Julius Caesar and Caligula - The Two Roman Emperors

In ancient Rome, there were rulers who had ultimateruled for 4 years, but his reign was marked with
power over the empire and its people. While Rometyranny and he was not at all popular amongst his
had several rulers, there were some do did not rule forpeople. Caligular was born Caius Julius Caesar
a very long. One good example is that of JuliusGermanicus to Germanicus and Agrippina. His father,
Caesar. However, his story was very different fromGermanicus, was high ranking soldier in the Roman
that of Caligula's.army and he died when Caligula was just 4 years old.
During Caesar's time, the empire was rocked byIt is very strange but Caligula's life was very similar not
several civil wars. Everyone wanted to become thejust to Julius Caesar's but also to Romulus and Remus,
emperor, but it was finally Caesar who ascended tothe founders of Rome. Romulus was responsible for
the throne because of his feats on the battlefield.killing his brother Remus after the latter went out of
However, his opponents were not comfortable withthe boundaries of Rome.
Caesar's powers as he had total control of the empireCaligula had a co-ruler named Tiberius Gellimus. He
and its working. This was the reason why he waswas appointed by Tiberius. However, Caligular killed
assassinated.Tiberius Gellimus, so that he could be the only ruler of
During Caesar's reign, he had complete power not justRome. When Caligular ascended to the throne, some
over whole of Rome, but also over the people. Thepeople thought he was insane, while others thought he
people could not get used to Caesar's dictatorship aswas not healthy enough to rule. All this was because
they were used to living in a republic. By having aCaligula made several outrageous decisions, like
monarch, it meant returning to the days of tyrannyspending a lot of money on unnecessary projects.
wreaked by the monarchy. When Caesar died, itFinally the people of Rome breathed a sigh of relief in
brought a golden age to Rome as Augustus ascended41 A.D. when Caligula was assassinated after being
to the throne.the emperor for 4 years.
Caligula faced similar issues that Caesar faced. He