ABSTRACT
The death of Tiberius must have come as a great relief to many in the senate and elsewhere. He appears to have been unpopular with virtually everyone in Rome. Gaius was welcome. He was the son of Agrippina and the beloved Germanicus, and greatgrandson of both Augustus and Antony. In him, the imperial house, so long divided, was united. The friends of Agrippina would have been pleased at the accession of her son. The friends of Tiberius could console themselves that he had been chosen by the old emperor. He was a young man, 24, and great things could be expected of him. The senate accepted him enthusiastically and voted him all imperial powers. They also set aside the will of Tiberius which had made him co-ruler with his cousin, Tiberius Gemellus (Tiberius’ grandson), who was still a minor. The people had hated Tiberius and had supported Gaius’ family in the face of imperial persecution. The troops probably also welcomed him as the son of Germanicus. It is to the troops that we owe Gaius’ nickname (by which he is perhaps now more familiar), since as a child he had wandered the camps of his father’s armies dressed in a miniature version of military uniform and the troops named him Caligula (little boots). Supported by the senate, people and army, Gaius assumed power smoothly. Within six months his support was ebbing away and Gaius was acting like a tyrant. Within four years, he was dead.
