Among the great emperors of the Roman Empire, we had Augustus and Tiberius on one spectrum and then Caligula on the other spectrum. During his short time as emperor, Caligula become one of the cruelest leaders. He succeeded Tiberius as Roman emperor in 37 A.D., and changed his name to Gaius Caesar Germanicus. At first, the citizens welcomed the young emperor with open arms as he recalled exiles, ended treasons and paid the Praetorian guard bonuses. He freed political prisoners and recognized popular events and chariot races. After a short time, his character completely changed. Many believed he was mentally ill because he saw himself as a god. Caligula believed to suffer from epilepsy. Unsurprisingly, this gave him illusions of magnificence and even spirituality. Not only did this time of disease effect his reasonableness, but he also suffered from inability to sleep, and disturbing nightmares. He became irrational and cruel. After reducing his taxes, he suddenly increased them for his personal expenses. He murdered and executed many, …show more content…
including his wife, he humiliated the Senate and spent money irresponsibly. He murdered many wealthy people who didn't voluntarily give them their land and estates, and heavily increased taxes on every class. He brought back the treason trials so he could seize the property of the convicted. During this period of senselessness, built many temples for himself, forcing everyone to realize him as a god.
He had affairs and sexual relationships with 3 of his 4 sisters, while in a marriage. During his time, he whined often about how dull and boring the times were, and prayed for a military catastrophe or a public starvation for "entertainment". His behavior had become so erratic that during a gladiator match, he ordered for a whole section of the audience/public to be thrown to the lions for the sole purpose of “entertainment.” As Caligula’s actions became more outrageous, the people of Rome began to hate him, and wanted to get rid of him as their leader. Towards the end of his reign, many members began to plot against their leader. Nevertheless, when news of these schemes reached Caligula, he was not delighted. He forced many of the governors of his provinces to commit suicide if they were suspected even a little
bit. In 41 A.D., he was attacked by a bunch of guards during one of his lavish sporting event. He was stabbed thirty times and was thrown into a shallow grave, and his wife and daughter were murdered. He may have started off as a great leader, but his crimes, sins and heinous actions caught up with him. He’s an experienced dreadful tragedy, carried a profound loathing for the man who killed his family, great power as the Emperor of Rome, and eventually, a brutal death.
Julius Caesar was very heroic to the Roman people. He did a wonderful job in conquering
Augustus Caesar was very ambitious leader. He is best known for bringing peace to Rome. Augustus was considered the first great roman emperor, because He didn’t care about wealth and fortune. Augustus cared about the people of Rome. He was a great military leader and was successful in most of his missions. He showed people that being a good ruler requires a lot of hard work and dedication. He was a very generous man. Augustus was greatly admired by the Roman people.
Throughout The Tragedy of Julius Ceaser Ceaser was depicted as being so naïve that he felt men were spontaneously right in any decision made. This proves itself in the text when Calpurnia was trying to warn Ceaser about her vivid dream of the roman people bathing in his blood...
For thousands of years people have been talking about the great powerful Caesar. He is one of the greatest known dictators known to people today mostly because of all of the things he was able to accomplish during his rein as emperor. After reading primary sources about Caesar, it has given me a better understanding of what other people thought of him during this time period. It’s safe to say that Caesar was obsessed with power and respect from other people that would explain his thirst for war and land, which is one of his greatest strengths and helped in making Rome a great empire.
Gaius Julius Caesar, born 100 B.C.E. in Rome to the impoverished patrician Julian Clan, knew controversy at an early age. Nephew to Populare Gaius Marius, he was earmarked by the Optimate dictator Sulla for prosciption after his refusal to divorce his Populare wife, Cinna. Fleeing Rome, and not returning until after Sulla’s resignation in 78 B.C.E, upon his return he gained a position as a pontificate, an important Roman priesthood. Slowly but surely throughout his lifetime he worked his way up the political ladder, eventually becoming Consul, and finally Dictator Perpeteus – Dictator for life. One of the most influential political and military leaders of all time, Caesar was also a highly intelligent man and an exceptional orator. However, acquiring this absolute power was no mean feat, and Caesar had well equipped himself through previous expeditions with all the resources necessary to gain power in Ancient Rome.
On August 31st, 12 AD Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder gave birth to the third Roman emperor during the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. During the beginning of his reign, it seemed to be, as most would call it “a dream come true”. But after a few favorable accomplishments, Caligula became the deranged tyrant he is known for today.
