The worst Roman Emperor of all time?

[Hand of Nergal]

I have noticed using the search that the forums are befuddled with many 'best' and 'greatest' threads, enough that a 'greatest hits' thread was made to catalog them. Curiously I didnt find this one, so here I ran my gab. For my entry into the 'worst Roman Emperor of all time' awards I nominate Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, otherwise known as Caligula. If we take the ancient sources to be correct then he had a penchant for cruelty and was quite probably insane. Using Seutonius' histories of the Caesars as a source I chose nine of my favorite accounts of his madness and bloodthirstiness to illustrate why I call him the worst of all time...

1)He insisted on being treated as a god, having the heads of several statues, including that of Jupiter's at Olympia replaced with his own. When the full moon was brightest he would invite the moon goddess to sexual intercourse with him.

2)He often sent for men he had killed previously as though they were still alive, and then would remark off-handedly that they must have committed suicide.

3)At a circus a crowd of attenders hurried to get the best good seats, they angered Caligula so that he had them driven away with club beatings. It created such a panic that many of them, men and women alike, were trampled to death.

4)During gladiatorial games he had the canopies removed at the hottest times of the day and then forbade anyone to leave. He would also pit old men against animals and also made well-respected but physically handicapped persons fight each other, intending them as comic duels.

5)Finding butchers' meat too expensive, he fed his collection of wild animals with criminals (he of course paid no attention to the charge sheets).

6)Many families of decent regard, for criticizing his shows or not swearing to his genius, were thrown into rivers to drown, thrown to wild animals, sent to work in mines or on roads, confined to narrow cages where they had to crawl on all fours, or simply sawed in half.

7)One person, about to be thrown at the animals, when proffessing to be innocent of his crimes, had his tongue cut out and then returned to the animals so that the sentence could be carried out in silence.

8)Persuaded senate to kill a colleague of theirs whom he had produced trumped up charges on. He was not satisfied until he was lyched, torn limb from limb, with organs piled at his feet.

9)We are left with a brief description of the man and monster.

Height: tall
Complexion: pallid
Body: hairy and badly built
Neck: thin
Legs: spindling
Eyes and temples: hollow
Forehead: broad and forbidding
Scalp: almost hairless, especially at the top

Because of his balding and hairiness he announced that it was a capital offense for anyone either to look down on him as he passed or to mention goats in any context.(I dont care who you are, that last one is just too funny)

...considering all that he did it comes as no shock to me that his reign lasted only four years and that he was killed at age twenty nine. My only real shock was to learn that they waited as long as they did to get rid of the sick puppy. Ancient sources are often criticized for their accuracy and reliabilty, all Im saying is how can anyone just make this stuff up? Compared to this stuff some of the worst dictators of the twentienth century pale in comparison.

A movie was made based on his atrocities, it was one of the most controversial movies of the twentienth century and no original copy of it remains that has not been hacked to pieces by censorship commitees. I recommend it for some of the surreal imagery alone. But its really not a family film or a flick for the chicks. Barf.

[Axeman]

Id have to agree with calligula too , declaring war on the sea...

[Pallantides]

Caligula was awesome!

[andrew.murphy1]

Caligula... Possibly one of the most unlucky men of all history, but not quite so cruel in my opinion. Why unlucky? He began his life as son of the greatest general in the empire and heir of the throne. He ended up being murdered for his 'terrible' behaviour.
Beginning life with such prospects and losing all connections to the previous self is hard to believe, but under these extreme circumstances it is possible to explain.

After his father tragically died, Emperor Caligula becomes suspicious of his family, his two brothers soon die and his mother is exiled to an island. His sisters are all that is left to him. Then, still only a teenager, Caligula enters the dank and dirty world of politics. He is summoned to Tiberius's court on an island in the Tyrrhenian, debateably the most dangerous place in the Empire to be. Murder, plot and intrigue were an everyday occurence, and living to see tomorrow could never have been a certainty for him. Tiberius' tyrannic abuse of power and his equally despicable court left Caligula scarred, and this is where the Caligula history ''knows'' is born.

