Articles

GAIUS "CALIGULA", GOOD FRIEND OF AGRIPPA I, THE GRANDSON OF HEROD THE GREAT, AND HIS STRATEGIES AND FORTRESS, NOW DEMONSTRATED FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Gaius "Caligula"'s plan to invade Britain was strategically undertaken and involved building a fortress on the grounds of the one built by his father Germanicus and probably continuing with his father's ideas. We now have archaeological evidence for this at Velsen. Gaius' plan was delayed by his having to quel a conspiracy while in Germania. However, when on the shores of Gaul, he received a visit from British nobels asking for a treaty, which would also have delayed his invasion. The weather was no longer suitable either for having his galleys cross the Channel and it is possible that the military mutineed them out of fear and superstition. The seashell incident might have been done to humiliate them afterwards, something in keeping with the Roman military attitude and approach. In his speech to the soldiers, he advised them to "prepare for better times", since he had planned to winter in Rome and then return. When he returned to Rome, he was assassinated and Claudius, connected with the central conspiracy level, immediately took over Gaius "Caligula"'s plans and quickly conquered Britain himself with minimal effort since Gaius had laid the groundwork.

Having military prowess was considered essential for a Caesar, and Claudius as the brother of Germanicus (Gaius' father) needed to prove that he had this, especially after his involvement in Gaius' assassination (which he did his best to hide by killing the ringleaders: he often applied such manipulative tactics, as also demonstrated with his behaviour toward Messalina) which is why he immediately hijacked Gaius' plans with Britannia.

You can read more about both Gaius Caligula and Claudius in the books, "Caligula: The Abuse of Power" by Anthony Barrett, and "Claudius" by Barbara Levick.

Both Gaius Caligula and Claudius were good friends of Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great, who had grown up with the Julio-Claudians in Rome and was highly trained in the running of the Empire. He may have helped Caligula at the start of his reign and he later influenced him to change a plan involving placing his statue in the Jerusalem Temple. Out of expediency, Agrippa I then immediately changed sides when Caligula was assassinated and helped Claudius achieve his coup by negotiating with the Senate in the Curia, thus averting revolution and civil war. Claudius rewarded him for this by extending his kingdom to greater in size than that of Herod the Great. But after assisting Claudius, Agrippa then secretly buried his friend Caligula in the palace grounds. He later informed his sisters of the place when Claudius had them returned from exile so they could bury him properly.

Caligula had been untrained and had abruptly achieved power when he was 24. He only ruled for four years since he had trouble getting along with the Senate and was often outspoken with them. He believed the Senate had been responsible for the deaths of his mother and older brothers: he came to this conclusion after reading over many senatorial documents. Caligula was the rightful heir according to Augustus' will. Augustus had wished Tiberius to rule temporarily but had wished Germanicus and his sons to be his heirs, not Tiberius' son Drusus. Germanicus died under mysterious circumstances while on a diplomatic mission to Syria and Tiberius and Sejanus maltreated and then exiled and put to death Germanicus' widow Agrippina the Elder and older sons (whom Germanicus had sworn to avenge him). Caligula being very young then was spared. Claudius was not the rightful heir: he was Germanicus' brother. He had doubtless built up much resentment from being kept out of the political scene due to his minor disability. Caligula was the first to recognize him by making him consul and giving him other privileges. This gave Claudius ideas on how he could manipulate the situation to acquire rule.

Women's History Month

Outstanding Women
from the Ancient World

By Elizabeth Legge

In celebration of Women's History Month, here are a few outstanding women from the ancient world:

Hypatia was a brilliant woman professor of astronomy, mathematics and neo-platonism at the University of Alexandria, Egypt during the late Roman Empire (4th century AD). She also had political influence due to her close friendship with Orestes, the Roman praefectus, and other prominent politicians. She was the daughter of the university president, the mathematician Theon. She respected all religious perspectives, including both pagan and Christian, and was loved by many people of diverse faiths because of this. Political opponents, perhaps threatened by her influence, mobbed her and dragged her from her chariot as she was driving through Alexandria, then brutally murdered her, shocking the world, especially as philosophers were then considered inviolable.

Ennigaldi-Nanna, the daughter of King Nabonidus, the first known archaeologist, was a woman archaeologist, professor and museum curator in 6th century BC Babylon (ca. 2500 years ago). She helped her father with excavations and the high quality dating, cleaning and classifcation of artifacts; curated his museum and lectured at a university.

Berenice (Roman Judaean), because of her intelligence and talent, coruled equally with her brother Agrippa II and commissioned many projects in diverse Roman provinces herself or jointly with him. Berenice and Agrippa II were the great-grandchildren of Herod the Great and Mariamne and the children of the last king of Judaea, Agrippa I. Berenice approached Titus alone when he and his father Vespasian were sacking Jerusalem during the first revolt and asked him to spare the Temple, which he agreed to, although a fire later spread into it by accident (according to Josephus). He fell in love with her and would have married her and made her the next Roman empress but he unfortunately died suddenly.

