His campaigns in the western part of the Roman Empire secured the frontiers and made him popular with the army, but his campaign against Parthia in the east was less successful. "Caracalla." At the time his name was changed, Caracalla became the official heir of his father, and in 198 CE at the age of ten, he was designated co-ruler with Severus (albeit a very junior co-ruler!). When Caracalla was seven, his name was changed to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. So by 212 CE, Caracalla was sole emperor, and according to Dio, his brother’s murder was followed by a purge of Geta’s followers totalling roughly 20,000 deaths, including that of the former Praetorian Prefect Cilo and the jurist Papinian. Caracalla was one of the most unattractive individuals ever to become emperor of Rome. The edict gave all the enfranchised men Caracalla's adopted praenomen and nomen: "Marcus Aurelius". Caracalla was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus on 4 April 188 CE in Lugdunum (Lyon) where his father Septimius Severus (r. 193-211 CE) was serving as the governor of Gallia Lugdunensis during the last years of Emperor Commodus (r. 180-192 CE). The relationship between the two did not resemble the loving one of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus fifty years earlier, and it seems that both brothers were constantly conspiring against each other so that one of them could become sole emperor. Instead, upon appearing in his brother’s room with centurions, Caracalla had his men murder Geta, who tried to hide in his mother’s arms. Caracalla then campaigned in Media in 217 CE and was planning a further campaign when his treacherous and rash behaviour caught up with him. He backed up his words with actions, and raised annual army pay, evidently by 50% (Herodian 4.4.7). Hurley, Patrick. While some of the information in these accounts might be embellished, they nevertheless shed light on the increasing trend of emperors depending more on the army, believing they could act in any way they wanted towards the rest of the population provided they keep the soldiers happy. Decoration and Display in Rome's Imperial Thermae: Messages of Power... Dio's Rome, Volume 4 An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in... Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike, Mann, J.C. & Jarrett, M.G. The emperor Caracalla was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus on the 4 of April, 188, in Lugdunum (Lyon), where his father Septimius Severus was serving as the governor of Gallia Lugdunensis during the last years of the emperor Commodus. Can't forget the cloak. Hurley, Patrick. Although Caracalla did acquire some valuable experience in military matters, he seems to have revealed an even darker side of his personality and, according to Dio, tried on at least one occasion to kill his father so that he could become emperor. His brother Geta was granted the same title around 209 or 210. What else are you expected to do?! We have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications: Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 19 Jun 2011. Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. The Ancient History Encyclopedia logo is a registered EU trademark. Caracalla, when explaining his actions to the Senate, asserted that he was defending himself from Geta and rejected the idea that the concept of two emperors ruling the Roman Empire could work, declaring that, ...you must lay aside your differences of opinion in thought and in attitude and lead your lives in security, looking to one emperor alone. Simply put, Caracalla idolized Alexander the Great, and sought to emulate him (Dio 78.7-8).Consequently, he saw fit to campaign in the east as a way to accomplish such emulation. The name ‘Caracalla’ was considered a nickname, and referred to a type of cloak that the emperor wore (the nickname was originally used pejoratively, and was never an official name of the emperor). Ancient History Encyclopedia. At the time his name was changed, Caracalla became the official heir of his father, and in 198, at the age of ten, he was designated co-ruler with Severus (albeit a very junior co-ruler!). In any case, it is important to state that there was no serious enemy activity on this frontier until two decades later, so the emperor may have made an important contribution to Rome’s security there, and had legitimate claim to the title of Germanicus which he adopted after these campaigns. Vologaeses’ brother Artabanus V had succeeded him and managed to reinstate a degree of stability to Parthia. A more ‘moderate’ school states that the debasements of Severus and Caracalla did not cause inflation; however, because of the precedent set by the Severans to debase, this became a regular practice of successive emperors when they needed coin, and that consequently inflation set in during the reign of Gordian III (r. 238-244 CE). NOTE: In the year 208, Septimius Severus, upon hearing of troubles in Britain, thought it a good opportunity to not only campaign there, but to take both of his sons with him as they were living libertine lifestyles in the city of Rome. https://www.ancient.eu/Caracalla/. Dio describes a failed attempt to assassinate his brother on the Saturnalia, after which Caracalla arranged a meeting with his brother and mother in the imperial apartments, ostensibly to reconcile. Caracalla also created the new coin known as the antoninianus, which was supposed to be worth 2 denarii, to help pay for these army raises (although the actual silver content was only worth 1.5 denarii; Birley 1996, 221).NoteThere has been a great debate over the years as to whether debasement of the coinage directly led to inflation. These actions made him wildly popular with the army. While in Britain, Geta was supposedly put in charge of civil administration there, while Caracalla and his father campaigned in Scotland. Caracalla also created the new coin known as the antoninianus, which was supposed to be worth 2 denarii, to help pay for these army raises (although the actual silver content was only worth 1.5 denarii; Birley 1996, 221).1  Moreover, he attempted to portray himself as a fellow soldier while on campaign, sharing in the army’s labours, personally carrying legionary standards and even grinding his own flour and baking his own bread, as all Roman soldiers did. Most of the Parthians present were killed, but Artabanus was able to escape with a few companions (Herodian 4.11.1-6). These actions made him wildly popular with the army. Caracalla then moved east to the frontier in 216 CE and found that the situation was not as advantageous to Rome as it was previously. According to Herodian, it was only the intervention of the boys’ mother, Julia Domna, that this plan was not realized. You know you would think that after a certain amount of beheadings, people in that time period would have learned to not fuck around with Roman Emperors.

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