Rompe Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Greetings everyone, I am very into Caligula. I am finding it very hard to find others that are into Caligula and/or study Caligula, his reign, rule, etc. I have been researching Caligula (in and out of Rome) for many years now. Wondering if anyone else would be willing to start a topic on Caligula and discuss Him and his Empire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingsoc Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Welcome to the forum Rompe! There are several threads about Caligula if you do a search you will find them. if you have a new aspect about Caligula that wasn't discussed before you could open a new thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 (edited) Greetings everyone, I am very into Caligula. I am finding it very hard to find others that are into Caligula and/or study Caligula, his reign, rule, etc. I have been researching Caligula (in and out of Rome) for many years now. Wondering if anyone else would be willing to start a topic on Caligula and discuss Him and his Empire? Welcome to the forum Rompe! There are several threads about Caligula if you do a search you will find them. if you have a new aspect about Caligula that wasn't discussed before you could open a new thread. For beginnersBTW, I think the question on why the Republic didn't came back after the death of Caius (aka Caligula) is still an unsettled issue. Edited July 31, 2009 by sylla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmo Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 BTW, I think the question on why the Republic didn't came back after the death of Caius (aka Caligula) is still an unsettled issue. The fact that Gaius was also blamed for the crazy thing of restoring the popular assembly tells a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 The republic didn't return because the senators who wanted it to didn't try hard enough. They did, if I remember right, make a lot of noise on the subject. The praetorians however had found someone to carry on the role of emperor and that suited them just fine, since if the republic was reinstated it was back to the regular legions for the lot of them with the loss of all perks. Having been caught out by events, the senators had no reliable military force to face down the praetorians. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted July 31, 2009 Report Share Posted July 31, 2009 (edited) The fact that Gaius was also blamed for the crazy thing of restoring the popular assembly tells a lot. That's an excellent point; I'm not aware of any good explanation for this bizarre political experiment of Gaius, reported by both Suetonius (Caligula 16) and Dio (59,20). For two full administrative years (38-39 CE) the elections of magistrates and the ratification of laws were nominally restored to the popular assemblies, certainly not as in the old traditional Republic but in the "Augustan way" (eliminated by Tiberius); for any reason, it seems Gaius was more Republican than Sulla... After the end of this experiment, the electoral power (even if nominal) never came back, but the assemblies were still active at least up to Nerva. It's hard to determine the relevance (or lack of it) of this measure: Why was it promoted? And why was it suppressed? Was it a maneuver against the Senate? Was its suppression a measure for (or against) the Senate? Were there any significant administrative or economic consequences across those years? (eg, from the candidates' canvassing). Was the frequency of popular games across those years related to electoral activity? Was in any way the opposition against Gaius stimulated by this measure? (or by its suppression). Edited July 31, 2009 by sylla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rompe Posted August 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Welcome to the forum Rompe! There are several threads about Caligula if you do a search you will find them. if you have a new aspect about Caligula that wasn't discussed before you could open a new thread. Thank you very much Ingsoc for the welcome and to Sylla for the "for beginners" link (which I truely am to message boards). I have been able finally to do some searching and find some intresting postings that have been made up on Caligula. So very nice to see Not to go off of the topic of the Republic, but a few topics I wanted to bring up about Caligula that I have not found anywhere else on the board (may have been put up and buried and I did not find)... 1) Caligula and his magnificent boats that he had constructed for him. So amazing how these were found and so sad how so much of them were destroyed. I have found one good documentary that talks about these boats. (I think it was a Histroys Mysteries or one like that) I was wondering if anyone has any further information on these than what I can find online (very little) and that was in this documentary. http://www.archaeology.org/0205/abstracts/caligula.html (Link on Floating Palace Boats I found for those who are not familar) Was wondering if anyone knows with these if they have done any further restoration as they talked about in the documentary? I really wanted to make it to Lake Nemi while I was in Rome, but unfortunately couldnt. 