There are many people in the world which are known for their cruelty and strict attitude to people. Mostly, they are political leaders. We got used to analyze the actions of people who were stronger than we were. But who knows what we would do if we were the leaders and had some power. I do not think that everyone of us would be kind and merciful towards everybody. I think that power and cruelty are the integral parts of each other.
So in my essay I am going to analyze the personality of Gaius Caligula. I will try to define the good features of his personality and to define the contributions he had made into Roman culture and history.
Gaius Caligula was brought up in the atmosphere of war, he was always surrounded with arms and he had good physical shape always. It should be mentioned that he had enough stable nature. He was provoked for many times and people were surprised that he stayed calm and reserved in those moments.
He tried to train his fiercely and viciousness. He attended at executions and tortures.
He was the chancellor for four times: for the first time since the July calendar for two months, the second time in January ka during thirty days, for the third time – until January, for the fourth time – until the seventh day before the January. The last two consulates have followed one after another. In the third, he entered the consulate Lugdune one, but not because of arrogance and contempt to the customs, as many people think, but only because he did not know that his comrade died before the New Year (Barrett, 1998).
Gaius Caligula took part in charity actions twice. In addition he made great dinners for senators and their families. While the second dinner he gifted senators with togas and their wives with presents also (Varner, 2001).
Gaius Caligula tried to renew the national meeting and tried to give them the right to choose the people for administrative positions. He was generous to people and gave them the money promised by Libya.
The great contribution to the Roman culture was that Gaius Caligula added one more holiday to the national holidays and called it as Jubenalious.
Gaius Caligula used to arrange the gladiatorial battles. He always liked to play the main role in the arrangements and he considered that these battles were good for the breeding the best warriors for the Roman army and I must say that it is very important because the safety of every state depends on its army. In addition he built a bridge where different competitions were held (Varner, 2001).
Gaius Caligula entered the great amount of taxes what helped to enrich the Roman state. He was very strict with people who did not want to pay taxes and this helped to keep everything in order. He suggested the new system of taxes and it was completely new for Roman people. Of course they did not get used to this system and that is why there were a lot of problems with it. In addition it should be admitted that Gaius Caligula was turning his country into the absolute monarchy, what was completely opposite to the previous form of state – Republic (Barrett, 1998).
The greatest contribution to the Roman culture was that Caligula permitted the slaves to blame their masters in everything they were not satisfied with. Of course it was dangerous because many rich people who had slaves considered Caligula to be not fair and they wanted to get rid of such imperator. So it was definitely dangerous for Caligula. Though in this his actions we can see the first steps of democracy.
In general the epoch of Caligula is characterized by the totalitarian way of ruling the country. Here we can see the prototype of state that would appear in future.
Speaking about the personality of Gaius Caligula, it should be admitted that the way he behaved in good or bad way depends on the way he was brought up. It was already mentioned above that he was brought up in the atmosphere of war and it formed his individuality, it gave him the strong feeling of power and at the same time the feature of generosity.
References
Barrett Anthony A., Caligula: The Corruption of Power , Yale University Press, 1998.
Benton Janetta Rebold, Di Yanni Robert, Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities, Volume One (3rd Edition), Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2008.
Varner Eric R. , From Caligula to Constantine: Tyranny & Transformation in Roman Portraiture, Carlos Museum, 2001.