:: wikimiki.org ::

January 24

January 24

January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 341 days remaining (342 in leap years).

Events

- 41 - Roman Emperor Gaius Caesar (Caligula), known for his eccentricity and cruel despotism, was assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards.
- 1438 - Pope Eugenius IV was suspended by the Council of Basel.
- 1458 - Matthias I Corvinus becomes king of Hungary.
- 1624 - Alfonso Mendez, appointed by Pope Gregory XV as Prelate of Ethiopia, arrives at Massawa from Goa.
- 1679 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament.
- 1742 - Charles VII Albert becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
- 1848 - California gold rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento.
- 1888 - Jacob L. Wortman patents the typewriter ribbon.
- 1908 - Robert Baden-Powell begins the Boy Scout movement.
- 1916 - In Brushaber v. Union Pacific Railroad, the Supreme Court of the United States declares the federal income tax constitutional.
- 1918 - A decree of the Council of People's Commissars, introducing the Gregorian calendar in Russia since February 1, issued
- 1922 - Christian K. Nelson patents the Eskimo Pie.
- 1924 - St. Petersburg, Russia is renamed Leningrad.
- 1927 - Young director Alfred Hitchcock released his first film, The Pleasure Garden, in England.
- 1936 - Albert Sarraut becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1943 - World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill conclude a conference in Casablanca.
- 1945 - Auschwitz, Concentration Camp in Poland is Liberated by Soviet Troops.
- 1952 - Vincent Massey sworn in as first Canada-born Governor-General of Canada.
- 1962 - Brian Epstein signs to manage The Beatles.
- 1966 - An Air India Boeing 707 jet crashes on Mont Blanc, on the border between France and Italy, killing 117
- 1972 - Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese soldier, is discovered on Guam.
- 1982 - Super Bowl XVI: San Francisco 49ers defeat the Cincinnati Bengals, 26-21 in the first Super Bowl played north of the Mason-Dixon line
- 1984 - The first Apple Macintosh goes on sale.
- 1986 - Voyager 2 passes within 50,679 miles of Uranus.
- 1987 - In Lebanon, gunmen kidnap Alann Steen, Jesse Turner, Robert Polhill and Mitheleshwar Singh.
- 1989 - Serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair.
- 1995 - The prosecution delivers its opening statement in the O. J. Simpson murder trial.
- 1996 - Polish Premier Jozef Oleksy resigns amid charge he spied for Moscow.
- 2001 - The last two of the Texas 7 are taken into custody in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
- 2002 - Enron Congressional hearings begin.
- 2002 - Terrorist suspect John Walker Lindh's hearing begins.
- 2002 - The United States Department of Justice indicts Robert Nicholas Angleton for conspiring to murder his wife, Doris Angleton, along with his brother Roger.
- 2003 - The United States Department of Homeland Security officially begins operation.

Births

- 76 - Hadrian, Roman Emperor (d. 138)
- 1287 - Richard Aungerville, English bishop and writer (d. 1345)
- 1444 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan (d. 1476)
- 1540 - Edmund Campion, English Jesuit (d. 1581)
- 1638 - Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, English poet and courtier (d. 1706)
- 1670 - William Congreve, English playwright (d. 1729)
- 1674 - Thomas Tanner, English bishop and antiquarian (d. 1735)
- 1679 - Christian Wolff, German philosopher (d. 1754)
- 1705 - Farinelli, Italian castrato (d. 1782)
- 1712 - King Frederick II of Prussia (d. 1786)
- 1724 - Frances Brooke, English writer (d. 1789)
- 1732 - Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French playwright (d. 1799)
- 1752 - Muzio Clementi, Italian composer (d. 1832)
- 1776 - E.T.A. Hoffmann, German writer, composer, and painter (d. 1822)
- 1862 - Edith Wharton, American writer (d. 1937)
- 1888 - Vicki Baum, Austrian writer (d. 1960)
- 1888 - Ernst Heinkel, German aircraft designer (d. 1958)
- 1895 - Eugen Roth, German writer (d. 1976)
- 1902 - E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar (d. 1965)
- 1909 - Martin Lings, English Islamic scholar (d. 2005)
- 1913 - Norman Dello Joio, American composer
- 1915 - Robert Motherwell, American painter (d. 1991)
- 1916 - Jack Brickhouse, American sports broadcaster (d. 1998)
- 1917 - Ernest Borgnine, American actor
- 1918 - Oral Roberts, American evangelist
- 1925 - Maria Tallchief, American ballerina
- 1928 - Desmond Morris, British anthropologist and writer
- 1934 - Stanisław Grochowiak, Polish poet and dramatist (d. 1976)
- 1936 - Doug Kershaw, American musician
- 1939 - Ray Stevens, American musician
- 1941 - Neil Diamond, American singer
- 1941 - Aaron Neville, American singer
- 1943 - Sharon Tate, American actress (d. 1969)
- 1944 - Klaus Nomi, German singer (d. 1983)
- 1946 - Michael Ontkean, Canadian actor
- 1947 - Warren Zevon, American musician and songwriter (d. 2003)
- 1949 - John Belushi, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1951 - Yakov Smirnoff, Russian comedian
- 1958 - Jools Holland, British musician
- 1959 - Nastassja Kinski, German-born actress
- 1959 - Vic Reeves, English comedian
- 1963 - Arnold Vanderlyde, Dutch boxer
- 1968 - Mary Lou Retton, American gymnast
- 1970 - Matthew Lillard, American actor
- 1979 - Tatyana Ali, American actress
- 1986 - Mischa Barton, English-born actress
- 1986 - Ricky Ullman, American actor