Tiberius dies, and he arises as Emperor, and soon the ''atrocities'' start occuring. Many historians view him as simply sadistic, but the facts need to be sorted from the fiction:

1) We are told he married his sister - it is well documented that he had a strong relationship with his sisters, particularly Drusilla, and some speculate their intents may have been incestuous. This is unsurprising, as by this time, the average girl in Rome would lose her virginity to her own father (small wonder we've been short-changed a few ancestors).

2) 'He once threatened to make his horse consul' - an insult aimed at some useless senators, claiming that his beloved horse could do a better job than them.

3) 'He told his troops to walk to northern france, simply to pick up 'shells' off of the beach' - his intentions were to invade britain, but he caught wind of political dissent in Rome, something he needed to deal with. The latin word for shells was, however, also used by legionnaires to describe the huts they slept in on campaign. So he had merely told his soldiers to set up camp the head home.

4) 'He wanted to walk to an offshore temple' - for no particular reason, he decided to have a bridge of ships built so he could ride to his temple, over the water. A tad eccentric, but he's acting almost like an ancient 'rock star' really. So this was an antic the old, repectables of Rome would have observed in utter disbelief, unsurprisingly. What do your parents, grandparents think of your heroes/icons???

5) 'He had senators murdered, only to call for them in the morning and note on their absence' - by this time, it is fair to say caligula has popped his clogs. Of course, he was never always psychologically unstable, and we can see a marked difference in his behaviour during key points during his lifetime, e.g. a) The Island of Capri where Tiberius held him for years, hardened him to death, a daily occurence in that hell. After this, killing would seem easy. b) The death of the only person close to him, his sister Drusilla, from which he never recovers, mentally. Tough break for a a young man in an already alienated position as Emperor.

As an emperor, he is considered as 'one of the worst'. But why would the Romans have put up with him for so long? Truth be told, on ground level, his regime was pretty stable, the economy was thriving and the army was well-maintained and strong. Interestingly, his fate was sealed when he extended his list of people to aggrovate and sufficiently irritated an Upper Army Official of the Praetorian Guard. His 'tantrums' only really affected the upper classes and they hated him for it... and guess who got to write the history books in those days? yup. sucks doesn't it...

Make the judgement for yourself. Mine? A boy who never had the chance to grow up, who never learned a lesson in valueing life, who lost everybody dear to him and who was forced to act the demanding 24-hour role of Emperor. But history remembers him as the blood-thirsty, Tyrant, condemned for eternity as a madman by Suetonius, et al.

[Kiljan Arslan]

Tiberious almost as cruel as Caligula plus made him his Heir.

[Hand of Nergal]

Very interesting reply Andrew Murphy, I never saw it from that point of view...

Bush bush, good point on Nero

Kudos adar, I also was also appalled I couldnt look away while watching the movie, till the end!

Good point on Nero

Kudos Adar, I was also so apalled by the movie that I couldnt look away, till the end, but the naked penthouse girls took off some of the edge, huh?

Andrew Murphy, very interesting take on Caligula, I never saw it like that. You intrigue me

[gaius valerius]

IRRC though both Caligula and Nero were (for the greater part) most 'loved' by the common man.


As far as the worst emperors go I'd stick with either Commodus or the Severi, cause apart from Septimus Severus they all screwed up (and even Septimus had terrible consequences, although he compensated this with an able/strong personality).

[Hand of Nergal]

Once again, going on my source of Seutonius...

...when a bridge across the sea of Puteoli was being blessed he invited a number of spectators to inspect it, then tipped them into the water, drowning them

while sparring against a gladiator with a wooden sword the gladiator deliberately fell down, Caligula drew a real dagger and stabbed the man to death before running around and waving the palm branch of victory

while attending a sacrificial altar, he swung a mallet as if to hit the victim, but instead hit the assistant priest

He frequently had trials and tortures while bancqueting or otherwise enjoying himself as if entertained

had the tragic actor Apelles flogged and then commented on the musical quality of his groans for mercy

One gets the impression that he might have only been cruel and insane

[Kratos]

Caligula and Nero towards the end of his reign.

[bushbush]

probably Nero.....

the way he ed up his reign was truly one of the kind.

[Adar]

I must say that you get bonus points for using the coin from the infamous Caligula movie (1979). Made by Penthouse productions and famous for (among other things). Featuring several serious actors like Malcolm Mcdowell (A clockwork orange) and Helen Mirren. I accidently picked it up and couldn't stand watching it to the end.

