Caligula and A Bridge Too Far

When you're a megalomaniac Emperor of most of the known world, childhood mascot of the army and part of the mighty Julian lineage of Caesar and Augustus, you can do pretty much whatever you want. But as the history of Caligula's own "great-grandfather" Julius Caesar shows, there is only so much you can get away with before the knives are drawn.

Emperor Gaius "Caligula"

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, or "Caligula" (which means little boots or bootikins as he was affectionately nicknamed by the army) was the Emperor of Rome from AD 37 to AD 41 and is often viewed as one of the worst rulers Rome ever had, despite his short reign.

Recorded in the sources as being cruel, insane and a sexual deviant,

"Let there be one Lord, one King"

Suetonius Life of Caligula Book 22

Caligula's short but prolific reign is filled with examples of this megalomaniac behaviour, but their are two examples both involving bridges that illustrate this behaviour effecting both the wider empire and its very heart, the city of Rome itself. 

In AD 37 Caligula ordered a bridge constructed over the Bay of Baiae, from the town of Baiae on one side to the town of Puteoli on the other. So many ships were assembled to build the bridge that

"a very severe famine occurred in Italy, and particularly in Rome"

Cassius Dio Book 59 Chapter 17

Suetonius then tells us that Caligula spent two days riding back and forth over the bridge, the second day taking with him a Persian boy named Darius as a spoil of war, while Cassius Dio adds the tantalising detail of "resting places and lodging-rooms" constructed along the length of the bridge.

There are a few possible reasons for the construction of this bridge, the sources suggesting both an attempt to inspire some level of fear in the Germanic and British tribes, always a ripe source for future conquests, or to rival the great Persian King Xerxes' bridging of the Hellespont.

Caligula's Palace & Bridge by Turner from the Tate 

What the bridge over the Bay of Baiae illustrates is the awesome power that the Emperor had to command the resources of his empire, despite the negative consequences that it might have. However the argument put forward by Suetonius that it was merely to prove Thrasyllis the Astrologer wrong is a nice apocryphal tale, in keeping with the madness of Caligula's reign.

"Gaius had no more chance of becoming Emperor than of riding over the gulf of Baiae with horses"

Suetonius Life of Caligula Book 19

Caligula also "bridged" the residence of the Princeps on the Palentine Hill with the Roman Forum below, building out a precinct that split the Temple of Castor and Pollux in two, so that the Dioscuri were his "gate-keepers". This act was a ceremonial bridging of the role of the Princeps with that of divinity, a role that had been growing since the early days of Augustus's reign, who from a very young age was the "son of a god" before being linked with the divine himself.  

Silver Coin of Caligula from the British Museum

Caligula set up a temple to himself with all the finest trappings and trimmings and the rich of Rome flocked to secure themselves a place as a member of his priesthood in his temple,

"and exhibited himself there to be worshiped by those who presented themselves;

and some hailed him as Jupiter Latiaris"

Suetonius Life of Caligula Chapter 22

Suetonius is the only source that actually mentions a physical bridge that Caligula built between the Capitol and the Palantine, so that he could be nearer to Jupiter Capitolinus. This physical bridge seems unlikely, one for the fact that no archaeological trace of one can be found and two it would of been a truly monumental feat, but it is again example of how Caligula was linking the role of Princeps with that of the divine. 

When it comes to being a megalomaniac possibly insane emperor (but that is a topic for another time) there are only so many "bridges" you can build until the knives are sharpened and that is exactly what happened. In AD 41, finally pushed too far, a member of the Praetorian Guard stabbed the emperor to death in a corridor. A bridge too far for little bootikins. 

Thanks for Reading

James