Deaths

- 41 - Caligula, Emperor of Rome (assassinated) (b. 12)
- 772 - Pope Stephen IV (b. 720)
- 1125 - King David IV of Georgia (b. 1073)
- 1366 - King Alfonso IV of Aragon (b. 1299)
- 1376 - Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, English military leader
- 1473 - Conrad Paumann, German composer
- 1595 - Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria (b. 1529)
- 1626 - Samuel Argall, English adventurer and naval officer (b. 1580)
- 1639 - Georg Jenatsch, Swiss politician (b. 1596)
- 1666 - Johann Andreas Herbst, German composer (b. 1588)
- 1709 - George Rooke, English admiral (b. 1650)
- 1856 - Rabbi Yechezkel of Kuzmir, Polish Hasidic leader (b. 1775)
- 1877 - Johann Christian Poggendorff, German physicist (b. 1796)
- 1882 - Levi Boone, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1808)
- 1883 - Friedrich von Flotow, German composer (b. 1812)
- 1920 - Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1884)
- 1924 - Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (b. 1894)
- 1932 - Sir Alfred Yarrow, English shipbuilder (b. 1842)
- 1939 - Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (b. 1867)
- 1943 - John Burns, English politician (b. 1858)
- 1955 - Ira Hayes, American World War II hero (b. 1923)
- 1960 - Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
- 1961 - Alfred Carlton Gilbert, American swimmer and inventor (b. 1884)
- 1965 - Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1874)
- 1971 - Bill W., American co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (b. 1895)
- 1973 - J. Carrol Naish, American actor (b. 1897)
- 1975 - Larry Fine, American actor and comedian (b. 1902)
- 1983 - George Cukor, American film director (b. 1899)
- 1986 - L. Ron Hubbard, American writer and founder of Scientology (b. 1911)
- 1986 - Flo Hyman, American volleyball player (b. 1954)
- 1986 - Gordon MacRae, American actor and singer (b. 1921)
- 1986 - Vincente Minnelli, American film director (b. 1903)
- 1989 - Ted Bundy, American serial killer (executed) (b. 1946)
- 1990 - Madge Bellamy, American actress (b. 1899)
- 1991 - John M. Kelly, Irish politician and academic (b. 1931)
- 1993 - Thurgood Marshall, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1908)
- 1998 - Walter D. Edmonds, American author (b. 1903)
- 2003 - Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (b. 1921)
- 2004 - Leônidas da Silva, Brazilian footballer (b. 1913)
- 2005 - June Bronhill, Australian singer (b. 1929)
- 2005 - Vladimir Savchenko, Ukrainian writer (b. 1933)
- 2005 - Chalkie White, English rugby coach (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

- Roman Empire - first day of the Sementivae in honor of Ceres and Terra
- Roman Catholic Church - Feasts of St. Francis de Sales and Our Lady of Peace

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/24 BBC: On This Day] ---- See Also: January 23 - January 25 - December 24 - February 24 — listing of all days ko:1월 24일 ms:24 Januari ja:1月24日 simple:January 24 th:24 มกราคม

January 24

January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 341 days remaining (342 in leap years).

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

- Roman Empire - first day of the Sementivae in honor of Ceres and Terra
- Roman Catholic Church - Feasts of St. Francis de Sales and Our Lady of Peace

External links

Leap year

A leap year (or intercalary year) is a year containing an extra day or month in order to keep the calendar year in sync with an astronomical or seasonal year. Seasons and astronomical events do not repeat at an exact number of days, so a calendar which had the same number of days in each year would over time drift with respect to the event it was supposed to track. By occasionally inserting (or intercalating) an additional day or month into the year, the drift can be corrected. Leap years (which keep the calendar in sync with the year) should not be confused with leap seconds (which keep clock time in sync with the day).

Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar, the current standard calendar in most of the world, adds a 29th day to February in all years evenly divisible by 4, except for century years (those ending in -00), which receive the extra day only if they are evenly divisible by 400. Thus 1996 was a leap year whereas 1999 was not, and 1600, 2000 and 2400 are leap years but 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not. The reasoning behind this rule is as follows:
- The Gregorian calendar is designed to keep the vernal equinox on or close to March 21, so that the date of Easter (celebrated on the Sunday after the 14th day of the Moon that falls on or after 21 March) remains correct with respect to the vernal equinox.
- The vernal equinox year is currently about 365.242375 days long.
- The Gregorian leap year rule gives an average year length of 365.2425 days. This difference of a little over 0.0001 days means that in around 8,000 years, the calendar will be about one day behind where it should be. But in 8,000 years' time the length of the vernal equinox year will have changed by an amount we can't accurately predict (see below). So the Gregorian leap year rule does a good enough job. Image:Gregoriancalendarleap.png

Which day is the leap day?

The Gregorian calendar is a modification of the Julian calendar first used by the Romans. The Roman calendar originated as a lunar calendar (though from the 5th century BC it no longer followed the real moon) and named its days after three of the phases of the moon: the new moon (calends, hence "calendar"), the first quarter (nones) and the full moon (ides). Days were counted down (inclusively) to the next named day, so 24 February was ante diem sextum calendas martii ("the sixth day before the calends of March"). Since 45 BC, February in a leap year had two days called "the sixth day before the calends of March". The extra day was originally the second of these, but since the third century it was the first. Hence the term bissextile day for 24 February in a bissextile year. Where this custom is followed, anniversaries after the inserted day are moved in leap years. For example, the former feast day of Saint Matthias, 24 February in ordinary years, would be 25 February in leap years. This historical nicety is, however, in the process of being discarded: The European Union declared that, starting in 2000, 29 February rather than 24 February would be leap day, and the Roman Catholic Church also now uses 29 February as leap day. The only tangible difference is felt in countries that celebrate feast days.

Julian calendar

The Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4. This rule gives an average year length of 365.25 days. The excess of about 0.0076 days with respect to the vernal equinox year means that the vernal equinox moves a day earlier in the calendar every 130 years or so.

