Caracalla
| Caracalla | |
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| Emperor of the Roman Empire | |
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| Reign | 198–209 (with Severus); 209 – February 4, 211 (with Severus and Geta); February – December 211 (with Geta); December 211 – 8 April 217 (alone) |
| Full name | Lucius Septimius Bassianus (from birth to 195); Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Caesar (195 to 198); Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus (198 to 211); Caesar Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Pius Augustus (211 to death) |
| Born | April 4, 188 |
| Birthplace | Lugdunum |
| Died | April 8, 217 (aged 29) |
| Place of death | Near Harran |
| Predecessor | Septimius Severus (alone) |
| Successor | Macrinus |
| Wife | Fulvia Plautilla |
| Dynasty | Severan |
| Father | Septimius Severus |
| Mother | Julia Domna |
| Roman imperial dynasties | |||
| Severan dynasty | |||
 The Severan Tondo |
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| Chronology | |||
| Septimius Severus | 193 – 198 | ||
| -with Caracalla | 198 – 209 | ||
| -with Caracalla and Geta | 209 – 211 | ||
| Caracalla and Geta | 211 – 211 | ||
| Caracalla | 211 – 217 | ||
| Interlude: Macrinus | 217 – 218 | ||
| Elagabalus | 218 – 222 | ||
| Alexander Severus | 222 – 235 | ||
| Dynasty | |||
| Severan dynasty family tree Category:Severan Dynasty |
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| Succession | |||
| Preceded by Year of the Five Emperors |
Followed by Crisis of the Third Century |
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Lucius Septimius Bassianus[1] (April 4, 188 – April 8, 217), commonly known as Caracalla, was Roman emperor from 209 to 217.[2] The eldest son of Septimius Severus, he ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta until he murdered the latter in 211. Caracalla is remembered as one of the most notorious emperors because of the massacres and persecutions he authorized throughout the empire.[3]
Caracalla's reign was also notable for the Constitutio Antoniniana, granting Roman citizenship to all freemen throughout the Roman Empire, according to historian Cassius Dio in order to increase taxation. He then had the silver content in Roman coinage reduced by 25 percent in order to increase the pay of the legions. He also ordered the construction of a large thermae outside Rome, the remains of which, known as the Baths of Caracalla, can still be seen today.
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[edit] Early life
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| O: laureate draped bust right; ANTONINVS_AVGVSTVS | R: Felicitas standing left holding caduceus and cornucopia
FELICI_TAS AVGG |
| silver denarius struck in Rome 200 AD; RIC 35 | |
Caracalla, of mixed Punic–Roman–Berber[4][5] and Syrian descent,[6][7][8] was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus in Lugdunum, Gaul (now Lyon, France), the son of the later Emperor Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. At the age of seven, his name was changed to Marcus Aurelius Septimius Bassianus Antoninus to solidify connection to the family of Marcus Aurelius. He was later given the nickname Caracalla, which referred to the Gallic hooded tunic he habitually wore and which he made fashionable.
[edit] Reign
His father Severus, who had risen to the imperial throne in AD 193, died in AD 211 while campaigning in the Caledonian marches at Eboracum (now York), and Caracalla was proclaimed co-emperor with his brother Publius Septimius Antoninius Geta. However since both of them wanted to be sole ruler, tensions between the brothers were high in the few months they ruled the empire jointly (they even considered dividing the empire in two, but were persuaded not to do so by their mother). Then in December AD 211 at a reconciliation meeting arranged by their mother Julia, Caracalla had Geta assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard loyal to him. Geta died in his mother's arms. Caracalla then persecuted Geta's supporters and ordered a damnatio memoriae by the Senate against his brother. Geta's image was simply removed from all coinage, paintings and statues, leaving a blank space next to Caracalla's.
Among those killed were Caracalla's ex-wife, Fulvia Plautilla, and her brother and other members of the family of his former father-in-law Gaius Fulvius Plautianus. Plautianus had already been executed for alleged treachery against emperor Severus in AD 205.
