#roman empire caligula

[uncleclaudius]

The seated statue of Caligula wearing a toga, originally discovered on Aventine Hill, now part of the Louvre collection.

[star-mannnn]

I saw this on Facebook and it made me giggle because it was about the three emperors that were in trials of Apollo

It’s insane how much toa has caused me to learn. I don’t rely on the books for accurate information on these three, but they made me so interested in Caligula, so now I know way too much about him. I don’t know as much about Nero and Commodus, I know a little more on Nero than Commodus.

Anyways the point is, a children’s book series is the reason I’m majoring in archaeology and minoring in history.

[maxiemumdamage]

The single funniest thing I learned when studying the Roman Empire is the fact that in his life and centuries after his death, everyone calls Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus…Caligula.

Like. That’s the nickname his dad’s coworkers gave him when he was a literal toddler. It means “little boots” because again, baby in an army camp. And that may as well have been his actual name for how often people called him it.

It’s like being called “King Slugger” for all time.

[blueiscoool]

Bronze Bust of Roman Emperor Caligula Rediscovered After 200 Years

The small bronze statue, which was unearthed at Herculaneum, had been missing for two centuries

A curator in England has rediscovered a tiny Roman-era bronze bust of the emperor Caligula, which had been missing for some 200 years.

The artifact was unearthed in the mid-18th century at Herculaneum, the ancient town preserved under volcanic ash since Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 C.E. Then, Horace Mann, the British ambassador to Italy, acquired the five-inch-tall statue and gave it to his friend, Horace Walpole, the British writer and politician.

The two friends even exchanged letters about the 2,000-year-old bronze, according to a statement from Strawberry Hill House, Walpole’s Gothic home in London.

“I gaze on it from morning to night. It is more a portrait than any picture I ever saw,” Walpole wrote in 1767. “The hair and ears seem neglected, to heighten the expression of the eyes, which are absolutely divine, and have a wild melancholy in them, that one forebodes might ripen to madness.”

Caligula is infamous for his eccentric and cruel behavior. Legend has it that the emperor was so obsessed with his horse, Incitatus, that he tried to make the animal a consul, though this rumor is likely untrue. His reign, which began in 37 C.E., was erratic. He was assassinated after only four years in power.

Today, only seven other small-scale bronze busts of the emperor are known to exist. When Walpole died in 1797, his Roman bust changed hands several times, with some owners mistaking the visage for Alexander the Great.

Silvia Davoli, a curator at Strawberry Hill, found the lost bust in the family collection of Sir John Henry Schroder, who had purchased it in the 1890s, per the statement.

As a curator of Walpole’s former estate, Davoli was familiar with the politician’s correspondence with Mann and knew of the statue’s existence. She had also seen a drawing of it, which Walpole had commissioned from the artist John Carter. When she came across the bronze in Schroder’s collection, she was able to match it to Carter’s drawing.

Schroder doesn’t appear to have known what the statue was or where it came from. According to Strawberry Hill, the family’s collection catalogs refer to the piece as a “possible Renaissance bronze of a youth.”

“They had no idea it was Caligula,” Davoli tells the Guardian’s Richard Brooks. “I was so happy when I finally saw the bronze and made the link.”

Because the statue hadn’t become discolored over time, experts had previously assumed it dated to the 16th century. However, a recent analysis of the metal confirmed that the bronze is, in fact, ancient.

Dietrich Boschung, an expert on imperial Roman iconography at the University of Cologne in Germany, has since examined photos of the statue.

“I’m convinced it is Caligula,” Boschung tells the Guardian. For him, the statue’s piercing silver eyes are a dead giveaway—a common feature of Roman-era bronzes depicting emperors. He also finds it feasible that the piece was once at Herculaneum. “Around that time, many Roman bronzes were found there,” he adds.

To celebrate the discovery, Strawberry Hill will include the ancient bust in its upcoming exhibition, “The Art of Treasure Hunting.” Visitors can check out the tiny Caligula statue for themselves when the show opens on June 28.

By Julia Binswanger.

[duxfemina]

A brief summary of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty

Octavian/Augustus - he has a reputation associated with peace but you will get a little ill once you look at all the collateral damage around him and that reputation ie. It's easy to institute a regime of peace when you've murdered everyone who might oppose you

Tiberius - when a chronic people pleaser finally get into a position of power and still no one thinks they're good enough and they finally reach burnout and fuck off to their vacation home indefinitely

Caligula - the first emperor in the long litany of reasons why people whose brain has not fully developed should NOT be given access to unlimited power. Little Boots is either insane or the absolute champion at taking the piss out of the elite and there isn't really a third option

Claudius - an icon for overcoming disability and bullying and knowing how to delegate administration appropriately. Also this man gave his wives a lot of mobility (for the time) so we stan in spite of the sources trying to smear him for that very thing. Also this man was SUCH a nerd and I wish they hadn't destroyed his history of the Civil Wars but that's the Augustan propaganda machine for ya even near kin isn't safe from censorship

Nero - take one traumatic childhood add a flare for the dramatic and then give them unlimited power before their brain is fully developed and now it's like Caligula but with more pizzazz. Nero is literally what happens when that obnoxious rich kid who's into theater gets absolutely unlimited money and power and nothing to curtail his flare for a spectacle.