Revised Julian Calendar

The Revised Julian calendar adds an extra day to February in years divisible by 4, except for years divisible by 100 that do not leave a remainder of 200 or 600 when divided by 900. This rule agrees with the rule for the Gregorian calendar until 2799. The first year that dates in the Revised Julian calendar will not agree with the those in the Gregorian calendar will be 2800, because it will be a leap year in the Gregorian calendar but not in the Revised Julian calendar. This rule gives an average year length of 365.242222… days. This is a very good approximation to the mean tropical year, but because the vernal equinox tropical year is slightly longer, the Revised Julian calendar does not do as good a job as the Gregorian calendar of keeping the vernal equinox on or close to 21 March.

Chinese calendar

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, so a leap year has an extra month, often called an embolismic month after the Greek word for it. In the Chinese calendar the leap month is added according to a complicated rule, which ensures that month 11 is always the month that contains the northern winter solstice. The intercalary month takes the same number as the preceding month; for example, if it follows the second month then it is simply called "leap second month".

Hebrew calendar

The Hebrew calendar is also lunisolar with an embolistic month. In the Hebrew calendar the extra month is called Adar Alef (first Adar) and is added before Adar, which then becomes Adar Sheni (second Adar). According to the Metonic cycle, this is done seven times every nineteen years, specifically, in years, 3, 6, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 19. In addition, the Hebrew calendar has postponement rules that postpone the start of the year by one or two days. The year before the postponement gets one or two extra days, and the year whose start is postponed loses one or two days. These postponement rules reduce the number of different combinations of year length and starting day of the week from 28 to 14, and regulate the location of certain religious holidays in relation to the Sabbath.

Hindu Calendar

In the Hindu calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar, the embolismic month is called adhika maas (extra month). It is the month in which the sun is in the same sign of the stellar zodiac on two consecutive dark moons.

Iranian calendar

The Iranian calendar also has a single intercalated day once in every four years, but every 33 years or so the leap years will be five years apart instead of four years apart. The system used is more accurate and more complicated, and is based on the time of the March equinox as observed from Teheran. The 33-year period is not completely regular; every so often the 33-year cycle will be broken by a cycle of 29 or 37 years.

Long term leap year rules

The accumulated difference between the Gregorian calendar and the vernal equinoctial year amounts to 1 day in about 8,000 years. This suggests that the calendar needs to be improved by another refinement to the leap year rule: perhaps by avoiding leap years in years divisible by 8,000. (The most common such proposal is to avoid leap years in years divisible by 4,000 [http://www.google.com/search?q=%22gregorian+calendar%22+error+%22leap+year%22+4000]. This is based on the difference between the Gregorian calendar and the mean tropical year. Others claim, erroneously, that the Gregorian calendar itself already contains a refinement of this kind [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mleapyr.html].) However, there is little point in planning a calendar so far ahead because over a timescale of tens of thousands of years the number of days in a year will change for a number of reasons, most notably: #Precession of the equinoxes moves the position of the vernal equinox with respect to perihelion and so changes the length of the vernal equinoctial year. #Tidal acceleration from the sun and moon slows the rotation of the earth, making the day longer. In particular, the second component of change depends on such things as post-glacial rebound and sea level rise due to climate change. We can't predict these changes accurately enough to be able to make a calendar that will be accurate to a day in tens of thousands of years.

Marriage proposal

There is a tradition, said to go back to Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget in 5th century Ireland, whereby women may only make marriage proposals in leap years.

Saint Patrick and the leap year

:Saint Patrick, having driven the frogs out of the bogs was walking along the shores of Lough Neagh, when he was accosted by Saint Bridget in tears, and was told that a mutiny had broken out in the nunnery over which she presided, the ladies claiming the right of popping the question. :Saint Patrick said he would concede them the right every seventh year, when Saint Bridget threw her arms round his neck, and exclaimed, "Arrah, Pathrick, jewel, I daurn't go back to the girls wid such a proposal. Make it one year in four." Saint Patrick replied, "Bridget, acushla, squeeze me that way again, an' I'll give ye leap-year, the longest of the lot." Saint Bridget, upon this, popped the question to St Patrick himself, who, of course, could not marry: so he patched up the difficulty as best he could with a kiss and a silk gown. (Source: Evans, Ivor H, Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Cassell, London, 1988) According to a 1288 law in Scotland, fines were levied if the proposal was refused by the man; compensation ranged from a kiss to a silk gown to soften the blow. Because men felt that put them at too great a risk, the tradition was in some places tightened to restricting female proposals to 29 February.

Birthdays

A person who was born on 29 February may be called a "leapling". In non-leap years they usually celebrate their birthday on 28 February or 1 March. There are many instances in children's literature where a person's claim to be only a quarter of their actual age turns out be based on counting their leap-year birthdays. A similar device is used in the plot of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Pirates of Penzance. Category:Calendars Category:Units of time als:Schaltjahr ko:윤년 ja:閏年 simple:Leap year th:ปีอธิกสุรทิน

41

Events

- January 24 - Claudius succeeds his nephew Caligula as Roman Emperor.
- Claudius makes Agrippa king of Judea.
- Messalina, wife of Claudius, persuaded Claudius to have Seneca the Younger banished to Corsica on a charge of adultery with Julia Livilla.

Births

- Octavia, daughter of Claudius and Messalina
- Marcus Valerius Martialis (possible birthdate)

Deaths

- January 24 - Caligula, Roman Emperor (assassinated).
- January 24 - Julia Drusilla, daughter of Caligula(assassinated). Category:41 ko:41년

Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus (August 31, 12 – January 24, 41), most commonly known as Caligula, was the third Roman Emperor and third member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from AD 37 to 41. Caligula represents a turning point in the early history of the Principate. Known for his extreme extravagance, eccentricity, depravity and cruelty, he is remembered as a despot. He was assassinated in AD 41 by several of his own guards. Unfortunately, his is the most poorly documented reign of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. The literary sources for these four years are meager, frequently anecdotal, and universally hostile. As a result, not only are many of the events of the reign unclear, but Caligula himself appears more as a caricature than a real person; a crazed megalomaniac given to capricious cruelty and harebrained schemes. One popular tale, widely reported by contemporary historians, claims he appointed his favorite horse to the Roman Senate as a consul. However, the Encyclopædia Britannica declares this story is untrue. Caligula is often accused of having sexual relations with his sisters, most notably his younger sister Drusilla, but there was never any concrete proof to support that.