Although these emperors committed crimes and acts of kindness, they were considered bad; a big part of this came from their personalities. Commodus was a man with a weak character and was easily swayed by pressure; he was prone to cruelty and excessive behavior. This was proven when he had thought his father had died, he then took control and utter chaos broke out (Cavazzi F, n.d.). Nero on the other hand was a passionate music lover, kind, and controlled but over time his loving personality degraded due to obsession of power and some thought lead poisoning, One example of Nero’s good personality was his love for music, people loved his music so much they called him “The New Apollo” (Champlin, E, 2003). On the other hand Caligula was on his own level being self-indulgent, self-absorbed, extravagant, and had a loose temper. This leads him to being easily angered and murdered who had angered him, many lived in fear of his tyranny. Examples of his anger and selfish are stated later. Commodus was the best out of the three worst, although he did acts that made him not so good in the eyes of the Romans
30 BC ~ Octavian was given the title of Imperator, which was used in the Eastern provinces. Imperium suggests unlimited imperium (or power) (Antiquity 2 Interpreting The Past) This was the first of many titles that were to be given to Octavian after his defeat of Mark Antony in 31 BC at the Battle of Actium. It indicates that the provinces thought Octavian was worthy of being honoured, and that the power he possessed at the time should remain his. Therefore this was the first factor that initiated the rise of Octavian.
His fourteen-year reign represented everything decadent about the Julio-Claudian period of the Roman Empire. His self-indulgent, cruel and violent affairs continued the economic chaos that had plagued the Roman citizenry since the days of Tiberius (Champlin, 1990). In the first five years as emperor, Nero gained a reputation for political generosity, promoting power sharing with the Senate and ending closed-door political trails. However, he generally pursued his own passions and left the ruling to his three key advisers – the Stoic Philosopher Seneca, the prefect Burrus and Nero’s mother Agrippina (Armstrong, 2012). Nero was a reckless and selfish adolescent when he ascended to Emperor, as highlighted by Suetonius within his historical scripture, ‘The Twelve
Rome has experienced both its good and bad leaders throughout its stint as a monarchy. Cincinnatus and Superbus both emerged as standout examples for both ends of the spectrum. Their actions and decisions exemplified what it takes to be either a good or bad ruler. Their legacies and remembrance have survived the ages for a reason. Both rulers committed acts that affected Rome greatly whether it was in a positive or negative way. Cincinnatus cared for Rome and his actions showed that through his valiance and loyalty. Superbus will forever be deemed as a bad leader because of his greed and disregard for the Roman law. Rome experimented with people and experienced the best and worst of times, icons emerged.
Calpurnia is considered to have precognition, which is being able to foresee future events in dreams. Precognition allows her to dream of her husband, Julius Caesar, being brutally killed in the Capitol by Romans. During her dream, she dreamt that “Fierce fiery warriors fought upon the clouds;/ In ranks and squadrons and right form of war;/ Which drizzle...
Octavian, or Caesar Augustus, was an effective ruler, implementing reforms that positively affected virtually all areas of life throughout the Empire. Social, economic, and political tensions that had led to so much violence in earlier years were calmed by Augustus's policies. Corruption and abuses of the people were also given attention by the Emperor. The borders of the Roman Empire grew dramatically under Augustus's rule, adding material wealth and manpower to Rome's already significant resources.
Nero last of the Julio-Claudian emperors has lived on for almost two thousand years in infamy. Three different sources seemed to have the same opinion of him, that he committed heinous crimes against the senate, the people of Rome, and his own family and therefore is deserving of his reputation. Dio Cassius, Suetonius, and Tacitus are all ancient sources who wrote of the emperor’s reign. Tacitus is the only of the three to have been alive during his reign. All three were wealthy upper class citizens holding titles writing after Nero’s death. And all had the same opinion of Nero that he was a disgraceful emperor deserving of his fate. But their accounts vary greatly and details as simple as names are not constant throughout the accounts. Two events stand out as the most controversial and varied in their recounting, Nero’s murder of his mother Agrippina, and the great fire of Rome. Both of the events have been told differently by the aforementioned sources so I will examine each account and compare them. Although Nero was notoriously cruel his part in the horrors that befell Rome during his reign have been exaggerated by biased sources.
How would you feel if the man you thought could fix the wrong doings of your past leader turned out to be even worse? Well that is what happened in the case of Galius Caesar, or more commonly known as Caligula. He was a tortured man and after reviewing the symptoms of Galius Caesar I diagnose him with a Narcissistic Antisocial Personality Disorder because of his sudden obsession with himself as a god, murderous ways, and sexual desires.
Caligula, though having only ruled for four years, is likely one of the most infamous figures in Roman history. However, it would be unfair not to mention the good alongside the bad. If we take a look at the earlier part of of his rule in comparison with the latter portion, we can see that there was an extreme deterioration in the quality of his rule, for he was once an emperor who was more than just towards his people, and was enthusiastically welcomed by the Senate. At the start of his rule, he was quick to launch sweeping reforms, such as publishing public expenses and allowing new members into the Roman equestrian orders (penelope.uchicago.edu). However, later in his rule, he began to execute people left and right for alleged treason and