When we think of the most evil men in history, our minds might immediately flicker to figures
like Adolf Hitler or Josef Stalin, just to name a couple.
But what about figures farther back in time?
In a past video, we discussed why Emperor Nero was the most evil man in human history.
But, as far as the Roman Empire is concerned, there’s another man we can’t forget.
That is, Emperor Caligula, the man who ruled before Nero and took Nero’s inheritance
money when he was young.
So, was Caligula worse than Nero?
Let’s take a look!
First and foremost, we should mention that a lot of Caligula’s behavior and actions
were considered most cruel and sickening.
Even his own people at the time thought he went way too far.
That’s saying something for a culture that engaged in violent entertainment, watching
gladiator fights to the death on a regular basis.
Born in the year 12AD, Caligula’s real name was Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, named
after his famous relation, Julius Caesar.
The name, Caligula, stemmed from a Latin nickname translated as “Little Boots” because his
mother used to dress him up as a soldier when he was very young.
When Caligula stepped up to power in 37AD, it was initially a time of celebration.
It provided the people with hope for a golden age.
You see, his predecessor, Tiberius, had been enormously unpopular and the people suspected
that he’d secretly ordered to have Caligula’s father, Germanicus, poisoned to death.
Tiberius had also had his mother and brothers forced into committing suicide.
At any rate, Caligula was only thought to be spared due to his very young age at the
time.
What was it about the ancient Roman Empire and evil leaders?
At any rate, when Caligula succeeded Tiberius, the people were glad to have a descendent
of the beloved Germanicus take over.
They thought Caligula would be a good, fair and just ruler but they were in for a big
surprise.
In his early life, there had been rumors that Caligula engaged in incestuous behaviors with
his own sister, Drusilla, because, being orphans, they lacked love and companionship from others.
This would later fuel Caligula’s lustful reputation when he came into power.
When Drusilla died at the age of 20, he was devastated and forced his people to engage
in public grieving for 2 months.
He’d later have a daughter, which he’d also name Drusilla in tribute to her.
Now, if you think romantic relations with your sister is gross, you should consider
that Caligula was a man with an enormous sexual appetite.
He was into some very disturbing acts, to say the least!
Most were at the expense of others.
Since this is a family channel, we’ll try our best to keep the promiscuous details at
bay.
But one nasty and cruel act that he liked to do was to use other men’s wives for his
own amusement and pleasure.
His power over others excited him, enticing him to abuse it whenever he had the chance.
Further, he loved to embarrass and humiliate the husbands of the wives he toyed with by
publicly criticizing their performances or techniques.
Doing so made him feel more powerful and he loved exercising his position by dominating
his people.
There were instances where he’d attend weddings only to stop the marriage from happening so
that he could have his way with the bride.
He’d then ditch her soon after while telling her she couldn’t marry.
Some of his perverted pleasures may have been due to the influence of Tiberius.
There had been a time when Tiberius had Caligula stay with him at his villa on the island of
Capri.
This was part of a sick game whereby Tiberius was basically forcing the 19-year-old Caligula
to live alongside the man who had destroyed his family.
It was here where Caligula would watch the gruesome scenes as Tiberius “played” with
– and we say this so as not to be too graphic – underage boys and girls before having
them tossed over a cliff to meet their demise.
Oddly, Tiberius began to kind of like Caligula and allowed him to watch all the sick torturing,
sexual exploits and sadistic executions.
So, it was this environment that may have played a huge influence on the boy’s mind.
Tiberius himself was quoted saying, “I am nursing a viper for the Roman people”.
Returning to the events of Caligula’s reign, the emperor later fell in love with a woman
named Milonia Caesonia in 39AD who was known for her extravagance and promiscuity.
She’d already had three children from another man and was described as being “neither
beautiful nor young.”
She was a woman who loved to engage in self pleasure.
Still, he loved her passionately and ended up marrying her.
Some thought that Caligula’s madness was the result of a love potion administered to
him by Caesonia since she was not the most popular choice in bride.
Regardless, Caligula was so proud of his wife that he’d parade her naked in front of his
troops and selected friends.
In an ominous display of love, he’d tell her that he could have her throat slit whenever
he pleased before proceeding to kiss her neck.
He often jokingly threatened to have her tortured or executed as an odd way of flirting.
This couldn’t have been all that settling to Caesonia who somehow put up with it.
Aside from the sexual lewdness of Caligula’s behavior and actions, he was also very cruel
in his approach to torture and mass killings.
He’d force families to watch the executions of their children.
To make this worse, he’d force the relatives of victims to smile and cheer over the execution
before they themselves would also be executed.
He also held parties and gatherings of a joyous nature to watch people be brutally killed,
and invite their grieving loved ones to join in the festivities, forced to act like they
were having a good time.
But Caligula didn’t just have people executed in the way you might think, quick and to the
point.
No, that would be too easy.
Instead, he ordered executions to happen slowly.
He wanted victims to feel their pain.
He liked killings to start with a bunch of cuts and abrasions while steadily progressing
to increasingly worse methods of torture, keeping victims alive to experience it as
long as possible.
It was disturbingly fun for him.
In one occasion, his victim shouted to proclaim his innocence before being tortured.
In which case, Caligula then called him back.
Not to pardon him, but to have the man’s tongue cut off so he couldn’t shout his
innocence again.
The poor man was then thrown back in with the wolves to proceed with the harsh, tortured
execution.
He was a man with a sadistic, serial killer mentality, arguably worse than the likes of
Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer.
And he had absolute power.
How terrifying!
Though Caligula only reigned over the Roman Empire for slightly less than 4 years, his
time in power was so impactful that his name continues to live on in infamy, 2,000 years
later.
It’s difficult to think of the name “Caligula” without thinking of cruelty and perversion.
From seducing his sister, parading his wife naked and making his horse a state official
– yeah you heard that last part right – Caligula was also a mad man.
He believed himself to be a living God.
Most emperors were considered Gods after death, but Caligula didn’t want to wait for death
to be declared one.
He considered himself above other people, a divine figure.
He claimed to seek direct advice from the God, Jupiter.
He also claimed to party regularly with Hercules.
He even incorporated a holy temple into his palace.
The executive director for the American Institute for Roman Culture explained that, by doing
this, Caligula was basically making a statement, saying, “I’m living with the Gods.
I am a God.”
He was, in essence, the ultimate maniacal narcissist.
He also had statues of himself built in every temple in the empire.
Since Caligula was still young at only 28 years old, people were worried that his tyranny
would continue for many more years to come.
Conspiracy among the people grew against him.
Thus, in 41AD, the emperor was proven once and for all that he was not a God, but, rather,
a mere mortal like everyone else.
This happened when a group of his guardsman attacked him after a sporting event.
The assassination took place in Palatine Hill, Rome, Italy.
He was left with 30 stab wounds.
His body was then dumped into a shallow grave.
Sadly, his wife and daughter, Drusilla, were also murdered.
His statues were taken down in an attempt to purge the terrible memory of Caligula.
They did a good job because Caligula was indeed almost wiped from history.
The reason we still remember him today is because his behavior and actions were hard
to forget despite the efforts to do so.
His memory was also preserved by some for the sake to serve as a later warning for the
people that anyone could become a monster.
Though they’d killed Caligula, however, they weren’t ready to kill the system.
The Senate had an opportunity to seize power and change everything but, instead, they placed
Caligula’s uncle, Claudius in charge.
The failure to end the emperor system would later result in another Caligula-type leader
with the infamous Emperor Nero.
Now, make sure you go check out our other video, What Made Emperor Nero The Most Evil
Man!
You won’t regret it!
Click that video!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!