A Dramatic and Sudden Fall from Power
Caligula also turned the imperial palace into a pleasure house, staffed with the wives of prominent senators and other important dignitaries. To further show his contempt for the senatorial class and the Roman Republic for which they pined, Caligula had his beloved horse made consul – the Republic’s highest magistracy. On one occasion, Caligula declared war on the sea god Neptune, marched his legions to the sea, and had them collect seashells to show the deity who was boss. He eventually declared himself a god, removed the heads from various deities’ statues, and replaced them with his own.
It was none of that craziness that doomed Caligula and brought his power to an end. Instead, his fall came because he offended his bodyguards. His security detail’s commander, Cassius Chaerea, had a high-pitched voice, and Caligula liked to mock him as effeminate. He thought it hilarious to come up with derogatory daily passwords that had to do with homosexuality. Whenever Chaerea was due to kiss the imperial ring, Caligula made sure it was on his middle finger, and waggled it obscenely. Chaerea finally had enough, and in 41 AD, he hatched an assassination plot with other Praetorian Guards, and hacked Caligula to death.
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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Ancient Origins – What Really Happened to Valerian?
Barrett, Anthony A. – Caligula: The Corruption of Power (1998)
Bingen, Jean – Hellenistic Egypt: Monarchy, Society, Economy, Culture (2007)
Bowman, Alan – Egypt After the Pharaohs: 332 BC – AD 64, From Alexander to the Arab Conquest (1996)
CNN – One JFK Conspiracy Theory That Could be True
Conspectus of History, Volume 1, Number 1, 1974 – The Empress Irene
Cracked – 15 of the Shortest Reigns of Power in History
Encyclopedia Britannica – Bela I, King of Hungary
Encyclopedia Britannica – Siaka Stevens
Garland, Lynda – Byzantine Empresses: Women and Power in Byzantium AD 527 – 1204 (1999)
Gonick, Larry – The Cartoon History of the Universe, Part II (1994)
Grant, Michael A. – Caligula: The Corruption of Power (1989)
Herren, Judith – Women in Purple: Rulers of Medieval Byzantium (2002)
Herrnon, Ian – Britain’s Forgotten Wars: Colonial Campaigns of the 19th Century (2003)
Historic UK – The Shortest War in History
History Collection – The Witch Doctor President and Other Horrific Rulers
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum – November 22, 1963: Death of the President
Lampert, Evgenii – Sons Against Fathers: Studies in Russian Radicalism and Revolution (1965)
Medium – Tsar Alexander II: Tsar Liberator and Rise of Terrorism in Russia
Metropolitan Museum of Art – Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History: Icons and Iconoclasm in Byzantium
Military History, May 2006 – Facing the Wrath of Khan
Morgan, David – The Mongols (1986)
Napoleon Foundation – Napoleon II
Ratchnevsky, Paul – Genghis Khan: His Life and Legacy (1994)
Rejected Princesses – Wu Zetian: China’s Only Female Emperor
Strange History Net – The Most Dysfunctional Family in History: The Ptolemies
Suetonius – The Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Caligula
Thompson, James Matthew – Napoleon Bonaparte: His Rise and Fall (1951)
World History Encyclopedia – Valerian
Yarmolinsky, Avrahm – Road to Revolution: A Century of Russian Radicalism (1955)