[AqD]

probably Nero.....

the way he ed up his reign was truly one of the kind.

you mean the way the senators made him to look so ed up?
________
Vaporizer Info

[The Good]

In my opinion, either Nero or Caligula. Elagabalus and Commodus weren't good emperors either . . . but I guess they weren't as ineffective as the first two I've mentioned.

[Djûn]

I must post here to defend Nero, he was not what people seem to make of him. Many of his achievements go unnoticed, yet he helped the lower ranks of Rome tremendously! A little known fact was that he had lowered the cost of fines throughout the Empire, as well as restricting the fees which lawyers may charge, thus making legal protection much more easily accessible.

Further, the well-known idea that Nero 'played the fiddle whilst Rome burned', is far from fact. Tacitus himself stated that Nero not only quickly returned to Rome upon hearing of the fire, he also paid for a great deal of the rebuilding of the city as well as opening a large portion of the Palace to those who had been made homeless.

This desire to be popular with the people, however, turned rather violent eventually when he was made scapegoat for the fire. In order to hold onto the power of the masses, Nero in turn passed the blame onto the Christians (much like many had done to the Jews in later times).

During his reign, not only had Nero striven for greater power for the people and Senate by granting them more autonomy, he had also vastly improved Roman infrastructure by building domiciles which were far more resilient to fire as well as improving the roads and public entertainment facilities within the city. He was praised by Flavius Philostratus in his work The Life of Appolonius of Tyana, mentioning that "Nero restored the liberties of Hellas with a wisdom and moderation quite alien to his character; and the cities regained their Doric and Attic characteristics, and a general rejuvenescence accompanied the institution among them of a peace and harmony such as not even ancient Hellas ever enjoyed."

Such is my defence of the Emporer Nero.

In a (possibly vain) attempt to drag this post back on topic, I would agree with Calligula for the above-mentioned reasons, as well as other acts of cruelty I have heard of which may not be verified (though even if fabricated would still matter not to the result of my conclusion).

[SigniferOne]

Id have to agree with calligula too , declaring war on the sea...

Think of Darius (or was it Xerxes?). He not only declared war on the sea, he threw fetters into the water and considered the water now enslaved.

the average girl in Rome would lose her virginity to her own father

Excuse me?

As an emperor, he is considered as 'one of the worst'. But why would the Romans have put up with him for so long?

They didn't. He ruled a total of a few years, and as soon as he lost his mind, he was swiftly "out".

[Oglethorpe1983]

There seems to be a lot of favoritism for the Julio-Claudians... the Emperors of the 4th and 5th centruies are particularly crappy... While not tech emperor (he was more like a regent) Stilicho who ruled for Honorius... he nearly brought war against the east when the west was already getting attacked on all side.... he emptied the treasury buying off the buying off the Visagoths (Alaric) which worked out oh so well...*cough* Rome sacked in 410 *cough* After Stilicho died Honnorius took more control but under him we still saw terrible relations between east an dwest...loss of western territory. rebellions and abandoning of Britian(also in 410).... I think that out ways anything Caligula did...

[Odovacar]

While not tech emperor (he was more like a regent) Stilicho who ruled for Honorius... he nearly brought war against the east when the west was already getting attacked on all side.... he emptied the treasury buying off the buying off the Visagoths (Alaric) which worked out oh so well...*cough* Rome sacked in 410 *cough* After Stilicho died Honnorius took more control but under him we still saw terrible relations between east an dwest...loss of western territory. rebellions and abandoning of Britian(also in 410).... I think that out ways anything Caligula did...

Stilicho did everything to protect WRE. Britain was abandoned because it costed much money and meant not much for the empire.
Stilicho himself cant be compared to crazy maniacs who may have some bad genepool too...

[Praetorian Quintus]

I think Nero would have to take the Ist place ribbon.

Burning down Rome and then subsequently blaming the Christians? Wow.

[Entropy Judge]

Opinion Only: Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus.

[Octavius Vatco]

Adrew Murphy's post seems logical.
Caligula's bad treatment as a child could've made him insane.
Losing an entire family is already a very big blow.
Tiberius was not that bad either. He just got sick of his mother and then Sejanus took advantage of it.