Caligula's Fall: the Psychopathic Murderer Whom Everyone Hated

A History of Mankind (238)

To read previous newsletters in the History of Mankind, which is pretty long, you can click here.

The four-year reign of Caligula ended up as a cautionary tale and the source of much head-scratching and gossip for imperial family aficionados and historians.

Twenty-five years old on accession, and apparently dashing like his father Germanicus had been, Caligula was described by many as a moderate emperor for the first six months of his rule, until he was put down by an illness or attempted poisoning; on his recovery, the macabre tragicomedy for which he later became notorious kicked off with the murder of Tiberius’ grandson Gemellus, Macro and that of Caligula’s and Gemellus mutual grandmother, Antonia Minor – the mother of Claudius, Caligula’s uncle, an aging man who was spared so he’d become the court’s unofficial jester.

Caligula had a confused mind in which ideas clashed with each other. Looking to shore up his popularity, damaged after the first few killings, he took power from the senate by restoring elections¹, lowered taxes, launched ambitious construction projects that provided well-paying jobs and gave out public prizes at gymnastic events. He then had his sisters, especially Drusilla – with whom he was accused of incest – become the first true Roman empresses, as they took on the public role that Caligula’s great-grandmother Livia had carved for herself as Roman-woman-in-chief.