Early Life

Caligula was born as Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus on August 31, 12 AD, at the resort of Antium (modern Anzio), the third of six children born to Augustus’s adopted grandson, Germanicus, and Augustus’s granddaughter, Agrippina the Elder. Germanicus was son to Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor, an older brother to Claudius. Agrippina was daughter to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia Caesaris. They had four other sons (Tiberius and Gaius Julius, who died young; Nero, Drusus), and three daughters (Julia Livilla, Drusilla and Agrippina the younger). See Julio-Claudian Family Tree. Gaius' life started out promisingly, as he was the son of extremely famous parents. Germanicus was a grandson to Tiberius Nero of the gens Claudia and Livia as well as an adoptive grandson of Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus of the gens Julia. He was thus a prominent member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and was revered as the most beloved general of the Roman Empire. Agrippina was herself a granddaughter of Caesar Augustus and Scribonia. She was considered a model of the perfect Roman woman. Scribonia As a baby of just two or three, he accompanied his parents on military campaigns in the north of Germania and became the mascot of his father's army. The soldiers were amused whenever Agrippina would put a miniature soldier costume on young Gaius, and he was soon given his nickname "Caligula" (or Caligulae), meaning "Little [Soldier's] boots" in Latin, after the small boots he wore as part of his costume. He would end up hating this name, but he also hated the name "Gaius". ("Caligula" is formed from the Latin word caliga, meaning soldier's boot, and the diminutive infix -ul.) Caligula’s childhood was not a happy one, spent amid an atmosphere of paranoia, suspicion, and murder. Instability within the Julio-Claudian dynasty, generated by uncertainty over the succession, led to a series of personal tragedies. When his father died under suspicious circumstances on October 10, 19 AD, relations between his mother and his grand-uncle, the reigning emperor Tiberius, deteriorated irretrievably, and the adolescent Caligula was sent to live first with his great-grandmother Livia in 27 AD and then, following Livia's death two years later, with his grandmother Antonia. Neither Livia nor Antonia had much time to watch Caligula, so the only comfort he had was with his three sisters. Stories of Caligula engaging in incest with his sisters (Agrippina the Younger, Drusilla, and Julia Livilla) began around this time. Suetonius in particular writes much about these acts. Caligula's life was in constant danger. Tiberius's Praetorian Prefect, Sejanus, was extremely powerful, doing everything he could to gain power over Tiberius. This wasn't too difficult, as Sejanus had control of Rome while Tiberius retired to the island of Capri. Treason trials were commonly practiced, as Tiberius in his old age was growing increasingly paranoid and began to rely increasingly upon his friend Sejanus, who once saved his life. These trials were the main lever Sejanus used to strengthen his position and dispose of any opposition. From a very early age Caligula learned to tread very carefully. According to both Tacitus and Suetonius, he surpassed his brothers in intelligence, and was an excellent natural actor, realizing the danger when other members of his family could not. Caligula survived when most of the other potential candidates to the throne were destroyed. His mother Agrippina was banished to the tiny island of Pandataria, where she starved herself to death. His two oldest brothers, Nero and Drusus, also died. Nero was banished to the island of Ponza, while Drusus' body was found locked in a dungeon with stuffing from his mattress in his mouth to keep off the hunger pains. Shortly before the fall of Tiberius’s Praetorian Prefect, Sejanus, in 31 AD, Caligula was summoned to join Tiberius at his villa on Capri, where he remained until his accession in 37 AD. By this time, Caligula was already in favor with Tiberius. He was summoned to Capri to stay with Tiberius on one of the many villas on the island. Suetonius writes of extreme perversions happening on Capri, as Tiberius was without the people who managed to keep him in line (Augustus, Livia, his brother Drusus and best friend Nerva.) so he felt free to indulge in any perversion he desired. Whether this is true or not is hard to say. Unpopular Emperors such as Tiberius and Caligula may not have had the whole truth written about them, and gossip is common throughout ancient texts. Suetonius writes of Caligula's servile nature towards Tiberius, and his indifferent nature towards his dead mother and brothers. By his own account, Caligula mentioned years later that this servility was a sham in order to stay alive, and on more than one occasion he very nearly killed Tiberius when his anger overwhelmed him. An observer said of Caligula "Never was there a better servant or a worse master!" Caligula proved to have a flair for administration and won further favor with the ailing Tiberius by carrying out many of his duties for him. At night, Caligula would inflict torture on slaves and watch bloody gladiatorial games with glee. In 33 Tiberius gave Caligula the position of honorary quaestorship, the only form of public service Caligula would hold until his reign.

