Caligula was the youngest son in a family of nine children. However, all of his family save for himself and his sisters were put to death by Tiberius, who was his granduncle and emperor at the time. Gauis loved what was left of his family. In fact, he loved his sister, Drusilla, so much that he had an affair with her before he had even come of age (Crazy Ceasars, 1).

During his adolescence, he lived with Tiberius as a virtual prisoner on Tiberius's island retreat. In March of A.D. 37, while Caligula was with him, Tiberius became very ill and lapsed into a coma. Legend says that all of the officers thought Tiberius was dead and began to congratulate Caligula on his accession. However, their rejoicing was a bit premature, because Tiberius awoke. This did not dampen Caligula's spirts though; he simply had his chamberlain, Marco, smother Tiberius with his own bed clothes (Crazy Ceasars, 1).

The will of the late emperor stated that Caligula and Tiberius's grandson, Tiberius Gemellus, would be joint heirs to the throne. The senate, however, decided that Caligula should be the soul emperor and appointed him as such. The old saw, "Hold your friends close and your enemies closer," certainly holds true here, because Caligula adopted Gemellus as his son and later had him murdered (Caligula, 1).

Caligula's first act as emperor was to declare Tiberius's will null and void on the grounds of insanity (Fagan, 1). He was at first a basically good ruler, not great mind you, but he made a few correct decisions. He began by paying those to whom Tiberius had left money, gave the Praetorian Guard a cash bonus, recalled people who had been exiled, and repaid those who had been hurt by the Imperial Tax System. He even went so far as to destroy all of Tiberius's personal papers in order to honor his mother, father, and brothers (Fagan, 1).

After his brief glories, he had a string of bad luck. His beloved grandmother, Antonia, died, and a few months later he became seriously ill (Crazy Ceasars, 2). When he recovered he had become a terrible, cruel, sadistic tyrant. He was so awful that throughout history some have identified him with the anti-Christ.

Within a few months he had exhausted a treasury that it had taken Tiberius years to fill. He lavished luxuries on his horse, Incitatus. It had its own servants, a marble stable with furniture, and jeweled necklaces. He even went so far in his frivolousness to dissolve pearls in vinegar and drink them (Crazy Ceasars, 2).

Caligula loved women. He had as many as he could as often as he could. It mattered not their marital status, class, or desire for him. He was married several times but always came back to his favorite of his three sisters, Drusilla, whom he forced to live with him as his wife. The stories say that, when she became pregnant, he was so excited that he could not wait for the baby to be born and disemboweled Drusilla to get to the unborn child. Whether that is what happened or not, her death brought with it the loss of any control over Caligula that existed (Crazy Ceasars, 2).

In the end he died at the hands of officers of his own Praetorian Guard. How ironic that they were there for the sole purpose of protecting him, and it was from them that he needed to be protected (Fagan, 3 ). He was stabbed to death as he left the theater by Cornelius Sabinus and Cassius Chaerea for purely personal reasons (Crazy Ceasars, 3).

Caligula's reign was short, only four years, and horrible. It is not understood exactly why he went insane, but he showed symptoms of Schizophrenia. It seems sad that he is so well remembered only because of the terrible things he did when many great and kind rulers have faded into oblivion.

"Antium." Infopedia. Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, Corp., 1994. CD ROM.

"Caligula." Infopedia. Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia. Funk and Wagnalls, Corp., 1994. CD ROM.

"Crazy Ceasars." http://www. X54all.nl/~kvenjb/madrome.htm#caligula. 1996. J.N.W.Bos

Fagan, Garrett G., "Gauis (Caligula) (A.D. 37-41)," http://squash.la.psu.edu/cams/deimpro/ gauis.htm.