Preface
Ancient Rome went through three historical periods, namely the monarchy, the republic and the empire, and in these three periods, ancient Rome during the Roman Empire was the strongest, most glorious and most controversial.
Ancient Rome's methods of power were brutal, and in a nutshell, they waged wars, plundered resources and slaves, and expanded their territory.
In the course of Rome's glorious history, some rulers gradually lost their hearts, such as Caligula, the third emperor of the Roman Empire, who was considered the most absurd and tyrannical emperor of the Roman Empire.
The chaos of Rome under his rule is unmatched by any Chinese dynasty.
1. Caligula, who is good at disguise
Caligula's journey to the throne was full of twists and turns, and his personality was twisted along the way.
In 14 AD, Octavian, the first emperor of the Roman Empire, died, and his stepson Tiberius succeeded Octavian.
However, Tiberius was not popular at the time, and the people of Rome preferred Germanicus, Tiberius's nephew, Caligula's father, to him.
As the call for Germanicus to succeed to the throne grew stronger, Tiberius had to declare Germanicus his heir.
However, in 19 AD, before he could ascend the throne, Germanicus died suddenly, and the shocked Roman people forced Tiberius to pass the throne to the three sons of Germanicus, giving Caligula a chance to inherit the throne.
But he knew that behind the great power was an even more terrible crisis, and Tiberius could tolerate Germanicus better than himself, but would never allow Germanicus's three sons to snatch the throne from his hands.
Sure enough, with the exception of his youngest son, Caligula, Germanicus' wife, two sons, and three daughters were all exiled or imprisoned, and two sons eventually died.
Caligula was also imprisoned by Tiberius's side, and in order to protect himself, Caligula began to learn to hide his emotions, he refused to mention his mutilated relatives, and showed absolute sincerity to Tiberius.
Perhaps his disguise was too perfect, or perhaps Tiberius didn't take Caligula seriously at all, and he survived Tiberius' death without incident.
After Tiberius's death, in addition to Caligula, Tiberius's youngest grandson was eligible to inherit the throne, but the Roman people were very sympathetic to Caligula's tragic plight, and remembered that he was the son of Germanicus, who had been very popular with the people, so the Roman people finally decided to support Caligula as emperor.
But what they don't know is that Caligula has long since become distorted by years of forbearance, and what awaits them is an unprecedented brutal rule.
2. Brutality is beginning to show
Caligula's brutality was not shown at first, and he did many things to restore his image in order to consolidate his throne at the beginning of his succession.
The first is to make proper arrangements for his relatives, he personally brought back the ashes of his deceased mother and brother, and arranged the living sister properly, so as to convince the people that his indifference to his family was only a formality, not a sincere one.
After that, he adopted Tiberius's youngest grandson as his own son, showing his tolerance and generosity.
In addition, he also did many things that the people liked, such as strictly reviewing the knight list, abolishing unreasonable auction taxes, and so on.
This made him very popular in the early days of his succession, but just when the Romans thought they had found a trustworthy ruler, Caligula's true face was finally revealed.
In 37 AD, Caligula openly broke with the Senate. A year later, after the death of his only relative, Caligula's temperament changed dramatically, and he ordered all the statues of the gods in Rome to be replaced with his own.
His temperament changed so suddenly that everyone found it difficult to accept, the most difficult to accept was his relatives, his grandmother was so angry with him that he cut herself, and his father-in-law and brother-in-law were also forced to die by him.
Because of his cruelty and ruthlessness, everyone was in danger for a while, and no one dared to persuade him again.
3. The chaotic Roman Empire
It is recorded that Caligula acted very elusively after the drastic change of temperament, and often made unbelievable behaviors.
He hated the members of the Senate, and as a result, often snatched the wives and lovers of its members at will, but he had no affection for these women, and was often soon ruthless to abandon them.
Later, Caligula felt that he could not satisfy his brutal desires in this way, and simply publicly humiliated and tortured the members of the Senate who he did not like.
Sometimes he would find some untenable excuses, and sometimes he wouldn't even make excuses, and if he saw which member was not pleasing to his eyes, he would directly torture him brutally to death.
Caligula was also merciless to the Roman people who once embraced him. During the reign of Tiberius, the Roman Empire's treasury was full, but due to his extravagance and gambling, the treasury savings were declining at a visible rate, and even faintly depleted.
Caligula, who discovered this, in order to maintain his lavish and lascivious life, ordered the abolition of the inheritance rights of Roman citizens in order to increase the number of people who paid taxes, and he even made it mandatory for Roman citizens to list themselves as one of the heirs to the will.
The most unacceptable thing is that as the emperor of the empire, he actually connived at corruption, and for the false accusations that occurred in the empire, as long as they did not involve the endangerment of other people's lives, he acquiesced and took the money involved in the cases for himself.
A monarch like him who treats his courtiers so brutally, so irresponsible to the people, and ignores the law is unmatched by none of the Chinese dynasties, and it is quite rare in the history of the world.
In 40 AD, due to Caligula's cruelty and madness, the rule of the Roman Empire fell into unprecedented chaos, and the people of the Roman Empire had to rebel.
Beginning in 40 AD, Caligula was subjected to a number of assassinations and assassinations, but he was able to escape without danger under the protection of the Guards.
Later, as Caligula's behavior became more and more unbearable, the captain of the Guards had to make a decision against his beliefs to betray his master, the Emperor of the Empire, Caligula.
As a result of his scheme, the unguarded Caligula was eventually assassinated, along with his wife and daughter.
epilogue
Caligula had ruled the Roman Empire for less than four years, but in those few short years he lost the hearts of the people, betrayed his people, and was eventually betrayed by his own people.