Early Reign

When Tiberius died on March 16, 37 AD, Caligula was in a perfect position to assume power, despite the obstacle of Tiberius’s will, which named him and his cousin Tiberius Gemellus joint heirs. (Gemellus's life was shortened considerably by this bequest, since Caligula ordered him killed within a matter of months.) Suetonius writes that the Prefect of the Praetorian Guard Naevius Sutorius Macro smothered Tiberius with a pillow to hasten Caligula's accession. Backed by Macro, Caligula asserted his dominance. He had Tiberius’s will declared null and void on grounds of insanity, accepted the powers of the Principate as conferred by the Senate, and entered Rome on March 28 amid scenes of wild rejoicing. His first acts were generous in spirit: he gave cash bonuses to the Praetorian Guards, destroyed Tiberius's treason papers, declared that treason trials were a thing of the past, recalled exiles, and helped those who had been harmed by the Imperial tax system. He was loved by many simply by being the beloved son of the popular Germanicus. Moreover, he was, unlike Tiberius, a direct blood descendant of Augustus, and therefore related to Julius Caesar. He was also a great-grandson of Mark Antony. On becoming Emperor, Caligula performed a spectacular stunt. He ordered a temporary floating bridge to be built using ships as pontoons, stretching for over two miles from the resort of Baiae to the neighboring port of Puteoli. He then proceeded to ride his horse across, wearing the breastplate of Alexander the Great. This act was in defiance of an astrologer's prediction that he had "no more chance of becoming Emperor than of riding a horse across the Gulf of Baiae". However, following this auspicious start to his reign, Caligula fell seriously ill in October of 37, and, as Scullard remarks, "emerged as a monster of lust and diabolical cruelty". There is some debate as to the chronology here. Many authors, including Michael Grant (The Twelve Caesars, 1975) and Donna W. Hurley (An Historical and Historiographical Commentary on Suetonius' "Life of C. Caligula", 1993), state that the real break between Caligula and the Senate, and thereafter his extravagant behaviour, did not occur until 39 AD. Though the exact cause of the argument between the young Caesar and the Senate is unclear, what sources remain seem to indicate that the Emperor had demanded a triumph and had been refused by the Senate. What is clear is that in 39 AD Caligula removed and replaced the Consuls without consulting the Senate, and publicly humilated several Senators by forcing them to run alongside his chariot in their full robes. It is from this point on that there is a marked change in the biography of his life; the young man previously hailed as "our star" and "our baby" by the Roman people became a despotic tyrant.

Caligula’s Madness

The ancient sources are practically unanimous as to the cause of Caligula's downfall: he was insane. The writers differ as to how this condition came about, but all agree that after his good start Caligula began to behave in an openly autocratic manner, even a crazed one. Outlandish stories cluster about the raving emperor, illustrating his excessive cruelty, immoral sexual escapades, or disrespect toward tradition and the Senate. The sources describe his incestuous relations with his sisters, laughable military campaigns in the north, the plan to make his horse a consul, and his habit of roaming the halls of his palace at night ordering the sun to rise. He comes across as aloof, arrogant, egotistical, and cuttingly witty, and is generally portrayed as insane. He is said to have wept because he could not cut the neck of every Roman citizen with his sword in a single blow.

Caligula and the Empire

Gaius's reign is too short, and the surviving ancient accounts too sensationalized, for any serious policies of his to be discerned. During his reign, Mauretania was annexed and reorganized into two provinces, Herod Agrippa was appointed to a kingdom in Judaea, and severe riots took place in Alexandria between Jews and Greeks. These events are largely overlooked in the sources, since they offer slim pickings for sensational stories of madness. Two other episodes, however, garner greater attention: Caligula's military activities on the northern frontier, and his vehement demand for divine honors. His military activities are portrayed as ludicrous, with Gauls dressed up as Germans at his triumph and Roman troops ordered to collect sea-shells as "spoils of the sea." Modern scholars have attempted to make sense of these events in various ways. The most reasonable suggestion is that Caligula went north to earn military glory and discovered there a nascent conspiracy under the commander of the Germania Superior legions, Gnaeus Lentulus Gaetulicus. Caligula's enthusiasm for divine honors for himself and his favorite sister, Drusilla (who died suddenly in 38 AD and was deified), is presented in the sources as another clear sign of his madness, but it may be no more than the young autocrat tactlessly pushing the limits of the imperial cult. Caligula's excess in this regard is best illustrated by his order that a statue of him be erected in the Temple at Jerusalem. Only the delaying tactics of the Syrian governor, Publius Petronius, and the intervention of Herod Agrippa prevented riots and a potential uprising in Judea.

Conspiracy and Assassination

The conspiracy that ended Caligula's life was hatched among the officers of the Praetorian Guard, apparently for purely personal reasons. It appears also to have had the support of some senators and an imperial freedman. As with conspiracies in general, there are suspicions that the plot was more broad-based than the sources intimate, and it may even have enjoyed the support of the next emperor Claudius, but these propositions are not provable on available evidence. On January 24, 41 AD, the praetorian tribune Cassius Chaerea and other guardsmen caught Caligula alone in a secluded palace corridor and cut him down. Chaerea had a distinguished record and had known Caligula since infancy and had been one of Germanicus's best officers. Years of abuse from Caligula over his so-called effeminacy finally took their toll. Together with another aggrieved tribune, Cornelius Sabinus, he also killed Caligula's wife Caesonia and their infant daughter, Julia Drusilla by smashing her head against a wall. After much confusion, his old uncle Claudius was made Emperor by the Praetorian Guard. Caligula was 28 years old and had ruled three years and ten months.

Caligula’s Insanity

Recent sources say that Caligula probably had encephalitis. Ancient sources, like Roman biographers Suetonius and Cassius Dio, describe Caligula having a "brain fever". Philo of Alexandria reports it was nothing more than a nervous breakdown, as Caligula was not used to the pressures of constant attention after being out of the public eye for most of his life. Rome waited in horror, praying that their beloved Emperor would recover. He became better, but his reign took a sharp turn. The death of Gemellus and of Silanus, Caligula's father-in-law, took place right after Caligula recovered. The question of whether or not Caligula was insane remains unanswered. Philo, author of Legatio ad Caium ("embassy to Caius") and leader of a delegation sent to Caligula to seek relief from persecution by Alexandrian Greeks, claimed that the emperor was no more than a vicious jokester. Based on the contemporary reports of his behavior, modern psychology would likely diagnose Caligula as delusional, and possibly suffering from antisocial personality disorder as a result of his traumatic upbringing. However, given Caligula's unpopularity as emperor, it is difficult to separate fact from fiction. There are many famous stories attesting to his bizarre behavior as emperor: that he tried to make his beloved stallion, Incitatus, a consul, though this could have been a political statement indicating that he felt his horse was as well qualified for the position as any of the incumbents. Other stories claim that there existed incestuous relationship between Caligula and his sisters (particularly Drusilla), a brothel he set up at the palace featuring the wives of prominent senators, his campaign in Britain ending with his soldiers collecting seashells as "spoils of the sea" in his battle with the sea god Neptune, wanting to erect a statue of himself in Jerusalem (his good friend Herod Agrippa stopped it), his amusement with shutting down the granaries and starving the citizens, and labeling himself a "god". He "often sent for men whom he had secretly killed, as though they were still alive, and remark off-handedly a few days later that they must have committed suicide," according to Suetonius. Regardless of the validity of any of these anecdotes, historians tend to agree on one fact: he was extremely unqualified and unprepared to be Emperor.