In AD 213, Caracalla went north to the German frontier to deal with the Alamanni tribesmen who were causing trouble in the Agri Decumates. The Romans did defeat the Alamanni in battle near the river Main, but failed to win a decisive victory over them. After a peace agreement was brokered and a large bribe payment given to the invaders, the Senate conferred upon him the empty title of "Germanicus Maximus". The following year the emperor traveled to the East, to Syria and Egypt.
Gibbon described Caracalla as "the common enemy of mankind". He left (AD 213) the capital (and he never returned to it) about a year after the murder of Geta. The rest of his reign was spent in the several provinces of the empire, particularly those of the East, and every province was by turns the scene of his rapine and cruelty. The senators, compelled by fear to attend his capricious motions, were obliged to provide daily entertainments at an immense expense, which he abandoned with contempt to his guards and to erect, in every city, magnificent palaces and theatres, which he either disdained to visit, or ordered to be immediately thrown down. The most wealthy families were ruined by partial fines and confiscations, and the great body of his subjects oppressed by ingenious and aggravated taxes."[9]
When the inhabitants of Alexandria heard Caracalla's claims that he had killed Geta in self-defense, they produced a satire mocking this as well as Caracalla's other pretensions. In AD 215 Caracalla savagely responded to this insult by slaughtering the deputation of leading citizens who had unsuspectingly assembled before the city to greet his arrival, and then unleashed his troops for several days of looting and plunder in Alexandria. According to historian Cassius Dio, over 20,000 people were killed.
During his reign as emperor, Caracalla raised the annual pay of an average legionary to 675 denarii and lavished many benefits on the army which he both feared and admired, as instructed by his father Septimius Severus who had told him on his deathbed to always mind the soldiers and ignore everyone else. Caracalla did manage to win the trust of the military with generous pay rises and popular gestures, like marching on foot among the ordinary soldiers, eating the same food, and even grinding his own flour with them.[10] With the soldiers, "He forgot even the proper dignity of his rank, encouraged their insolent familiarity," according to Gibbon.[9] "The vigour of the soldiers, instead of being confirmed by the severe discipline of camps, melted away in the luxury of cities."
His official portraiture marks a break with the detached images of the philosopher–emperors who preceded him: his close-cropped haircut is that of a soldier, his pugnacious scowl a realistic and threatening presence. This rugged soldier–emperor iconic archetype was adopted by most of the following emperors who depended on the support of the soldiers to rule, like Maximinus Thrax.[11]
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| O: laureate head right; ANTONINVS PIVS AVG GERM | R: Sol holding globe and rising his hand P M TR P XVIIII COS IIII P P |
| silver denarius struck in Rome 216 AD; RIC 281b, C 359 | |
According to the historian Herodian, in AD 216, Caracalla tricked the Parthians into believing that he accepted a marriage and peace proposal, but then had the bride and guests slaughtered after the wedding celebrations. The thereafter ongoing conflict and skirmishes became known as the Parthian war of Caracalla.[12]
Seeking to secure his own legacy, Caracalla also commissioned one of Rome's last major architectural achievements, the Baths of Caracalla, the largest public baths ever built in ancient Rome. The main room of the baths was larger than St. Peter's Basilica, and could easily accommodate over 2,000 Roman citizens at one time. The bath house opened in 216, complete with libraries, private rooms and outdoor tracks. Internally it was lavishly decorated with gold-trimmed marble floors, columns, mosaics and colossal statues.
[edit] Edict of Caracalla
The Constitutio Antoniniana (Latin: "Constitution [or Edict] of Antoninus") (also called Edict of Caracalla) was an edict issued in 212, by Caracalla which declared that all free men in the Roman Empire were to be given full Roman citizenship and all free women in Empire were given the same rights as Roman women were.
Before 212, for the most part only inhabitants of Italia held full Roman citizenship. Colonies of Romans established in other provinces, Romans (or their descendants) living in provinces, the inhabitants of various cities throughout the Empire, and small numbers of local nobles (such as kings of client countries) held full citizenship also. Provincials, on the other hand, were usually non-citizens, although some held the Latin Right.
