Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Caligula, Caius Cæsar Augustus Germanicus

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Collier's New Encyclopedia
Caligula, Caius Cæsar Augustus Germanicus
2491182Collier's New Encyclopedia — Caligula, Caius Cæsar Augustus Germanicus

CALIGULA, CAIUS CÆSAR, AUGUSTUS GERMANICUS (ka-lig′ū-lä) , a Roman emperor, son of Germanicus and Agrippina; born A. D. 12, in the camp at Antium. He received from the soldiers the surname of Caligula, on account of his wearing the caligæ, a kind of boots in use among them. He succeeded Tiberius, 37 A. D., and made himself very popular by his mildness and ostentatious generosity; but at the end of eight months he was seized with a disorder, caused by his irregular mode of living, which appears to have permanently deranged his intellect. After his recovery, he suddenly showed himself the most cruel and unnatural of tyrants. He was assassinated by a band of conspirators 41 A. D.

CALIGULA