2) Cult of Caligula. During Caligulas reign, they had a main "Cult of Caligula" that ended up mainly dying out after his death, but some carried it on. I can not find a lot of information in and out of books that I would like to on this topic. I am trying to find out more in depth information about what went on inside of the cult, how long it actually went on (estimated) etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingsoc Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 2) Cult of Caligula. During Caligulas reign, they had a main "Cult of Caligula" that ended up mainly dying out after his death, but some carried it on. I can not find a lot of information in and out of books that I would like to on this topic. I am trying to find out more in depth information about what went on inside of the cult, how long it actually went on (estimated) etc. In the eastern part of the empire it's was common to worship the emperor as a god. the tradition on giving rulers divine honors started well before Alexander conquests, after the Hellenistic kingdoms consolidate themselves they adopted this practice which went with the Roman emperors after the annexation of the east. Caligula, unlike his predecessor Tiberius, had great enthusiasm for this practice. I've never heard that his cult continued after his death, what is your source for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 (edited) 2) Cult of Caligula. During Caligulas reign, they had a main "Cult of Caligula" that ended up mainly dying out after his death, but some carried it on. I can not find a lot of information in and out of books that I would like to on this topic. I am trying to find out more in depth information about what went on inside of the cult, how long it actually went on (estimated) etc. In the eastern part of the empire it's was common to worship the emperor as a god. the tradition on giving rulers divine honors started well before Alexander conquests, after the Hellenistic kingdoms consolidate themselves they adopted this practice which went with the Roman emperors after the annexation of the east. Caligula, unlike his predecessor Tiberius, had great enthusiasm for this practice. I've never heard that his cult continued after his death, what is your source for that? Delirious claims for divinity were standard accusations against Edited August 1, 2009 by sylla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingsoc Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 Delirious claims for divinity were standard accusations against Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted August 1, 2009 Report Share Posted August 1, 2009 (edited) Delirious claims for divinity were standard accusations against Edited August 1, 2009 by sylla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 1) Caligula and his magnificent boats that he had constructed for him. So amazing how these were found and so sad how so much of them were destroyed. I have found one good documentary that talks about these boats. (I think it was a Histroys Mysteries or one like that) I was wondering if anyone has any further information on these than what I can find online (very little) and that was in this documentary. http://www.archaeology.org/0205/abstracts/caligula.html (Link on Floating Palace Boats I found for those who are not familar) Was wondering if anyone knows with these if they have done any further restoration as they talked about in the documentary? I really wanted to make it to Lake Nemi while I was in Rome, but unfortunately couldnt. I don't know anything about the restorations but I've seen some of what Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 ...Caligula, the grandson of Drusus, the step-son of Augustus, and grand-nephew of Tiberius himself, a most wicked and cruel prince, who effaced even the memory of Tiberius's enormities. He undertook a war against the Germans; but, after entering Suevia, made no effort to do anything. He committed incest with his sisters, and acknowledged a daughter that he had by one of them. While tyrannizing over all with the utmost avarice, licentiousness, and cruelty, he was assassinated in the palace... Historiae Romanae Breviarium (Eutropius) Thus Gaius, after doing in three years, nine months, and twenty-eight days all that has been related, learned by actual experience that he was not a god. Roman History Book 59 (Cassius Dio) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Thus Gaius, after doing in three years, nine months, and twenty-eight days all that has been related, learned by actual experience that he was not a god. Roman History Book 59 (Cassius Dio) That has got to be one of the best quotes I've ever seen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted August 2, 2009 Report Share Posted August 2, 2009 Thus Gaius, after doing in three years, nine months, and twenty-eight days all that has been related, learned by actual experience that he was not a god. Roman History Book 59 (Cassius Dio) That has got to be one of the best quotes I've ever seen! And a bit ironic, because Dio knew by his actual review that after having executed 35 senators and more than 300 equites (possibly more than Caius himself), Claudius was a God after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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