Carracala

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

His name first intrigued me because it sound so cool, then I did some searching on him, but so far, I haven't got enough info.

[Princeps]

I'm not massively in the know about most things, but since no-one has replied I'll tell you what I know. He was an Eastern Emperor, reviled for his fondness for feminine attire, as well as other vices and perversions. He was stabbed by one of his guards, and after being dragged through the streets, his corpse was dumped in a river. He held power shortly after Marcus Aurellius, and slightly before Pertinax.

 

I'll do some reading to check my facts and get more info.

[sullafelix]

His name first intrigued me because it sound so cool, then I did some searching on him, but so far, I haven't got enough info.

 

 

caracalla was the son of Septimius Severus. As such he was part of the last of the great dynasties of the empire before you come to the christian era - The Severi. He had a brother called Geta and Septimius Severus left them both in charge but Caracalla quickly diposed of his brother. he was not a very good emperor, or indeed a very good human being. His principle legacy was the baths of Caracalla which can still be seen in Rome today they were very impressive. Geta appears nowhere because everywhere Caracalla had his brother's image removed. he is also rembered for his nuttiness and his cruelty. I can't remember much more about him but you should try reading up on him in the Lives of the Later Caesars. It isn't terribly reliable but it is about all we have. Hope that helps

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

Thank you very much sullafelix.

[Hamilcar Barca]

Marcus Antonius Aurelius (nicknamed Caracella for the type of dark cape he liked to wear) was crowned co-emperor with his brother Geta in 211BC upon the death of their father. He and Geta had a long standing hatred of one another which later in that same year, led Caracella plotting to assasinate him. He set up a trap inviting him over in a pretended effort to make peace, but instead had him stabbed to death. His brother was not without friends though and Carcella engaged in an enormous purge, killing anyone who was associated or had sympathies with Geta. A total of 20,000 were supposadly killed, a good majority of them been inocent.

 

Of course such actions made him wildly unpopular but he knew that the key to staying in power was winning the favor of the army. Thus he raised their salary to 4 denarii a day and also granted ciizenship to all male inhabitants of the empire. All this came at an enormous financial strain to the treasury, setting it up for the crisis which would occur in just a few decades. He did however obtain his objective in becoming popular with his troops.

 

Caracella was, if not mad, certainly delusional. He believed he was a reincarnation of Alexander the Great and even had a ceremonial phalanx created. Just like Alexander, an expedition was launched against the eastern Parthians although unlike Alexander's, Caracella's was a pointless and lackluster effort which served merely to inflame them. He was eventually stabbed to death in 217BC after a ploy was set up for him to visit the oracle at Siwah.

 

 

I'm not massively in the know about most things, but since no-one has replied I'll tell you what I know. He was an Eastern Emperor, reviled for his fondness for feminine attire, as well as other vices and perversions. He was stabbed by one of his guards, and after being dragged through the streets, his corpse was dumped in a river. He held power shortly after Marcus Aurellius, and slightly before Pertinax.

 

That was Elgabalus, he came to power after Caracella.

[Plautus]

I knew Caracalla wasn't his real name but his nickname from the simple dark cloak. I thought I read that he got the name because the cloak was mass produced and distributed to the plebs of Rome, who called him that. For reading Penguin Classics had a paperback edition called the Live of the Later Caesars, taken from the Augustan Histories. These were six authors trying to continue the biuographies of Suetonius. They include Aulus Spartianus and Julius Capitolinus. Caracalla's biography is listed there.

[Ursus]

Caracalla gave near universal citizenship to the peoples of the empire, making them subject to various taxes. This distinction probably matters more to moderns than to the Ancients, as social classes mattered more on a practical level than citizenship.

[Primus Pilus]

This distinction probably matters more to moderns than to the Ancients, as social classes mattered more on a practical level than citizenship.

 

That in itself is worthy of discussion I think. I would agree wholeheartedly by the time period in question (early 3rd century AD), but can we say the same for the Republican period? Considering that wars were fought over the inclusion of the closely related Italian allies, an interesting (if perhaps only semantical) debate could be made.

[sullafelix]

This distinction probably matters more to moderns than to the Ancients, as social classes mattered more on a practical level than citizenship.

 

That in itself is worthy of discussion I think. I would agree wholeheartedly by the time period in question (early 3rd century AD), but can we say the same for the Republican period? Considering that wars were fought over the inclusion of the closely related Italian allies, an interesting (if perhaps only semantical) debate could be made.

 

 

Gosh...I love this topic...and as you brought it up! Citizenship certainly mattered from about 125BC when the town of Fregellae revolted. Essentially the concept of citizenship to the provinces was too alien to be conceived of but even the romans had a sneaking suspicion that they were doing wrong by the Italian allies by this time (who were not Roman citizens but did provide a lot of the troops for the Roman army). The Italians on the other hand were doing v well out the empire abroad but getting diddly at home. This annoyed them a great deal as abroad they were treated by the provincials as Romans but back home they were a subject people. Over the years they became more and more dissatisified with their lot and agitated for citizenship repeatedly and then giving up hope fought the social war to break free from Rome. They lost the war but got citizenship. Funny how things turn out isn't it!

 

Of course you have to ask what social class were these Italians...well of course they were the rich Italian elite so to them at this time citizenship mattered as much as class.

 

Sorry completely off topic

 

 

Sulla

[Zeke]

A funny fact that should be noted is that Caracalla was killed while he was "urinating" on the side of the road. How pathetic,

 

Zeke

[Hamilcar Barca]

Caracella was the inspiration behind Lucas' Darth Vader. Serious.

[Tiberius Sylvestius]

I'm not massively in the know about most things, but since no-one has replied I'll tell you what I know. He was an Eastern Emperor, reviled for his fondness for feminine attire, as well as other vices and perversions. He was stabbed by one of his guards, and after being dragged through the streets, his corpse was dumped in a river. He held power shortly after Marcus Aurellius, and slightly before Pertinax.

 

That was Elgabalus, he came to power after Caracella.

 

 

Actually that was Commodus that succeded Marcus Aurelius in c.80CE.

 

Elagabalus succeded the Emperor Macrinus in about 218CE?, and Macrinus had succeded Caracalla.

 

 

Although you can be forgiven for mixing up Commodus with Elagabalus because they were both fruit loops. As for Caracalla and his brother Geta, it should be noted that both Emperors were trying to kill each other. Caracalla just happened to succeed first.

[Primus Pilus]

Commodus was the self implied repersonification of Hercules... among other things. Hamilcar was correct in his description of Elagabalus

[Hamilcar Barca]

Thanks for beating me too it PP. Tiberius - Don't try and show people up without doing some research first, it just seems rude. Yes, Macrinus and Diadumenian reigned for a year after Caracella before they were killed but their reigns were insignificant. All that was achieved was a disgraceful peace with the Parthians and the embittermen of the entire army. I skipped over them the same way people often skip Quintillus when going from Claudius II to Aurelian. Commodus was killed via strangulation, Elagabalus was thrown in the Tiber.

 

:

 

160 - 180 Marcus Aurelius, - philospher

180 - 192 Commodus ^ son - self declared Hercules

192 Pertinax - trillionare

192 - 193 Didius Julianus - Usurper

193 - 211 Septimus Severus

211 Geta ^ son

211 - 217 Caracella ^^son - caped psychopath

April 217 - June 218 Macrinus

218 Diadumenian ^ son

218 - 222 Elagabalus - effeminate syrian

222 - 235 Severus Alexander ^ cousin

[FLavius Valerius Constantinus]

Thanks guys for the great info. Oh, also he was stangled by some Greek wrestler I can seem to remember his name.