[wolframpant]

Caligula 😂

[seianusfanboy]

ANCIENT ROME FAMILY TREES !!

(that I've written down so far)

- THE JULIOCLAUDIANS (until Claudius, sorry Nero! - starting from Brutus' ancestors)

- MARCELLUS AND HIS FAMILY (down to Messalina!)

- THE FAMILY OF AELIUS SEJANUS (the only one whose family isn't a circle)

[sunshinegallery]

My dad just opened the jar of Greek and Roman knowledge I have amassed from my obsession and he had no idea where it came from. He thought it was from the smartie smart book I have been reading but it's actually from the son of Neptune...

[nagapiezz]

Germanicus and baby Gaius

(Gaius as in caligula)

[grayjoy15]

Roman Emperors: Augustus – Gordian I

27 BC – 238 AD

Excited to be working on these again! The series is nearing completion! Pride edition will follow shortly…

[uncleclaudius]

These bronze decorations are part of what remains from the Nemi ships, pleasure barges of Emperor Caligula. The sunken ships were recovered in 1929 but were destroyed in 1944 during WWII.

[lionofchaeronea]

Sestertius of the Roman emperor Gaius, better known as Caligula (r. 37-41 CE). This coin highlights the exceptional honors Gaius bestowed upon his three sisters. While the obverse features the traditional laureate bust of the emperor, the reverse features his sisters together, each identified with the personification of a Roman virtue: Agrippina as Securitas, Drusilla as Concordia, and Julia as Fortuna. Each sister holds a cornucopia to demonstrate abundance, while Drusilla also holds a patera (flat serving dish used in Roman religious rites) and Julia holds a rudder (to symbolize safe guidance of the ship of state). Photo credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com

[ra-horakhty-art]

Happy birthday to me. The best present would be rebloging my arts!

[blueiscoool]

Roman Emperor Caligula's 2,000-Year-Old Garden Unearthed Near the Vatican

The gardens overlooking the Tiber river in Italy once belonged to an infamous Roman emperor.

Construction workers in Italy have discovered a 2,000-year-old garden that once belonged to a Roman emperor.

The travertine walls of the garden overlook the banks of the Tiber, a river that cuts through Rome and sits east of Vatican City. The ruins were unearthed as workers constructed a new overpass at Piazza Pia, according to a translated statement from the Italian Ministry of Culture.

As archaeologists removed debris, they found a lead water pipe with the following inscription: "C(ai) Cæsaris Aug(usti) Germanici." Researchers determined that the engraving referred to Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known as Caligula (aka "little boot," a childhood nickname given to him by his father's soldiers).

Based on the inscription, researchers think the garden likely belonged to the infamous Roman emperor. Not only was Caligula known for being a tyrannical and ruthless leader, he was also a sadist who humiliated his senate. Caligula assumed the throne in A.D. 37, and in A.D. 41 the Praetorian Guard — the officials who were supposed to protect him — assassinated the emperor.

This conclusion is supported by a passage in the ancient text "On the Embassy to Gaius," penned by Egyptian philosopher Philo of Alexandria. It describes how Caligula had met with a representative of Jews living in Alexandria, Egypt, at a large garden along the Tiber, according to the statement.

At that time, Jewish Alexandrians and the Greek-Alexandrian population were in a "crisis that had manifested itself with violence, brawls and episodes of religious intolerance." However, Caligula rejected the Jews' requests for religious autonomy, instead siding with the Greeks.

Alessio De Cristofaro, an archaeologist at the Special Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Art and Landscape, a government agency in Rome, said the find is significant because Piazza Pia is in the same area as the "Horti Agrippinae," the garden of Agrippina the Elder, who was Caligula's mother.

The pipe is also similar to another one, found in the early 1900s, that's inscribed with the name Iulia (Julia) Augusta, the second wife of Augustus and the grandmother of Germanicus. Researchers speculate that the property was inherited by Germanicus and later passed down to his wife, Agrippina the Elder, before going to Caligula.

In addition to the pipe, archaeologists found slabs of Roman-era pottery and terra-cotta figures of mythological scenes that would have decorated rooftops.

By Jennifer Nalewicki.

[parumpantheraart]

Bronze bust depiction of Caligula, oil pastel and colored pencil on paper.

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[star-mannnn]

Not gonna lie, I kinda wished Rick mentioned Caligula deifying his sister in trials of Apollo. Though the only sources (to my knowledge) that mention this are Suetonius and Cassius Dio, which aren’t reliable, it still would have been interesting. I mean trials of Apollo is a fictional series and Rick has used information from Suetonius, so including it wouldn’t have been that serious. I do appreciate Caligula naming his yachts Julia Drusilla, especially saying when his daughter was born, he named her after his sister.

If anyone knows any reliable sources on this, please let me know !!