[edit] Assassination
While travelling from Edessa to continue the war with Parthia, he was assassinated while urinating at a roadside near Carrhae on April 8, AD 217, by Julius Martialis, an officer of his personal bodyguard. Herodian says that Martialis' brother had been executed a few days earlier by Caracalla on an unproven charge; Cassius Dio, on the other hand, says that Martialis was resentful at not being promoted to the rank of centurion. The escort of the emperor gave him privacy to relieve himself, and Martialis then ran forward and killed Caracalla with a single sword stroke. He immediately fled on horseback, but was in turn killed by a bodyguard archer.[citation needed]
Caracalla was succeeded by the Praetorian Guard Prefect, Macrinus.
[edit] His nickname
According to Aurelius Victor in his Epitome de Caesaribus, the agnomen "Caracalla" refers to a Gallic cloak that Caracalla adopted as a personal fashion, which spread to his army and his court.[13] Cassius Dio[14] and the Historia Augusta[15] agree that his nickname was derived from his cloak, but does not mention its country of origin.
[edit] Legendary king of Britain
Geoffrey of Monmouth's legendary History of the Kings of Britain makes Caracalla a king of Britain, referring to him by his actual name "Bassianus", rather than the nickname Caracalla. In the story, after Severus's death the Romans wanted to make Geta king of Britain, but the Britons preferred Bassianus because he had a British mother. The two brothers fought a battle in which Geta was killed and Bassianus succeeded to the throne. He ruled until he was betrayed by his Pictish allies and overthrown by Carausius, who, according to Geoffrey, was a Briton, rather than the Menapian Gaul that he actually was.[16]
| Preceded by Lucius of Britain, then interregnum |
Mythical British Kings | Succeeded by Carausius |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus.
- ^ "Caracalla" The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary. Tony Deverson. Oxford University Press 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
- ^ "Caracalla" A Dictionary of British History. Ed. John Cannon. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.
"Caracalla" World Encyclopedia. Philip's, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. - ^ Marcel Le Glay. Rome : T2, Grandeur et chute de l'Empire p336. Librairie Académique Perrin, 2005. ISBN 978-2262018986
- ^ Gilbert Meynier. L’Algérie des origines :De la préhistoire à l’avènement de l’Islam p74. La découverte, 2007. ISBN 978-2707150882
- ^ Irfan Shahid, Rome and The Arabs: A Prolegomenon to the Study of Byzantium and the Arabs, Washington, 1984, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, p. 167, ISBN 0884021157
- ^ Glen Warren Bowersock, Roman Arabia, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1983, pp. 126–128, ISBN 0674777565 [1]. "with the last of his names, he clearly tried to forge a link with the ultimate Antonines, who were the Arab emperors from the family of Julia Domna"
- ^ Maxime Rodinson, The Arabs, Chicago, University of Chicago Press, pp. 55, ISBN 0226723569, [2], "The emperor Septimus Severus married an Arab from Emessa, Julia Domna, whose sons and great-nephews ruled Rome."
- ^ a b Gibbon, Edward, The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, Vol. 1. Chapter 6.
- ^ Caracalla
- ^ Metropolitan Museum of Art: Portrait head of the Emperor Caracalla". acc. no. 40.11.1a
- ^ Herodian's Roman History, chapter 4.11: Caracalla's Parthian War, translated by Edward C. Echols (Herodian of Antioch's History of the Roman Empire, 1961 Berkeley and Los Angeles), online at Livius.org
- ^ Aurelius Victor, Epitome de Caesaribus 21 (translation). For information on the caracallus garment, see William Smith Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities: "Caracalla"
- ^ Cassius Dio, Roman History 79.3
- ^ Historia Augusta: Caracalla 9.7, Septimius Severus 21.11
- ^ Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historia Regum Britanniae 5.2–3
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[edit] External links
- Life of Caracalla (Historia Augusta at LacusCurtius: Latin text and English translation)
