Caligula - the Emperor who made his Horse a Politician

by Read Listen Learn

The Emperor Caligula was born in 12 C.E. His father (who was called Germanicus because he fought many wars against the Germans) was a very popular general in the Roman army. His wife and children followed where Germanicus and the army went. Caligula got his name because, when he was only three years old, he wore a soldier’s uniform with little boots. The soldiers loved the small boy and gave him the nickname ‘Caligula’ because it means ‘Little Boots’ in Latin, the language of the Romans.

Caligula had a very difficult childhood. His father died when he was only seven years old. First, Caligula lived with his mother but then the Emperor Tiberius put her in prison and later killed her. Caligula stayed with his aunt, then his grandmother and, finally, with Tiberius on an island called Capri. This was probably boring for him because Tiberius was old – he was 77 when he died in 37 C.E. – but it was also very dangerous because Tiberius killed many of his friends and family. So, Caligula never knew if the Emperor was going to kill him too. He made a special friend of Macro, the head of Tiberius’ bodyguard, so that he said nice things about him to the Emperor.

Caligula became the Emperor when Tiberius died. He was only twenty-five. The people were very happy. They loved this young man because of his popular father, because he spent lots of money on gladiators and, most importantly, because he was not Tiberius. For two years, Caligula was a kind and good ruler.

However, in 39 C.E., Caligula was very sick for a few days and everything changed. He started killing important Romans. He slept with many men’s wives and also with at least one of his sisters – maybe all three of them. He invited the King of Mauritania to Rome and then killed him too and made Mauritania part of his Empire. Caligula began saying that he was a god and he even made his horse, named Incitatus, an important politician.

In January 41 A.D., some important Romans killed him. They put a knife into his chest thirty times.

Nobody knows why Caligula changed from a good emperor into a bad one. These days, we think he was probably mad. He was only twenty-eight when he died.