Evolving from the Roman Republic, Rome became an empire in 27 BCE and seemed to be off to a good start with Augustus, who had a posthumous reputation for a high moral character and effective rule. Some Roman emperors seem to have followed in his footsteps, such as the “five good emperors” of the Antonine period. But just as many were characterized as “bad” or “mad”: absolute power corrupts absolutely, and they reportedly became insane megalomaniacs. How much of the stories about these emperors are true and how much was posthumous character assassination motivated by politics is unclear, but let’s meet four of Rome’s most notorious mad emperors: Caligula, Nero, Commodus, and Elegabalus.
1. Caligula (r. 37 CE-41 CE)
One of the earliest emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known as Caligula, is the subject of intense academic debate. Most of the sources about him were written by Roman aristocrats after his death, and they may have had reasons to exaggerate some of his more unusual behavior.
Caligula was the son of Roman general Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, Augustus’ granddaughter. His father died in Antioch in 19 CE, allegedly from being poisoned, but nothing was ever proven. In Rome, Agrippina became entangled in political intrigue, making herself an enemy of Emperor Tiberius, another emperor to whom history has not been kind.
Political and palace intrigue was rife during Tiberius’s reign, and soon, Agrippina and her family were exiled and killed, leaving Caligula as the only surviving male heir of Germanicus, who had been Tiberius’ adopted son. From then on, Tiberius kept close tabs on Caligula. The two lived on the Isle of Capri, where Tiberius instructed Caligula.
In 37 CE, Tiberius died, and Caligula took the reins of power. Initially, Caligula was well-liked, especially when compared to the old emperor. He granted reprieve to many who had been accused of treason or exiled under Tiberius. He put an end to certain taxes and gained popularity through his charisma and gregarious nature.
But after a life-threatening illness took hold of him later that same year, Caligula’s nature changed, and he became paranoid and unstable. His popularity also began to wane as he incurred massive expenses. He initiated building projects, enlarging the imperial palace and ordering the construction of huge floating barges for his personal use.
Caligula’s Madness
Following his illness, stories abound of random executions, erratic behavior, massive orgies, and Caligula’s dark and oblique sense of humor.
It is widely reported that Caligula made his horse Incitatus consul of Rome. While this is likely an exaggeration, one of many written by Roman historian Suetonius, it probably holds a grain of truth. It has been suggested that Caligula threatened to make the horse a consul to convey the message that he thought a horse could do a better job than any of the senators.
Caligula was also reportedly in an incestuous relationship with his sister, although this is almost certainly a fabrication, as ancient historians often used this criticism to denigrate past rulers. Caligula, however, was fond of sex, and he likely used it for political advantage.
He would hold banquets for senators and their wives and have the women parade in front of him while he evaluated aspects of their physique. He would allegedly then have sex with the one that pleased him the most. After the act was done, he would critique their performance in front of their husband. In one case, he ordered the married couple to be divorced and then sent the ex-husband the bill.
One of the most enduring tales about Caligula’s life was that he declared war on and victory over the sea. The biographer Suetonius describes the event in which the emperor marched his army to the shores of the English Channel and ordered them to gather seashells. After declaring victory, he had a lighthouse built.
Caligula’s end came from the hands of a handful of conspirators. The exact reason for the assassination is a subject of debate. One of the conspirators was a Praetorian officer named Chaerea, whom Caligula had insulted, mocking his high-pitched voice and effeminate movements. According to contemporary historian Flavius Josephus, Chaerea was a “noble idealist” with a belief in “republican liberties.” Whatever the case may have been, Chaerea was among those who plunged a knife into Caligula on January 24, 41 CE.
By the time Caligula’s guards responded, the emperor was dead. His personal guards entered the fray, killing innocent bystanders before the Praetorian Guard arrived and managed to restore order. Caligula was 28 at the time. There was little question of restoring the Republic. Instead, the Praetorians selected Caligula’s uncle Claudius as the new Augustus.
