CALIGULA, CAIUS CÆSAR, AUGUSTUSGERMANICUS (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.