Alternate Views

The lack of a full accounting of Caligula's reign, and the hyperbolic nature of the records that do remain, creates several problems for historical analysis. It must be noted that all historical writings regarding Caligula are authored by Romans of Senatorial rank; a class of individuals whose power had been severely checked by the growth of the Principate. Additionally, in Roman politics sexual perversity was often presented hand in hand with poor government; Suetonius accuses Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Nero all of sexually perverse behaviour, and also heavily criticizes many of the administrative aspects of these Emperor's rules. Therefore, much of what is recorded about Caligula, especially that coming from Suetonius, must be taken "with a grain of salt". It is known that in 39 AD there was a political break between Caligula and the Senate, and it is from this point forward that Caligula's reign takes on a decidedly despotic tone. The purges of Tiberius had removed from the Senate some of the staunchest supporters of the Julian line, of which Caligula was a prominent member. Caligula was thus presented with a Senate that, at best, offered half-hearted support. Additionally, the absence of Tiberius for much of his reign meant that the Senate, previously docile after almost 50 years under Augustus, had been forced to take up much of the administrative apparatus of the Empire once again. Caligula was thus faced with an uncooperative Senate that was once again beginning to rule the Empire as it had before Caesar and Augustus. The position of the Princeps was an elaborate facade that required the most powerful man in Rome to act as if he were nothing more than a concerned citizen and magistrate under the Senate's supervision. Caligula, faced with an uncooperative Senate, seems to have quickly tired of this facade and decided to act indiscriminantly with the powers given to him as Princeps. The vast financial reserves that Tiberius had left behind were quickly spent and the imperial treasury emptied by the end of Caligula's brief reign. Caligula's reign saw the expansion of the imperial court and imperial palace into the Forum itself. Imperial duties and responsibilities that Tiberius had returned to the Senate were reclaimed as rights of the Princeps, and the powers of the Senate were further restricted. Perhaps modeling his rule after the Hellenistic monarchs, Caligula sought to make himself the center of all religious activity, as has been noted above. In essence, Caligula sought to take the Principate to its next logical step: a divine monarchy. However, the complexities of Roman society and Roman politics demanded that the facade of the "first-citizen" be continued. Suetonius compares Caligula to Julius Caesar; in the mind of the Roman Senate, the delicately balanced Principate had become little more than the tyrranny it had rid itself of a century before. Thus, much of the sensational accusations leveled at Caligula should be viewed as politcally motivated attacks against his character and his memory. It must be kept in mind that the records that we have today of Caligula were all written by his political opponents, and those most damaged by his attempt to enforce his absolute authority.

Legacy

Regardless of whether Caligula is viewed as an insane monarch or simply a misguided politician, the conclusion remains the same. Whatever damage Tiberius’s later years had done to the carefully crafted political edifice created by Augustus, Caligula multiplied it a hundred-fold. When he came to power in 37 AD, Caligula had no administrative experience beyond his honorary quaestorship, and had spent an unhappy early life far from the public eye. He appears, once in power, to have realized the boundless scope of his authority and acted accordingly. For the elite, this situation proved intolerable and ensured the blackening of Caligula's name in the historical record they would dictate. The sensational and hostile nature of that record, however, should in no way trivialize Caligula's importance. His reign highlighted an inherent weakness in Augustus’s Principate, now openly revealed for what it was -- a raw monarchy in which only the self-discipline of the incumbent acted as a restraint on his behavior rather than the "first among equals" Augustus had intended. That the only means of retiring the wayward Princeps was murder marked another important revelation: Roman emperors could not relinquish their powers without simultaneously relinquishing their lives. Caligula would be the first of many emperors to be brutally executed in the years to come.

Bibliography

- Caligula: the corruption of power by Anthony A. Barrett (Batsford 1989) ISBN 0713454873
- Ludwig Quidde's essay Caligula. Eine Studie über römischen Caesarenwahnsinn (Caligula: A Study of Imperial Insanity) (1894), in which Caligula is likened to the German Emperor Wilhelm II.
- Caligula is the title of a play by Albert Camus, which was the basis for a 1996 Hungarian movie and the 2001 made for TV version.
- Caligula (film) is also a controversial 1979 movie starring Malcolm McDowell, Teresa Ann Savoy, Helen Mirren, and Peter O'Toole.
- Actor Jay Robinson played Caligula in The Robe 1953 and its sequel Demetrius and the Gladiators 1954. See Caligula (film)
- John Hurt played Caligula in the TV adaptation of Robert Graves's book I, Claudius.
- Grant, Michael, The Twelve Caesars. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1975
- Hurley, Donna W., An Historical and Historiographical Commentary on Suetonius' "Life of C. Caligula". Atlanta, Geogia: Scholars Press. 1993.

