Table Of Content

Caligula The Roman Empire has always exercised a considerable fascination. among its numerous colourful personalities, no emperor, with the possible exception of Nero, has attracted more popular attention than Caligula, who has a reputation, whether deserved or not, as the quintessential mad and dangerous ruler. The first edition of this book established itself as the standard study of Caligula. it remains the only full length and detailed scholarly analysis in English of this emperor’s reign, and has been translated into a number of languages. But the study of Classical antiquity is not a static phenomenon, and scholars are engaged in a persistent quest to upgrade our knowledge and thinking about the ancient past. in the thirty years since publication of the original Caligula there have been considerable scholarly advances in what we know about this emperor specifically, and also about the general period in which he functioned, while newly discovered inscriptions and major archaeological projects have necessitated a rethinking of many of our earlier conclusions about early imperial history. This new edition constitutes a major revision and, in places, a major rewriting, of the original text. Maintaining the reader-friendly structure and organisation of its predecessor, it embodies the latest discoveries and the latest thinking, seeking to make more lucid and comprehensible those aspects of the reign that are particularly daunting to the non-specialist. like the original, this revised Caligula is intended to satisfy the requirements of the scholarly community while appealing to a broad and general readership. Anthony A. Barrett is Professor Emeritus of Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies at the university of British Columbia, Canada, and gastprofessor at the university of Heidelberg, germany. ROMaN iMPERial BiOgRaPHiES Forthcoming in 2015: Claudius, Second edition, Barbara levick also available from Routledge: Augustus, Second edition, Pat Southern Julius Caesar, Richard a. Billows Constantine and the Christian Empire, Second edition, Charles M. Odahl Galerius and the Will of Diocletian, Bill leadbetter Nerva and the Roman Succession Crisis of AD 96–99, John D. grainger Year of the Four Emperors, Kenneth Wellesley Aurelian and the Third Century, alaric Watson Septimius Severus, anthony R. Birley Tiberius the Politician, Barbara levick Vespasian, Barbara levick Domitian, Pat Southern Trajan, Julian Bennett Hadrian, antony R. Birley Diocletian and the Roman Recovery, Stephen Williams Agrippina, anthony a. Barrett The Age of Justinian, J.a.S. Evans Theodosius, gerard Friell and Stephen Williams Marcus Aurelius, antony R. Birley Nero, Miriam T. griffin Caligula The abuse of Power Second edition Anthony A. Barrett Second edition published 2015 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2015 anthony a. Barrett The right of anthony a. Barrett to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents act 1988. all rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First edition published 1989 by B. T. Batsford ltd British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data a catalogue record for this book is available from the British library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Barrett, anthony, 1941– Caligula : the abuse of power / anthony a. Barrett. – Second edition. pages cm. – (Roman imperial biographies) “Simultaneously published in the uSa and Canada”–Title page verso. First edition: london : B.T. Batsford, 1989, with title Caligula : the corruption of power. includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Caligula, Emperor of Rome, 12–41. 2. Emperors – Rome – Biography. 3. Rome – Kings and rulers – Biography. 4. Rome – History – Caligula, 37–41. 5. Political corruption – Rome – History. 6. Power (Social sciences) – Rome – History. i. Title. Dg283.B37 2014 937´.07092-dc23[B] 2014032192 iSBN: 978-0-415-65844-7 (hbk) iSBN: 978-1-315-72541-3 (ebk) Typeset in Baskverville by HWa Text and Data Management, london CONTENTS List of illustrations vii Credits ix Preface to the second edition xi Simplified family tree of the Julio-Claudians xiv Outline of significant events xv Named victims of Caligula xviii List of abbreviations xxi introduction 1 1 Family 17 2 Succession 35 3 Private pursuits 60 4 The new emperor 72 5 Signs of strain 107 6 Conspiracy 129 7 North africa 157 8 Britain and germany 167 9 Divine honours 190 10 Caligula and the Jews 207 11 Caligula the builder 223 12 assassination 247 13 aftermath 270 CONTENTS 14 Fit to rule? 284 15 Coins, inscriptions and sculpture 322 Bibliography 338 Index 367 vi illuSTRaTiONS Maps 1 The Roman world in the lifetime of Caligula xxii 2 North africa 156 3 The north west 166 4 The Central levant 206 Figures 1.1 Caligula, on the grand Camée de France 28 1.2 Caligula didrachm 30 2.1 House of livia 39 3.1 Statue of Caligula 61 3.2 Caligula as 62 3.3 Head of Caligula 63 4.1 Caligula drachm 81 4.2 Caligula sestertius 83 4.3 Caligula dupondius 84 4.4 Caligula denarius 85 4.5 Caligula denarius 85 4.6 Caligula as 86 4.7 Caligula sestertius 86 4.8 Caligula sestertius 88 4.9 Caligula denarius 95 4.10 Caligula denarius 95 4.11 Caligula drachm 96 4.12 Caligula sestertius 96 4.13 Caligula denarius 97 4.14 Caligula sestertius 98 4.15 Bust of Caligula 99 6.1 agrippa bronze coin 134 11.1 Caligula’s circus 227 liST OF illuSTRaTiONS 11.2 Nemi Ship 1 231 11.3 Nemi Ship 2 231 11.4 Section of Nemi Ship 2 232 11.5 The Palatine 234 11.6 antoninus Pius reverse of denarius 239 11.7 The Baiae area 240 12.1 The Palatine in aD 41 257 13.1 Head of Caligula 277 14.1 agrippa as 290 14.2 Caligula quadrans 299 15.1 Caligula quinarius 326 15.2 Caligula dupondius 329 15.3 Caligula dupondius 329 15.4 Head of Caligula 333 15.5 Head of Caligula 334 15.6 Head of Caligula 335 viii CREDiTS Coins Figures 1.2, 4.2, 4.3, 4.12 Photographs courtesy of andreas Pangerl (www.romancoins.info) Figures 3.2, 4.1, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.13, 4.14, 6.1, 11.6, 14.1, 14.2, 15.2, 15.3 Photographs courtesy of Classical Numismatic group, inc. (www.cngcoins.com) Figure 15.1 Photograph courtesy of Numismatica ars Classica NaC ag, auction 51, lot 853 (www.arsclassicacoins.com) Sculptural representations Figure 1.1 in the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, drawn by Kornelia Roth Figure 3.1 Virginia Museum of Fine arts, Richmond. arthur and Margaret glasgow Fund Photo by Travis Fullerton ©Virginia Museum of Fine arts Figure 3.3 Schloss Fasanerie, Fulda Figures 4.15, 13.1 Ny Carlsberg glyptotek, Copenhagen Photos by Ole Haupt Figure 15.4 getty Museum, Malibu ix