(12-41 C. E.) Emperor of Rome from 37 to 41 C. E.
Gaius was born at Antium, the third son of germanicus and AGRIPPINA THE ELDER. Most of his early years were spent with his family on the Rhine frontier. The popularity of his father with the legions was transferred to him, and the soldiers affectionately called him “little boot”— Caligula. After the death of Germanicus in 19 C. E., Gaius returned to Rome from syria and lived with his mother and his great-grandmother, livia. After Livia died in 29, he moved in with his grandmother, antonia (1). She was able to shield him from the plottings of Praetorian Prefect SEJANUS, a protection she was unable to provide for her daughter-in-law and other grandchildren. The annihilation of the family and friends of Germanicus by Sejanus and TIBERIUS was greeted by Gaius with remarkable passivity. He did nothing to fight against the exile of his mother and the arrest of his brothers. Instead, he ingratiated himself with Tiberius and survived to see the fall of Sejanus in 31.
In 32, Gaius moved in with the aging emperor at Capri, and from that point on he was groomed to be the successor, with a grandson, Tiberius Gemellus. Gaius possessed little experience in government, but Tiberius, sharing the debaucheries with his nephew and indulging his every vicious habit, once remarked that he was nursing a viper for the Roman people. Tiberius died in 37, and while historians have charged Gaius with his murder, it is unlikely, considering the aged emperor’s state of health. Gaius, however, had long prepared for the event, and his trusted Praetorian Prefect Macro immediately went before the Senate to invalidate Tiberius Gemellus’s part in the imperial rule. Gaius was proclaimed emperor.
Initially, the Romans greeted the new administration with relief. Gaius honored the memory of his family, recalled all exiles, dismissed a multitude of criminal charges lodged during the reign of Tiberius against innocent persons. All of this behavior changed rather quickly, due partially to his unstable personality and because of an illness in october 37. By 38, Gaius Caligula had assumed the role that history would assign to him forever. A bloodbath soon followed: Macro was ordered to commit suicide, Tiberius Gemellus was beheaded, and those suspected of crimes or disloyalty were executed, some at Caligula’s whim. other peculiar schemes followed. A bridge of boards was stretched across the Bay of BAULI so that Gaius could parade back and forth over the water for days. In September of 39 he embarked on his self-proclaimed German campaign, marching with the Praetorian Guard. Instead of slaying Germans, he ordered the death of lentulus gaetulicus, the governor of Germania Superior. After demonstrations on the Rhine and on the Channel, he wrote to the Senate that Britannia had been subdued and then he returned to Rome.
Once home his mammoth games and enjoyments emptied the treasury, forcing him to seek radical methods of increasing revenue. Every form of taxation was introduced, including the murder of those who had willed him their estates. It was a capital crime not to bequeath him everything. The activity of prostitutes was declared taxable, and a fee had to be paid on virtually every good or service. Tax regulations were posted, maintaining a semblance of legality, but they were printed in such small letters and plastered on such high pedestals that no one could read them. Gaius Caligula also demanded that he be worshiped as a god, and he once placed his own horse INCITATUS among the ranks of the Senate. As anyone suspected of any crime was instantly killed, the court and especially the Praetorian Guard grew increasingly restive. The result was a widespread conspiracy among the Guard, the Senate, the Equestrian ranks and the noble classes. On January 24, 41, Cassius chaerea, an embittered tribune of the Praetorians, aided by several other officers, assassinated Caligula during the ludi, slaughtering his wife, Caesonia, and infant daughter as well.
The most detailed account of Gaius Caligula’s life comes from Suetonius, who describes him as tall, hairy, and bald, with a forbidding face, made even more so by grimaces, which he practiced before a mirror. Even Suetonius believed him to be deranged, listing his many crimes and manias, adding that his reign of terror had been so severe that the Romans refused to believe that he was actually dead.
See also Claudius; drusilla; and julia. (6).