Notes

# "Caligula's horse", Encyclopædia Britannica.

Primary Sources

- [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Caligula
- .html Life of Caligula] (Suetonius; English translation and Latin original)
- [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/59
- .html Cassius Dio, Book 59] (English translation)

Secondary Material

- [http://www.roman-emperors.org/gaius.htm Biography from De Imperatoribus Romanis]
- [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcaligula.html Straight Dope article]
- [http://www.romansonline.com/Persns.asp?IntID=3&Ename=Caligula Caligula]
- [http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/caligula.html A chronological account of his reign]
- [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/7094/cal4.html A critical account of a number of his reported activities]
- [http://www.caligulathemovie.com/family1.html His genealogical tree]
- Ellis and Esler.World History, Connections to Today. Prentice Hall, 2003. Category:12 births Category:41 deaths Category:Roman emperors Category:Julio-Claudian Dynasty Category:Gay, lesbian or bisexual people Category:Roman emperors murdered by the Praetorian Guard ko:칼리굴라 ja:カリグラ

Despotism

Despotism is government by a singular authority, either a single person or tightly knit group, which rules with absolute power. The word implies tyrannical rule; it suggests a form of government which exercises exacting and near-absolute control over all of its citizens. A related term is benevolent despotism, which refers specifically to a form of rulership that came to prominence in the 18th century. In this instance, the absolute monarchs ruling certain nations used their authority to institute a number of reforms in the political and social structures of their countries. This movement was probably largely triggered by the ideals of the Enlightenment. Even though the word has modern pejorative meaning, it was once a legitimate title of office in the Byzantine Empire. Just as the word "Byzantine" is often used in a pejorative way (for specific reasons by certain Enlightenment authors wishing to express disapproval of that period in history), the word Despot was equally turned around for negative meaning. In fact, a Despot was an Imperial title, first used under Manuel I Komnenos (1143-1180) who created it to his appointed heir Alexius-Béla. According to Gyula Moravcsik this title was a simple translation of Béla's Hungarian title 'úr', but other historians beleive it comes from the old Roman title 'dominus'. It was typically bestowed on sons-in-law and later sons of the Emperor, and beginning in the 13th century it was bestowed to foreign princes. The Despot wore an elaborate costume similar to the Emperor's and had many privileges. Despots ruled over parts of the empire called Despotates. In the Orthodox Liturgy, if celebrated in Greek, the priest is addressed by the deacon as "despot" even today.

External links

- [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv2-01 Dictionary of the History of Ideas:] despotism
- [http://www.archive.org/details/Despotis1946 Archive.org - Despotism Video - 1946]

Praetorian Guard

A.D. Depicted in a marble bas-relief.]] The Praetorian Guard (sometimes Prætorian Guard) (in Latin: praetoriani) comprised a special force of bodyguards used by Roman emperors. Before them it was used by warlords, back at least to the Scipio family — around 275 BC. The members of the Praetorian Guard were the among the most skilled and celebrated fighting forces in ancient history.

History

The term "Praetorian" came from the tent of the commanding general or praetor of a Roman army in the field—the praetorium. It was a habit of many Roman generals to choose from the ranks a private force of soldiers to act as bodyguards of the tent or the person. They consisted of both infantry and cavalry. In time, this cohort came to be known as the cohors praetoria, and various notable figures possessed one, including Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Caesar Augustus (Octavian). As Caesar discovered with the Legio X Equestris, a powerful unit more dangerous than its fellow legions was desirable in the field. When Augustus became the first ruler of the Roman Empire in 27 BC, he decided such a formation was useful not only in war but in politics. Thus, from the ranks of the legions throughout the provinces, Augustus recruited the Praetorian Guard.

Early Guard

The group that was formed initially differed greatly from the later Guard, which would murder emperors. While Augustus understood the need to have a protector in the maelstrom of Rome, he was careful to uphold the Republican veneer of his regime. Thus he allowed only nine cohorts to be formed, originally at 500 but increased to 1,000 men each, and only three were kept on duty at any given time in the capital. A small number of detached cavalry units (turma) of 30 men each were also organized. While they patrolled inconspicuously in the palace and major buildings, the others were stationed in the towns surrounding Rome; no threats were possible from these individual cohorts. This system was not radically changed with the arrival of two Praetorian prefects in 2 BC, Q. Ostorius Scapula and Salvius Aper, although organization and command were improved. Augustus' death on August 19, AD 14, marked the end of Praetorian calm, the only time the Praetorian Guard did not use its military strength to play a part in the politics of Rome to force its own agenda. Augustus would be the sole emperor that would command the Praetorians' complete loyalty. From his death onward, the Praetorians would serve what was in their best interests. Through the machinations of their ambitious prefect, Lucius Aelius Sejanus, the Guard was brought from the Italian barracks into Rome itself. In 23, Sejanus convinced Tiberius to have the Castra Praetoria (the camp of the Praetorians) built just outside of Rome. One of these cohorts held the daily guard at the imperial palace. Henceforth the entire Guard was at the disposal of the emperors, but the rulers were now equally at the mercy of the Praetorians. The reality of this was seen in 31 when Tiberius was forced to rely upon his own cohors praetoria against partisans of Sejanus. Although the Praetorian Guard proved faithful to the aging Tiberius, their potential political power had been made clear. While campaigning, the Praetorians were the equal of any formation in the Roman Army. Seldom used in the early reigns, they were quite active by 69. They fought well at the first battle of Bedriacum for Otho. Under Domitian and Trajan, the guard took part in wars from Dacia to Mesopotamia, while with Marcus Aurelius, years were spent on the Danubian frontier. Throughout the 3rd century, the Praetorians assisted the emperors in various campaigns.