2. Nero (r. 54 CE-68 CE)
Synonymous with cruelty, extravagance, and debauchery, Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ruled Rome from 54 CE to 68 CE. Much of what we know about Nero comes from the writings of the contemporary historian Tacitus, imperial biographer Suetonius, and Cassius Dio, who wrote around 150 years after Nero’s death. They do much to vilify the last Julio-Claudian emperor.
He was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (not to be confused with three other consuls who had this name) and had a strong claim to the throne as his parents were both blood relatives of Augustus. His turbulent life began in infancy. His mother, Agrippina, the sister of Caligula, was exiled when he was two, and his father died when he was three.
When Claudius became emperor in 41 CE, he restored Lucius’ status and recalled the boy’s mother from exile. His fortunes continued on an upward trajectory. In 49 CE, Claudius married Agrippina and adopted Lucius, taking the name Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus.
Although Claudius had a natural son, Britannicus, he seemed to favor Nero and named him his heir. In 54 CE, Claudius died, and Nero, aged 16, became the emperor.
The most infamous event in Nero’s story is the great fire of Rome in 66 CE. It started near the Colosseum, and reportedly, music lover Nero played his fiddle (or lyre) while much of the great city was reduced to cinders and ash. Suetonius and Cassius Dio perpetuated this fiction. Tacitus, who was eight at the time of the fire, states that Nero was not in Rome, and upon his return, he led the relief efforts.
Contrary to this image of a compassionate emperor was the fact that Nero spent the following years exhausting Rome’s coffers by building one of the biggest palaces in history. This did nothing to discourage the idea that Nero started the fire himself in order to rebuild Rome in his own image, a myth that is perpetuated to this day.
Family Murders
Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio all claim that by the time Nero was 21, he had grown weary of his mother’s political interference and had her murdered. Other family members were also in grave danger.
Britannicus is said to have been poisoned. Tacitus’ account of this was that it happened at a dinner party. Britannicus was given a hot beverage, and when he asked for it to be cooled, it was taken away and brought back, this time with poison in it.
Nero’s marriage to Claudius’ daughter, Octavia, happened when Nero was in his early teens and was arranged in order to solidify his claim on the throne. Once he was emperor, Nero found little use for her. He fell in love with a woman named Poppaea Sabina, who allegedly convinced her lover to have Octavia dispatched. Nero exiled his wife in 62 CE on charges of adultery and then had her murdered. She was just 22 at the time.
In 65 CE, Poppaea Sabina died at the age of 35. The circumstances of her death are uncertain. According to Suetonius, Nero kicked her in the abdomen while she was pregnant, causing her death. Tacitus confirms this story, while Cassius Dio states that the event may have been accidental. Modern historians tend to err on the side of these accounts being exaggerations, and Poppaea likely died in childbirth. An ancient Greek poem written on a piece of papyrus claims that Poppaea’s last words were a loving farewell to her husband. Poppaea’s funeral was a lavish affair, and she was deified.
Fall From Grace
Nero wasn’t universally disliked. He had gained favor in Greece for an enormous tax break he gave the province. He was also popular with many sectors of Rome’s society. He sponsored public works, hosted frequent games, gave cash handouts, and spent time with the poorer people.
Critically, however, he lost the support of many nobles and the army. The instigator of Nero’s downfall was the governor of Gaul, Gaius Julius Vindex. Although Vindex was defeated in battle, a key ally of his cut the grain supply from Egypt to Rome. Rome began to starve, and Nero lost the people’s support.
With enemies closing in, Nero committed suicide on June 9, 68 CE. He was 30 at the time. Despite his ignominious end, he was given a lavish funeral before his memory was tarnished by historians who vilified him after his death.
3. Commodus (r. 177 CE-192 CE)
Regarded as one of the best emperors, Marcus Aurelius was succeeded by his son, Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus, who proved to be one of the worst emperors, whose misrule plunged the empire into civil strife.
Three years before Marcus Aurelius died in 180 CE, Commodus had been made co-ruler with his father, beginning when he was just 15. By the age of 18, he was the sole ruler. One of the first things Commodus did after his father died was devalue the Roman currency by reducing the weight and the purity of the silver used in the denarius. This was a poor start to his reign, but no one could have predicted what was to come.
