Gaius Caligula Flashcards
4 points on the Deification of Gaius
® Sources give Gaius’ imperial cult the most attention. Extreme presentation of godliness could be to distance himself from Tiberius, whom Tacitus said avoided being worshipped.
® Placed his infant daughter on the knee of Jupiter’s statue [Dio, Xiphilinus, 58.28.7]
® “swore himself in as a priest of himself, and appointed his horse a fellow-priest” [Dio]
® “at the start of his reign he forbade the setting up of any images oh him” [Dio] but later “he insisted on being treated as a god” [Suetonius, Gaius, 22]
3 points his unpredictable nature
® Claims to put a stop to the treason charge (39AD) but kills many people with it [Dio Cassius]
® “he summoned the leading senators suddenly in the middle of the night as if on some urgent business and then danced in front of them.” [Dio, 59.5.5]
® “he was the first to insult him…but later he started both to eulogise and to revere him”, punishing people and tells senate off for slagging off Tiberius. [Dio]
5 points on Gaiuses violence
® “such brutalities were his daily bread and butter” [Seneca, On anger]
® “ I have only to give one nod and both your throats will be cut on the spot” [Suetonius]
® “Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.” [Suetonius, Gaius, 30]
® “It occurred to me that I have only to give one nod and both your throats will be cut on the spot’” [Suetonius, Gaius, 32]
® He flogged senators and “seriously considered butchering the whole senate” [Seneca, On anger]
5 points on his extravagance
® “poured millions into pleasures, which served no useful purpose beyond his own gratification” [Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 19.205]
® “take thought only for your own pleasure and safety” [Dio, 59.16.6]
® “he squandered Tiberius’ entire fortune of 2,700 million sesterces” [Suetonius, Gaius, 37]
® “he nearly assumed a royal diadem then and there, transforming an ostensible principate into an actual kingdom” [Suetonius, Gaius, 22]
® Josephus says he built Bridge at Puteoli (39AD) because he thought that as a god he ought to cross the gulf by chariot. Suetonius adds that he rides across it with a Parthian prince, Darius, but neither tell us that the bridge was to communicate to him Roman strength through mobilisation of resources.
4 points on how he changes after disease
® Some swore to fight as gladiators or kill themselves if he recovered. [Suetonius, Gaius, 14]
® “So much for Gaius the Emperor; the rest of this history must deal with Gaius the Monster.” [Suetonius] Suetonius often splits his narratives into good and bad parts and also used informal sources such as rumours and gossip to inform his work.
® “no-one knew either what to say or how to act towards him” [Dio]
® “he seemed very democratic at first”, publishes accounts of public funds, burns papers with supposed evidence of treason, abolishes treason charge, but bring it back in 39AD and kills many with it [Dio]
6 points on how he depends on popular support
® Denarius of 37AD links him to Germanicus and to his military glory. Important as he’d never held office or a military command.
® “would scatter vouchers among the audience” entitling them to gifts [Suetonius, Gaius]#
® Counter: Josephus says he built “no great public buildings” Gaius persecuted Jews so Josephus as a Jewish sources is biased against him
® About the Anio Novus: “there has been no more remarkable achievement in the whole world” [Pliny]
® Dio says he gives Antonia title of Augusta, and has sisters included in “public oaths to the emperor”.
® When the plebs were petitioning him at a game in the Circus Maximus, he had a number of them executed. [Josehus, Jewish Antiquities, 19.25]
How did he benefit the people of Rome
® “would scatter vouchers among the audience entitling them to all sorts of gifts” [Suet, Gaius]
® “he held several gladiatorial contests” [Suetonius, Gaius]
less stability of civil war
® Gaius killed by a senatorial and praetorian conspiracy, and so tumultuous. [Josephus, Dio]
how does he take tribunician protestas
® Counter: Gaius had the right lineage so “in a single day he took all the honours which Augustus had been slow to accept” [Dio] (first to do this but after him all emperors do it)
evidence showing he needed the army
® Denarius of 37AD links him to Germanicus and to his military glory. Important as he’d never held office or a military command.
2 points on how easily he ascended to power
® “in a single day he took all the honours which Augustus had been slow to accept” [Dio]
® To the people, his accession was “like the answer to their prayers” [Suetonius]
who gave power to him
® The Senate “immediately and unanimously conferred absolute power upon him” [Suetonius]
how did the path of succession work
® Tiberius took Gaius under his wing and despite him never holding office before, named him heir, along with Gemellus, who was ignored because “They set aside Tiberius’ will” [Suetonius]
his role in the imperial cult
® Gave her title of Augusta but later “He forced his grandmother to commit suicide” [Dio]
® “unable to make up his mind whether he wanted his sister to be mourned as a mortal or worshipped as a goddess” [Seneca, On Consolation to Polybius, 17.5]
food supply
® Only 8 days of food supply left when Gaius died. [Seneca, On the Shortness of Life, 18.5]
religious restoration
® “he insisted on being treated as a god” [Suetonius, Gaius, 22]
legal reforms
® Claims to put a stop to the treason charge (39AD) but kills many people with it [Dio Cassius]
2 points building works
® Aqueduct of Gaius and Claudius (Anio Novus): “there has been no more remarkable achievement in the
® Josephus says he built “no great public buildings” Gaius persecuted Jews so Josephus as a Jewish sources is biased against him
senate creating the facade of the republic
® The Senate “immediately and unanimously conferred absolute power upon him” [Suetonius]
senate is hostile to him
® “Everybody kept stabbing him savagely, even though he was dead; some even tasted his flesh.” [Dio]
emperors are hostile to the senate
® Gaius “considered butchering the whole senate” [Seneca, On Anger]
® Claims to put a stop to the treason charge (39AD) but kills many people with it [Dio Cassius]
senates impotence to him
® Senate fears Gaius and so votes him the right to “celebrate a lesser triumph, as if he had defeated some external enemy” for bringing back the treason trials [Dio]
whether he needed the plebs or not 4 points
® Needed: “he pleased the rabble” [Dio, 59.9.6]
® Needed: “would scatter vouchers among the audience entitling them to all sorts of gifts” [Suetonius]
® Not needed: “Roman people had one single neck” [Seneca, On Anger]
® Not needed: When the plebs were petitioning him at a game in the Circus Maximus, he had a number of them executed. [Josehus, Jewish Antiquities, 19.25]
praetorian guards plan to kill him
® Plot against Gaius is led by Praetorian Guard tribunes Gaius Sabinus and Cassius Chaerea (over insults to his masculinity) and the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Marcus Clemens [Josephus]