Suggested Readings: Barrett, Anthony Caligula: The Corruption of Power London: Batsford, 1989; Balsdon, J. R V
D. The Emperor Gaius (Caligula). Oxford, U. K.: The Clarendon Press, 1966; Ferrill, Arthur. Caligula: Emperor of Rome. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1991; Hurley, Donna w. An Historical and Historiographical Commentary on Suetonius’ Life of C. Caligula. Atlanta, Ga.: Scholars Press, 1993; Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars. Translated and with an introduction by Michael Grant. New York: Penguin, 1979; Tacitus, Cornelius. Empire and Emperors: Selections from Tacitus’ Annals. Translated by Graham Tin-gay New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983; Tacitus. The Histories. New York: Penguin, 1989.
Galatia Roman province; a region of Asia Minor surrounded by the territories of paphlagonia, pontus, Cappadocia, LYCAONIA, PHRYGIA, and BITHYNIA. Galatia was a wild, harsh, and unsettled land, first occupied in the third century b. c.e. by wandering Gallic invaders, who not only lent their name to the country but also left a permanent imprint of Celtic culture. Subsequent populations introduced Cappadocian and Hellenic elements, creating a diverse racial stock. By the first century b. c.e., Galatia controlled much of its surroundings, and one ruler, deio-TARUS, proved helpful to Rome in the Mithridatic Wars, assuming the status of king and Roman client. Augustus at first chose to retain Galatia as an ally, but in 25 b. c.e. its sovereign, Amyntas, died, and the region became the imperial province of Galatia. Administered originally by an imperial legate of praetorian rank, the province was both important and large, containing portions of Lycao-nia, Isauria, and, later, sections of Paphlagonia.
Provincial status was necessary as Armenia and the parthian frontier were nearby, requiring firm control, stability and the presence of troops ready to defend Cappadocia, Armenia, and Syria from possible attack. Further, the Celtic tribes of Galatia were unsettled and Augustus placed at the legate’s command enough troops to ensure security. The emperor also founded numerous colonies of former soldiers, the most important being antioch in PISIDIA. This network of communities tamed much of the wilderness, providing roads, communications between Syria and Asia, and a basis for future provincial developments. To better administer the Armenian border area, in 74 Vespasian elevated the governor of Galatia to consular rank, aided by three legates and two legions, with authority over Cappadocia and Armenia Minor. He then tightened jurisdiction by creating a new province, Lycia and pamphylia, which included parts of Galatia.
In 110, Trajan placed the rule of Galatia in the hands of Cappadocia’s Praetorian legate. Further reductions in status were probably made under Hadrian and Antoninus pius, with the province losing Lycaonia and Isauria. Thus, from his seat at Ancyra (now Ankara), the governor no longer sent out generals but, instead, procurators to each district.
A number of significant cities developed in the region. Antioch achieved the status of metropolis, and it became the focus of Roman influence. Celtic culture survived into the fifth century in the tribes of the Tobisto-bogi, with their capital of Pessenus; the Trocmi, in Tavium; and the Tectosages, in Ancyra. But the tribesmen, in time, served as soldiers in the Roman army. Ancyra, because of its central location, was one of the best fortified points in Asia Minor, thus enduring the invasions and ravages of the third century far better than other sites. Baths, dating to the early third century c. e., have been uncovered; and a temple to Augustus has walls adorned with two copies of the Res Gestae Divi Augustus, the testament of Augustus’s achievements, one in Greek and the other in Latin. Finally, Galatia attained prominence in the history of Christianity because of Paul’s work among its inhabitants. Many early Christians were Jewish converts, earning the enmity of the local Jewish population, and persecution was severe.
Galba (1) (fl. mid-first century c. e.) Ruler of the tribe of the Suessiones in Gallia Belgica
In 57 b. c.e., the belgae had grown alarmed by the crushing of the Germanic chief ariovistus at the hands of Julius Caesar. Eager to avoid the same fate, Galba allied himself with the surrounding tribes and prepared for war. Caesar marched into his territory, and Galba tried to oppose him with all available troops. A pitched battle ensued, and the king was defeated at the battle of axona.
See also gallic wars.
