Thesis on "Late Roman Emperor Caracalla"

Thesis 8 pages (2073 words) Sources: 6 Style: Chicago

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Roman Emperor Caracalla

Caracalla was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus in April of 188, and later he was called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus (Meckler, 1994). He was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and the Roman Emperor for six years, from 211 until his death in 217 (Meckler, 1994). He was considered to be one of the most nefarious and problematic of the Roman Emperors and his reign was generally famous for just a few selected things:

He granted Roman citizenship to all of the free men throughout the Roman Empire. That sounds like a great thing to do, but it was only done in order to increase the taxation.

In order to pay the legions he debased the silver content in the Roman coins by 25%.

He constructed the Baths of Caracalla outside of Rome. The remains of these can still be seen today and they are one of the central things that people think about when they think of Emperor Caracalla (Meckler, 1994).

When Caracalla was born he was called Lucius, but at seven years old his name was changed to Marcus Aurelius to signify and solidify his connection to that family (Meckler, 1994). The nickname of Caracalla came about later on, and was a reference to the Gallic hooded tunic that he almost always wore (Meckler, 1994). He ended up making it very fashionable at the time.

The Rise to Power

When Caracalla's father died, he and his brother were named co-emperors (Chastagnol, 1994). However, he wanted to have sole control over the empire, and the tension between the brothers continued to grow (Chastagnol, 1994). It was obvious that there were problems with the two brothers trying to rule the same country, and they thought about dividing it up (Chastagnol, 1994). Their mother persuaded them not to do that. It was not long before Caracalla started having people close to him and in his brother's family assassinated (Chastagnol, 1994). He managed to persecute his brother, as well, and was able to take over sole power of the Roman Empire (Chastagnol, 1994).

He was much like his father in that he was a strong and often cruel ruler and did not give others any second chances (Chastagnol, 1994). He has his own agenda that he followed, and he did not deviate from it just because it was unpopular or because others though that he was unfair. Mostly, people kept their opinions of him to themselves so that they could be left alone by the government and remain alive. Not everyone felt that they had to submit to the rule of Caracalla or that he was a fair emperor, and some people were killed because they became too vocal, but many others survived quietly.

The Reign of Caracalla

In the year 213, Caracalla headed north to the frontier with Germany (Richardson, 1992). He was planning on going there to deal with the Alamanni. He managed to win the soldiers' sympathy because he offered them generous raises in pay and gestures that were very popular (Richardson, 1992). He marched on foot within the ranks of the ordinary soldiers, he ate the same food, and he ground flour with them instead of making them do all of the hard work while he lived the 'good life.'

This kept him very popular with the soldiers and won him a lot of loyalty (Richardson, 1992). It was partially that loyalty that helped him and his soldiers defeat the Alamanni near the river Rhine in a very serious battle (Richardson, 1992). Although he won, the battle was a strong and ruthless one and the victory was not decisive. There was a peace agreement brokered, though, and the senate gave him the title of Germanicus Maximus (Richardson, 1992). A year later, Caracalla travelled over to the East.

The inhabitants in Alexandria heard the claims made by Caracalla in which he said that he killed Geta for self-defense (Birley, 1988). They began to mock this claim and they produced a lot of satire about it. They also started to mock his other claims and pretentions, and took great joy in making fun of him (Birley, 1988). In 215, Caracalla was very angry about this, and he savagely attacked and slaughtered a group of leading Alexandria citizens who had assembled near the city to greet him when he arrived (Birley, 1988). Then he turned his troops loose within the city for several days with the goal of plundering and looting. There are various accounts of what actually happened during that time, but many historians feel that more than 20,000 people were killed during that time (Birley, 1988).

The Army and the Legacy

While Caracalla reigned as emperor, he raised the yearly pay of the soldiers and gave them a lot of great benefits (Millar, 1993). He both feared the army and admired them, but the care of them was something that he took on from his father. During his father's reign the army was also well cared for, and Caracalla was told by his father that he was to ignore everyone else because they were not important, but that he must take good care of the army (Millar, 1993). In a way this made some sense because the army needed to be there to protect the Emperor and the country (Millar, 1993). However, ignoring the people completely and having no concern at all for their well-being was not a great way to run an empire. Caracalla knew no other way and was only doing what he was told to do in the way that he had been taught (Millar, 1993).

Caracalla wanted, like many rulers do, to be remembered by others when he was gone (Millar, 1993). One of the ways that he tried to do this was to commission the Baths of Caracalla, which was one of the last major achievements - from an architectural standpoint - that Rome was involved in (Millar, 1993). It became the largest bath that was open to the public ever to be built within ancient Rome. Larger than St. Peter's Basilica, the main room of the baths was able to accommodate more than 2,000 Romans at once (Millar, 1993). The baths opened in the year 216 and they had outdoor tracks and private rooms as well as the main room (Millar, 1993). On the inside, mosaics and golden trim were used for decoration throughout the rooms (Millar, 1993).

The Fall of Caracalla

Caracalla fell in a less than spectacular way, especially for an Emperor (DeLaine, 1997). A few days before his death he had executed the brother of a man in his imperial bodyguard on a charge that had not actually been proven. Some believe that this is why the bodyguard killed Caracalla while he urinated at the roadside near Harran (DeLaine, 1997). Others believe that the bodyguard was angry because he had not been promoted to a Centurion rank (DeLaine, 1997). The Emperor was given some privacy by his escort so that he could relieve himself, and while he was doing this the bodyguard ran forward and killed him with a single stroke from his sword. Then he fled on horseback, but a bodyguard archer was able to kill him before he escaped (DeLaine, 1997). Caracalla was succeeded by a man believed to have been part of the conspiracy against him.

The Baths of Caracalla

Out of everything that Caracalla did during his rather brief reign, the baths will likely be the most admired and the most remembered by the majority of the people (DeLaine, 1997). They were Roman public baths, which were often called thermae (DeLaine, 1997). The baths are in ruins now, but they are so extensive that they are quite popular as a tourist attraction for people who come to Rome. Most people think of baths as small things that are found within a room in their homes, but the public baths in Rome were large and spectacular - buildings all to themselves (DeLaine, 1997). The Baths of Caracalla, for example, were approximately 33 acres in size when the whole complex was taken into account (DeLaine, 1997). The building that the bath was located in was 750 feet long and 380 feet wide. It had an estimated ceiling height of 125 feet and could hold between 1,600 and 2,000 people who were all bathing together at one time (DeLaine, 1997).

The baths were important, but the baths of Caracalla were much more than just a bathing place. The complex of buildings was actually more of a leisure center as opposed to only holding a series of bathing areas (DeLaine, 1997). There was also a library, open to the public, within the complex. It was only the second bath in Rome to have that luxury (DeLaine, 1997). The public libraries in Rome at that time consisted of either two rooms or two buildings, depending on the size of the library (DeLaine, 1997). Both were equal size, and one of them had Latin… READ MORE

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