Commodus proved to be violent and cruel. He was not interested in administering the empire, a task that was delegated to others. When he got tired of his functionaries, Commodus simply had them murdered. He seems to have had a passion for violence. He took part in gladiatorial events in which he dispatched vast numbers of opponents. These games were likely rigged; there was little chance of the emperor ever being killed.
The 2nd-century historian Cassius Dio claimed Commodus also had a penchant for killing animals, dispatching five hippopotamuses and two elephants in the space of two days. On one occasion, he is said to have killed 100 bears, spearing them from the safety of the arena balcony.
In another story of cruelty, he assembled a number of men who had lost their feet, dressed them up as serpents, and made them throw sponges at him, with Commodus pretending these were rocks. Commodus took great joy in shooting arrows at these hapless souls.
Commodus claimed to have achieved 12,000 victories in the arena and is said to have appeared in the arena as a gladiator 735 times. What made these appearances problematic was that he charged 25,000 pieces of silver for each appearance, payable from the Roman treasury. As expected, this drew a lot of concern.
From a political perspective, killing people was a quick and easy political tool to achieve desired results. In order to appease the army, he had his chief minister killed. And in 190 CE, when his chamberlain, Cleander, was blamed for a food shortage, Commodus showed no mercy. A rioting mob demanded Cleander’s head, and he fled to Commodus for protection. The emperor reacted by having Cleander decapitated, along with the man’s son.
Commodus reportedly also used his position to fulfill his sexual desires. He had a harem of 300 women, along with a similar number of young boys, who he kept for sexual purposes. Ironically, he had his wife, Crispina, exiled to the Isle of Capri in 188 on charges of adultery. She was executed in 191 CE.
Commodus: From Cruelty to Madness
As his reign continued, Commodus is said to have broken completely with reality. He became convinced that he was the reincarnation of Hercules and spent vast amounts of money trying to convince the entire empire that this was indeed the case. He removed the head of a 100-foot-tall statue of Nero and replaced it with a likeness of his own head, changing other aspects of the statue in the process to make it reference Hercules.
Commodus then decided to rename everything in Rome in honor of himself. He even wanted to rename Rome Colonia Commodiana (Colony of Commodus). Romans would thenceforth be known as Commodiani. He also renamed the Senate to the Commodian Fortunate Senate.
He renamed all the months of the year after himself. August was renamed Commodus, and the rest of the months were renamed after one of his other names or titles.
The Death of Commodus
All of this was too much for the Roman elite. They wished Commodus dead, and a series of assassination attempts marked his reign. There was no shortage of opportunities.
His end finally came at the hands of his concubine, Marcia, and the wrestler Narcissus.
According to the story, in celebration of the Roman New Year in 192, Commodus told Marcia, a servant named Electus, and Praetorian prefect Aemilius Laetus his plans to appear in front of the people by emerging from the gladiator’s barracks along with other gladiators. As an emperor, he was expected to appear from the palace dressed in purple robes. All three tried to dissuade Commodus from doing so, as it would have brought unnecessary scandal to the imperial household. Commodus responded by putting their names on an execution list.
By happenstance, Marcia discovered the list and informed Eclectus and Aemilius Laetus of the fate Commodus had prepared for them. They decided to act quickly. While Commodus was taking a bath, Marcia slipped poison into his wine. The emperor fell ill and suffered a lengthy bout of vomiting. But his death was taking too long, and fearing that he would recover, Marcia employed the help of Narcissus, who promptly strangled the emperor to death.
4. Elagabalus (r. 218 CE-222 CE)
Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus, better known as Elagabalus, ruled from 218 CE to 222 CE. His family had powerful connections in Rome. His grandmother’s sister was the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus, and his grandmother was also an aunt to Emperor Caracalla.
Elagabalus was just 14 when he became emperor. He was elevated to this position with the help of his grandmother, Julia Maesa, who organized a revolt against Emperor Macrinus, defeating the emperor’s forces at the Battle of Antioch in 218. Macrinus, along with his son, were hunted down and beheaded.