Political meddling

Following the death of Sejanus, who was sacrificed for the Donativum (imperial gift) promised by Tiberius, the Guards began to play an increasingly ambitious and bloody game in the Empire. With the right amount of money, or at will, they assassinated emperors, bullied their own prefects, or turned on the people of Rome. In 41 Caligula was killed by conspirators from the senatorial class and from the Guard. The Praetorians placed Claudius on the throne, daring the senate to oppose their decision. While the Guard had the power to kill off emperors, it had no role in government administration, unlike the personnel of the palace, the Senate, and the bureaucracy. Often after an outrageous act of violence, revenge by the new ruler was forthcoming. In 193 Didius Julianus purchased the Empire from the Guard for a vast sum, after the Guard auctioned it off. Later that year Septimius Severus marched into Rome, disbanded the Praetorians and started a new formation from his own Pannonian Legions. Even Vespasian in 69, who relied upon the disgruntled cohorts dismissed by Vitellius, reduced their rank in number when ascending the throne. Unruly mobs in Rome fought often with the Praetorian in Maximinus Thrax's reign in vicious street battles. In 271 Aurelian sailed east to destroy the power of Palmyra, Syria with a force of legionary detachments, Praetorian cohorts, and other cavalry units. The Palmyrans were easily defeated. This led to the orthodox view that Diocletian and his colleagues evolved the sacer comitatus (the field escort of the emperors) which included field units that utilized selection process, command structure, and modeled after the old Praetorian cohorts, but was not of uniform composition and was much larger than a Praetorian cohort.

Guard's Twilight Years

In 284 Diocletian reduced the status of the Praetorians; they were no longer to be part of palace life, as Diocletian lived in Nicomedia, some 60 miles from Byzantium in Asia Minor. Two new corps, the Jovians and Herculians (named after the gods Jove, or Jupiter, and Hercules, associated with the senior and junior emperor), replaced the Praetorians as the personal protectors of the emperors, a practice that remained intact with the tetrarchy. By the time Diocletian retired on May 1, 305, their barracks (Castra Praetoria) seems to have housed only a minor garrison of Rome. The final act of the Praetorians in imperial history started in 306, when Maxentius, son of the retired emperor Maximian, was passed over as a successor: the troops took matters into their own hands and elevated him to the position of emperor in Italy on October 28. Caesar Flavius Valerius Severus, following the orders of Galerius, attempted to disband the Guard but only managed to lead the rest of them in revolting and joining Maxentius. When Constantine the Great, launching an invasion of Italy in 312, forced a final confrontation at the Milvian Bridge, the Praetorian cohorts made up most of Maxentius' army. Later in Rome, the victorious Constantine definitively disbanded the Praetorian Guard. The soldiers were sent out to various corners of the Empire, and the Castra Praetoria was demolished. For over 300 years they had served, and the destruction of their fortress was a grand gesture, inaugurating a new age of imperial history and ending the Praetorians.

Legacy Of The Guard

Although its name has become synonymous with intrigue, conspiracy, disloyalty and assassination, it could be argued that for the first two centuries of its existence the Praetorian Guard was, on the whole, a positive force in the Roman state. During this time it mostly removed (or allowed to be removed) cruel, weak and unpopular emperors while generally supporting just, strong and popular ones. By protecting these monarchs, thus extending their reigns, and also by keeping the mobs of Rome and the Senate in line the guard helped give the empire much needed stability which lead to the period known as the Pax Romana. It was not until after the reign of Marcus Aurelius, when this period is generally considered to have ended, that the guard began to deteriorate into the ruthless, mercenary and meddling force for which it has become infamous. However, during the Severan dynasty and afterwards during the Crisis of the Third Century, the legions, the senate and the emperorship along with the rest of Roman government were falling into decadence as well.

Relationships between emperors and their Guard

Emperor	Year	Relationship with the Guard
Caesar Augustus	27 BC - AD 14	Created the Praetorian Guard, commanded their complete loyalty
Tiberius	14 - 37	Allowed Sejanus to gain power as the Guard's prefect
Caligula	37 - 41	Murdered by the Guard
Claudius	41 - 54.	Proclaimed emperor by the Guard
Nero	54 - 68	Deserted by the Guard
Galba	68 - 69	Murdered by the Guard
Otho	69	Elevated by the Guard
Vitellius	69	Deposed by the Guard then executed
Vespasian	69 - 79.	Reduced the size of the Guard after victory in 69
Titus	79 - 81	Served as Praetorian prefect, then as emperor
Domitian	81 - 96	His election was supported by the Guard but was later murdered by his Prefects
Nerva	96 - 98	Humiliated by his Guard and died during a siege against him
Trajan	98 - 117
Hadrian	117 - 138	Founded the Frumentarii
Antoninus Pius	138 - 161
Marcus Aurelius	161 - 180
Lucius Verus	161 - 169
Commodus	180 - 192	Murdered by his Prefect
Pertinax	193	Assassinated by the Guard
Didius Julianus	193	Purchased the Empire from the Guard
Septimius Severus	193 - 211	Disbanded the Guard and created a new one from the Pannonian Legions
Caracalla	211 - 217	Murdered in a plot by his Prefect, Macrinus
Macrinus	217 - 218
Elagabalus	218 - 222	Murdered in the Castra Praetoria by the Guard
Alexander Severus	222 - 235	Elevated by the Guard
Maximinus Thrax	235 - 238
Gordian I	238
Gordian II	238
Balbinus	238	Murdered by the Guard
Pupienus	238	Murdered by the Guard
Gordian III	238 - 244	Proclaimed emperor by the Guard but killed by his Prefect, Philip the Arab
Philip the Arab	244 - 249
Decius	249 - 251
Herennius Etruscus	251
Hostilian<

January 24

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

January 24

Events

Births

Deaths

Holidays and observances

External links

Leap year

Gregorian calendar

Which day is the leap day?

Julian calendar

Revised Julian Calendar

Chinese calendar

Hebrew calendar

Hindu Calendar

Iranian calendar

Long term leap year rules

Marriage proposal

Saint Patrick and the leap year

Birthdays

41

Events

Births

Deaths

Caligula

Early Life

Early Reign

Caligula’s Madness

Caligula and the Empire

Conspiracy and Assassination

Caligula’s Insanity

Alternate Views

Legacy

Bibliography

Notes

Primary Sources

Secondary Material

Despotism

External links

See also

Praetorian Guard

History

Early Guard

Political meddling

Guard's Twilight Years

Legacy Of The Guard

Relationships between emperors and their Guard