he was driven to madness and was insane which more than likely brought about his cruel nature and ruthlessness. Whether this insanity was as a result of an illness or by his traumatic childhood and up-brining, we will never know. Perhaps he was sane and many of his actions were directed to antagonise the Senate and those whom opposed him. The example about threatening to make his horse a consul (which never occurred) may have been a deliberate swipe towards the Senate. The stories about his army collecting seashells may have simply been gossip and rumours created by those who opposed him as a means to prove that he was insane with the aim to ultimately removing him from power. Again, these events occurred over 2000 years ago and to date the exact truth about Caligula remains a

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He gave in to paranoia and resumed the treason trials started by Caligula. The Roman troops in Britain also went on a rampage and cruelly suppressed the tribes that lived there. The Celtic queen Boudica took her revenge after she led troops and killed

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A. He is secondly most known for his countless murders even if there was no reason at all. His mother went to the extent of “insulting her own son and attempting to seduce him” for four years until he devised a plan to murder her in 59 AD (“Nero” 2-3). As Claudius’ natural son Britannicus should have been first up to become emperor, Nero saw him as a threat so he “was poisoned February 11, 55” as Nero claimed he was “having an epileptic seizure” (Scarre 51).

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But from the whole perspective, it is not saying that only human nature motivated him in this process. He not only had the essence of the human mind but also brutish characteristics. In order to avenge himself, he punished his ex-wife by biting off her nose. Also, when he was trying to please king, “To beg, he seizes the king’s stirrup-ring, and kisses his foot and leg”(France). This was really animal-like action; it seemed brutish and inferior.

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In order to stop any rebellion, he will executed people who criticized him. Starting about 100 BC, due to the military campaigns and heavy taxation, there were many peasants who rebelled

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Although this aspiration often took toll over the need for a strategic approach, particularly within the military. Gaius’ provincial policy consisted of four main areas, Dealing with the conspiracy emanating from Germany, The alleged fiasco of his plan to invade Britain, The issue of client kings and senatorial provinces,and his policies in the east, and Gaius’ attitude towards the Jews. Gaius’ most notable campaign was his eager quest to conquer Britain in 40 AD, although the embarkment reflected more thoroughly on his megalomania rather than his ability to strategise a calculated military act. Suetonius tells the tale of Gaius’ brave mission to conquer Britain with a perspective making him the emperor seem cowardly,”command them to gather up the seashells”, collecting seashells seemingly to be a feminine approach and retreat-like response to meeting the coast of Britain. Suetonius also writes “somewhat redeemed with the erection of a lighthouse”, an act of marking territory.

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635 Words | 3 Pages

He was very social with the emperors of surrounding lands and would often give them gifts. But all of these good deeds did not make up for the atrocities he committed beforehand. Nero’s family was known for being very harsh and he carried on this trait. He created brutal games for public amusement, often involving senators and high ranking officials competing in fights against animals. Nero loved money and he would create new laws that give him more money, and would often put Rome in debt.

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In contrast to Caligula’s reason of madness in the case of Nero there was no sign of reason only that he as well suffered from a mental ailment in more ways than one the illness was a family trait since, yet Nero’s actions were to differ from Caligula in persecution of Christians, the endless depraved sexual encounters with both gender and lastly the way he governed showed that he loved the arts, and the theater thus giving the history some art works as well for coins. Covering the way his rule was not his own but his mother’s and tutors when they were gone, and he was clear to rule he killed or divorced his wives, but his actions always effected the Roman empire. In particular in 64 A.D, the Great Fire that set Rome ablaze for six days a historian Tacitus the saw four districts of the city burn in stating, “The city four were undamaged, three were destroyed and in the seven

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Caligula took things a step further and had those in Rome, including senators, worship him as a tangible,

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His impulses began as simple extravagance. Before long stories were circulating that he seduced married women and young boys, and that he had even castrated and "married" a male slave. He also apparently liked to wander the streets, murdering innocent people at complete random. Both Seneca and Agrippina tried to guide and control Nero. Seneca tried to be subtle in his persuasions, but his mother was not subtle in her intentions.

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Julius Caesar was a tyrant after he defeated Pompey, but then some of his closest friends, including Brutus, Cassius, Casca, and Cinna, brutally murdered him. The only one there who had real motive was none other than Cassius. He was the one who convinced Brutus to join the conspiracy, he came up with the whole plan on how to kill Caesar, and he just generally didn’t like how Caesar was godlike in the Roman’s eyes. Cassius knew that for the mutiny to work, they needed Brutus. Brutus had a lot of influence among the Romans because he was Caesar’s right hand man.

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However, Caligula’s fall to depravity came from his claim to divinity, where he would put statutes of himself in Jewish temples, put his head on the statues of the Greek god Zeus, and attempted a move to Egypt before his assassination by the Praetorian Guard in 41 A.D.” Considered as Caligula’s greatest flaw where he wanted to be worshipped as a perpetual god by moving to Egypt, thus lead senators to conspire his death when least expected. After four years on the throne, Caligula was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard for revenge, putting an end to a reign filled with homicidal bloodlust, illicit sex, and malice. In a world where a man is exalted a god among his people, Caligula could not fill those shoes even though he had complete control of Rome. None of the world would understand that Caligula was just a pessimistic individual that gave Rome pain because his uncle destroyed his livelihood, innocence, and childhood. Although his thirst for blood and power came with a price, Caligula generated a tapestry of inhumane dictators that ruled by fear, ambition, and proclaimed a god among their people.

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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.

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I did not kill Caesar for personal gain nor for revenge Antony. I loved Caesar and I love Rome but those loves are not equal. My love for Caesar was not as bright as my love for Rome. For Caesar was just a man a great and honourable man, but just a man, while Rome is a country with many honourable men and many women and children whose lives are just as important. Caesar was a friend to all, a great leader, a great warrior, and a man who cared for the people but he was still a man and like a man he had ambitions.

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For starters, he is the reason the Roman Republic fell and the Roman Empire rose. Despite the rise of the empire was a relatively good geographical outcome, the fact that it was governed by a dictatorship, created a few problems. One being that most Romans were not in favor of a monarchical life. But, when he came into power the first thing that he did was make extreme cutbacks on the Senate. This can also be a result of his power thirst.

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He was the youngest of two children. A growth on his left eye caused him to have a lazy eye, which subjected him to teasing. His father was a abusive, raging alcoholic and his mother was fanatically religious. Him, his mother and his brother were regularly abused by his father, George. I believe this was a building block to his psychosis.

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