Caligula

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, when the youthful Caligula took the title of emperor of Rome, the population of that vast empire felt a new dawn emerging, but something that started out so good ended in tragedy for the young man. The author points out that Caligula had a concept of empire differing markedly from the ideas of Augustus and Tiberius, who had gone to great lengths to avoid displaying themselves as complete autocrats; Caligula did not bother with such pretenses. The paper concludes that Caligula ruled for a very short time compared to the other emperors, but he greatly impacted the Roman Empire and his name will live on in infamy.

From the Paper:

"Because of his actions, several conspiracies were launched against his life and one did succeed. Marcus Arrecinus Clemens and a colleague were plotting on Caligula's life. Caligula found out and confronted them saying that if they thought he deserved to die then he would kill himself. They never felt safe after this and devised a new plot. This new plot would have never come to being if not for the military tribune Cassius Chaerea. He was often insulted by the emperor's propensity for jokes in bad taste and was teased for being a sexual invert. He also often made obscene gestures with his hand when Chaerea had to kiss the emperors extended hand. This made the tribune laughable among his men so he was ready to claim his part in the fall of Caligula."

More papers on Caligula:

• Book Review # 7484 : "Caligula - The Corruption of Power" by Anthony Barrett"
• Analytical Essay # 4599 : "Critique of Barrett's book on Caligula"
• Film Review # 3659 : "Caligula" Review"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: