The Portable Antiquities Scheme

• Roman coins
  • Introduction
  • General articles
  • Emperor guide
  • Dynasties
  • Denominations
  • Active mints
  • Fourth Century reverses
  • Reece Periods
  • Reverse personifications
  • Republican moneyers
• Other numismatic periods
  • Byzantine coins
  • Iron Age coins
  • Early Medieval coins
  • Greek & Roman coins
  • Medieval coins
  • Post Medieval coins

Caligula

Reece Period attributed: Period 1

Member of the Julio-Claudians dynasty.

Coins for this issuer were issued from 37 until 41.

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (August 31, 12 - January 24, 41), most commonly known as Caligula, was the third Roman Emperor and a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from 37 to 41. Known for his extreme extravagance, eccentricity, depravity and cruelty, he is remembered as a despot. He was assassinated in 41 by several of his own guards.

The Roman historian Suetonius referred to Caligula as a "monster", and the surviving sources are universal in their condemnation. One popular tale, often cited as an example of his insanity and tyranny, is that Caligula appointed his favorite horse, Incitatus, to a seat on the senate and attempted to appoint it to the position of consul. The story, however, owes its unrelenting currency to its charm: it is based on a single misunderstood near-contemporary reference, in which Suetonius merely repeats an unattributed rumour that Caligula was thinking about doing it (Suet. Cal. 55.3).

Caligula is often alleged to have had incestuous relationships with his sisters, most notably his younger sister Drusilla, but there is no credible evidence to support such claims either. In short, the surviving sources are filled with anecdotes of Caligula's cruelty and insanity rather than an actual account of his reign, making any reconstruction of his time as Princeps nearly impossible. What does survive is the picture of a depraved, hedonistic ruler, an image that has made Caligula one of the most widely recognizable, if poorly documented, of all the Roman Emperors; the name "Caligula" itself has become synonymous with wanton hedonism, cruelty, tyranny, and insanity.

View all coins recorded by the scheme attributed to Caligula.

Wikipedia derived information

Caligula, also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 to 41.

Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most beloved public figures. The young Gaius earned the nickname Caligula (meaning "little soldier's boot", the diminutive form of caliga, n.

hob-nailed military boot) from his father's soldiers while accompanying him during his campaigns in Germania. When Germanicus died at Antioch in 19 AD, his wife Agrippina the Elder returned to Rome with her six children where she became entangled in an increasingly bitter feud with Tiberius. This conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor.

Unscathed by the deadly intrigues, Caligula accepted the invitation to join the emperor on the island of Capri in 31, where Tiberius himself had withdrawn five years earlier. At the death of Tiberius in 37, Caligula succeeded his great-uncle and adoptive grandfather. There are few surviving sources on Caligula's reign, although he is described as a noble and moderate ruler during the first two years of his rule.

After this, the sources focus upon his cruelty, extravagance, and sexual perversity, presenting him as an insane tyrant. While the reliability of these sources has been questioned, it is known that during his brief reign, Caligula worked to increase the authority of the emperor. He directed much of his attention to ambitious construction projects and notoriously luxurious dwellings for himself.

However, he initiated the construction of two new aqueducts in Rome: the Aqua Claudia and the Anio Novus. During his reign, the empire annexed the Kingdom of Mauretania and made it into a province. In early 41, Caligula was assassinated as the result of a conspiracy involving officers of the Praetorian Guard, as well as members of the Roman Senate and of the imperial court.

The conspirators' attempt to use the opportunity to restore the Roman Republic was thwarted: on the same day the Praetorian Guard declared Caligula's uncle Claudius emperor in his place..

Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula
This data is sourced from dbpedia, and as such should be treated with caution

Latest examples recorded