Galba (2), Servius Sulpicius (3 b. c.e.-69 c. e.) The first of four emperors who occupied the throne in 69 c. e. Galba was a member of the venerable sulpicii family, born to Mummia Achaica and the partially humpbacked patrician, Gaius Sulpicius Galba. He received an excellent education and married Lepida, who bore him two sons. When she died, he embarked on a career in the legions and in the government. With the support and patronage of AUGUSTUS, LIVIA, TIBERIUS, gaius CALIGULA, and CLAUDIUS, Galba rose quickly He was governor of Gallia Aquitania and a consul in 33. Gaius Caligula appointed him legate of germania Superior, where he acquired his reputation as a merciless disciplinarian. In 45 he served as proconsul of Africa, before assuming the post of governor in Hispania Tarraconensis for eight years during Nero’s reign. He was severe at times (once he ordered a corrupt money changer’s hand to be cut off and nailed to the counting table) but largely inactive, claiming (according to Suetonius) that Nero could not remove him for “no one can be held accountable for doing nothing.”
In 68, Vindex, the legate in Gallia Lugdunensis, called for Galba to overthrow Nero. He at first declined, but in a declaration issued at New Carthage in Spain in April, he proclaimed himself the spokesman for the Senate and the people of Rome. After several weeks of doubt, word arrived that Nero was dead and that the Senate had named him emperor. Furthermore, the Praetorian Guard, led by Nymphidius sabinus, had joined his cause.
Galba set out for Rome with his legions and on the way quickly began to alienate both the Guard and the Roman public. Sabinus was removed as prefect and replaced by Cornelius Laco. Knights and senators were murdered at whim; once installed in Rome, Galba listened only to Titus VINIUS, the freedman icelus, and Laco—unfortunate advisers who added to the emperor’s rapidly increasing unpopularity. A dispute over monies was ultimately responsible for Galba’s death. When the Praetorian Guard demanded the donativum that had been promised them by Sabinus, Galba responded: “I am used to levying troops, not buying them.” The Praetorians then plotted against him, joined by OTHO, a onetime friend of Nero who as governor of Lusitania had supported Galba. When Galba overlooked Otho as the imperial heir in favor of Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus, Otho led the plot to slay the emperor. On January 15, 69, the assassins struck. Both Galba and his heir were killed, their heads cut off and paraded around the Castra Praeto-ria, where Otho was proclaimed the master of Rome. VITELLIUS was already on the march with the Rhine legions, however, and the bloody civil wars of 69 began.
Galba was the first emperor not from the Julio-Claudian line and was yet another victim of the Praetorian Guards. The historians were not kind to his memory. Tacitus wrote of him as an aged and sick man, and Suetonius added that his fame and power were far greater as he assumed the purple than they were after he had it for a time.
Galen (Claudius Galenus) (c. 129-c. 200 c. e.) One of the ancient world’s most famous physicians and writers on medicine
Galen was born in Pergamum, the son of an architect named Nicon, who dreamed one night that his son should become a doctor. Galen studied at Pergamum and then in Smyrna, Corinth, and Alexandria; his work with the anatomists of Alexandria may have been responsible for instilling an appreciation of the human form that would last for the rest of his career. In 157 Galen returned to Pergamum and began to work as an attendant to the gladiators of that city. By 162, with a growing reputation, he went to Rome to establish a practice. There he came to the attention of Marcus aurelius. Galen served for a time as physician to Marcus and treated other notable political figures. Galen returned home to Pergamum again, but around 166-167 a plague broke out in Venetia in Italy, and Marcus sent for him. He remained in Rome for the next 30 years, where he was court physician to the emperors Marcus Aurelius, Lucius Verus, Commodus, and Septi-mius Severus, as well as to many other prominent men.
Galen’s surviving works outnumber those of the other Greek doctors and were the main source for physiological and anatomical knowledge well into the 16th century. An early work on philosophy, On Medical Experience, written in 150, survived in Arabic. His later treatises on medicine were so numerous that he spent several of his last years trying to catalog his own books on anatomy, physiology, pathology, diagnosis, and pharmacology His major works include De methodo medendi (The method of healing), On the Movement of the Muscles, On the Natural Faculties, and his greatest effort, On Anatomical Procedure.
World History
