7.12

Caligula Emperor, 37–41 CE

Suetonius Caligula 1; Victor Epitome 3.1–2.

(1) eī: Tiberiō; dative object of successit (AG 370)

C. Caesar: Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was the son of Germanicus and Agrippina. He was born in the camp, probably in Germany, and he was reared among the soldiers. He received the surname of Caligula from his being arrayed in a mimic uniform and wearing a pair of caligae or soldiers' boots. At first he ruled well; but his sense of power turned his head, and the latter part of his reign was marked by excesses of all sorts (Hazzard).

Drūsī: Drusus was Caligula's paternal grandfather. Tiberius became his grandfather by adopting Germanicus in 4 CE. He had already become Caligula's maternal step-grandfather by marrying Julia in 11 BCE (Bird).

pūrgāverit: "excused," i.e. made them seem excusable or trivial

(2) Bellum contrā Germānicōs: regarding Caligula’s Germanic war and invasion of Suebia, Suetonius relates the following anecdote:

Finally, as if intending to end the war, Caligula set up his battle line on the shore of the Ocean and arranged his ballistas and siege equipment. He did what no one could have known or even imagined: he suddenly ordered his men to fill their helmets and the hem of their tunics with seashells, declaring, "These are the spoils of war from the Ocean; they belong to the Capitol and the Palatine." (Vit. Gai. 46.1; trans. K. Masters) 

(3) Stupra sorōribus intūlit: "he sexually assaulted his sisters." sorōribus is the dative object of intūlit (LS infero I.β). According to Suetonius (Vit. Gai. 24), he committed incest with Drusilla and his other two sisters, but the daughter whom he acknowledged as Julia Drusilla was born to him by Caesonia (Bird).

ex ūnā: supply sorōrum

cognōvit: "recognized (as legitimate offspring)." Alternatively, the verb could mean "had sex with," which seems to be how the Greek translator Paeanius took it: καὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ἐκγόνης αὖθις ἐγένετο φθορεύς ("and he in turn became the debaucher of his own daughter."). But no other ancient source mentions this crime.

(4) interfectus: Caligula died on the Palatine Hill in 41 CE. He did not receive deification or other funerary honors. (See Smith, s.v. Apotheosis)