According to the sources, this change in power caused confusion and ire from many sectors of Roman life as Elagabalus began his eccentric reign. In particular, Elagabalus replaced Jupiter as the head god of the Roman pantheon with Elagabal, a Roman-Arab sun god of whom Elagabalus had been a priest.
Modern historians consider the historical sources for Elagabalus exaggerative. They include histories from the second and third centuries written by Cassius Dio and Herodian, as well as a collection of biographies, the Historia Augusta, which was published around the 4th century.
The stories of Elagabalus are sordid and paint a picture of a boy with unusual sexual proclivities who was drunk on power and had little conscience. He used this power to get whatever he wanted. He was said to have married five times, one of his wives being a Vestal Virgin, which greatly angered the priesthood of Rome as this was a major taboo in Roman society. One of the women he wanted to marry was already married when Elagabalus set eyes on her. So he simply had her husband killed and took her as a wife.
Elagabalus’ Sexuality
By modern definitions, Elagabalus would probably be classified as pansexual or bisexual, or possibly even transgender. He liked to wear women’s clothing in public and dress in wildly extravagant costumes to the point of being utterly ridiculous. While this is not particularly unusual by today’s standards, his libido drove him to enact his sexual fantasies in strange ways. He hired men for political office based on their penis size, likely intending to use these men for more than just political functions.
He slept with men and women in such numbers that it is said he never slept with the same woman twice. He also threw massive orgies covered in rose petals. He is even said to have prostituted himself on the streets of Rome.
By modern standards, if the accounts are accurate, Elagabalus would likely have been classified as experiencing gender dysphoria. He offered vast sums of money to any doctor who could give him a vagina. He preferred to be called the feminine domina rather than the masculine dominus. He even married a man, Hierocles, a charioteer. In their relationship, he dressed and acted the part of a woman.
In fact, North Hertfordshire Museum now officially refers to Elagabalus as “she/her” in its displays.
Elagabalus: Cruelty, Hatred, and Death
Elagabalus’ gender identity and his sexual escapades, which flouted societal norms, were not the only source of the hatred he garnered. He was a cruel emperor whose perverse desires and humor gained him enemies. The stories of cruelty are legion. It is said he made women pull him around in a chariot while he whipped them. He drowned dinner guests and released venomous snakes into the stands at gladiatorial events.
When an advisor suggested to the emperor that he temper his excesses to avoid a revolt, Elagabalus stabbed the man to death.
His reign was marked by instability and chaos. He garnered suspicion and distrust and was accused of being nothing more than a puppet of his ambitious family members. While danger grew on the empire’s borders, economic difficulties spread far and wide. Plots began to emerge within the senate, and members of the Praetorian Guard decided to have Elagabalus murdered.
Sensing the danger, Julia Maesa urged her grandson to adopt his cousin Alexander as an heir, hoping this action would appease the rebellious factions. Alexander was seen as far more acceptable than Elagabalus.
Instead of appeasing the situation, this move only provided more incentive. Now that there was an acceptable heir, there would be no power struggles if Elagabalus were to die. Elagabalus ordered his cousin to be assassinated, but the Praetorian Guard refused the order.
In March 222 CE, they arrested Elagabalus and his mother, Julia Soaemias, while the two were visiting a Praetorian camp.
The two were brutally murdered, their bodies dragged through the streets and dumped in the Tiber River. This signaled a quick and unceremonious end to the short reign of Elagabalus. He was 18 when he died and had reigned for only four years.
Today, Rome can seem like an exotic world, and its social practices, beliefs, and strange happenings are subjects of fascination. The emperors of Rome are particularly intriguing as ancient celebrities whose lives offer some of the juiciest stories. However, the truth about the lives of these masters or Rome is an enigmatic and evasive target for any professional historian.
Many of these emperors were ill-served by their biographers. While there is no doubt these emperors had their criminal flaws, it is only in the recent past that attempts have been made to actually understand these rulers so maligned in the annals of history. Elagabalus, for instance, has garnered some reprieve, as his sexuality is no longer considered something to be despised.