Metrodora was a Roman woman physician of the 4th century AD who wrote a large encyclopedia based on her research and findings which is extremely detailed and observant and is referenced by well known male physicians. In the Roman era, women physicians were respected equally with their male counterparts. Women of all social class levels became physicians.

Antonia Minor was the daughter of Marcus Antonius ("Mark Antony") and the wife of the senior Germanicus. After he died, she refused to be placed in another arranged marriage and Caesar Tiberius respected that. She had tremendous political clout. Because of her many Eastern connections as Marcus Antonius' daughter, she was the patron of many Eastern client kings including Agrippa I and his siblings and was close friends with his mother. It is most probably through these connections (she was close friends with Agrippa I, who was the close friend of Tiberius' son and later heir-to-be Drusus) that she learned of the praetorian prefect Sejanus' conspiracies against Tiberius. Sejanus was Tiberius' right-hand man and next in command. It appears that he was responsible for Drusus' death just after the latter was made heir apparent to Tiberius. Thus, through acquiring this intelligence on Sejanus, Antonia Minor approached Tiberius with the information, a very delicate process, but he listened to her because of his respect for her, and he then arrested Sejanus and had him executed.

Julia Livia was the wife of Augustus the first emperor of Rome. Numerous rumours were spread about her being responsible for the deaths of his heirs which appear to have been from natural causes. She was very intelligent and helped him to rule. According to something Gaius "Caligula" later said, she seems to have been adept at intrigue (he called her "Odysseus in a stola"). But I'm not particularly fond of her.

Agrippina the Elder was the wife of the younger Germanicus. She was close to her husband and he took her and his children with him when he served on the military fronts and was sent on diplomatic missions to the provinces. She also rallied his army in Germania during a crisis and was known to wear military dress and be involved closely with the troops. She was criticized for that. She seems to have had a very strong personality. When Germanicus died suddenly in Syria (possibly assassinated) and she returned to Rome, she gained her own political party of supporters in opposition to Sejanus. However, she was not proficient at negotiating with those she did not agree with which led to tremendous clashes with Tiberius and Sejanus and her exile and death. It seems she was so grief stricken over and suspicious concerning her husband's death that she could not express herself calmly.

Agrippa II and Berenice

By Elizabeth Legge

I don't believe this image is completely accurate, since the brother and sister, Agrippa II and Berenice, coruled equally for a while in a province of Roman Palestine. Thus, they would have both been seated side-by-side on thrones: she would not have been standing off to his side or behind him. It is accurate though in showing the two as having a Roman cultural presentation since that is what they were: Roman. On the many monuments they commissioned, both of their names are inscribed consecutively, sometimes with his ahead of hers and sometimes in the reverse. Berenice also commissioned a few of her own projects and donations, one of which was found in Athens, Greece. Other projects of theirs can be found in Berytus, Syria (present day Beirut, Lebanon). One of the Herods' responsibilities as a Roman family was to present a strong Roman presence in Roman Syria including Berytus and nearby Baalbek. Syria and Judaea were sensitive areas in the Parthian buffer zone bordering on Rome. Parthia (Persia) was the arch-enemy of Rome and the last Maccabean king had earlier invited an invading Parthian force into Syria, threatening Rome's sphere of influence, although this crisis was quelled by Herod I.

These two rulers so-depicted were the eldest son and daughter of Marcus Julius Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great and the last king of Roman Judaea who ruled a province larger than that of his grandfather's and was a very adept politician and negotiator, highly skilled at diplomacy and intrigue, who seems to have acquired the closest ability of all the Herods to his grandfather unaccompanied by the harsher approach the latter took later in his life. He was also very loved by the Jewish people and is mentioned by various ancient Jewish contemporary and near-contemporary sources (Philo Judaeus and Flavius Josephus) as well as the Talmud. The Herods were a Roman family (Roman Judaean) and Agrippa I felt both Roman and Jewish. Thus, his presentation was Roman rather than Eastern (belying silly media presentations) and this also applies to his son and daughter (and to the other Herods as well). He was very ambitious and his reign ended abruptly, mysteriously and prematurely, and the emperor Claudius withheld Agrippa II's inheritance, although he did make him ruler of a small Palestinian client kingdom.

Agrippa II seems not to have inherited his father's higher political and diplomatic acumen, although he also treated the Jewish people fairly. When his sister Berenice finished an arranged marriage, she went to stay with her brother and began to corule equally with him. Both children and their younger sisters had travelled with their parents while growing up when their father had needed to flee from Rome under possibly political circumstances before acquiring his kingship. They thus spent time in parts of Palestine, Egypt and Syria. They might have been close to their father and in that way, Berenice seems likely to have acquired some of her father's knack. This together with their closeness growing up (Agrippa II was only a year older than her) could have influenced their decision to corule: it seems she was useful to him as a partner politician. Later, when the first Jewish revolt broke out (whose seeds were sown when their father died so abruptly, causing widespread mourning, and Judaea reverted to the status of Roman province) she approached Titus the son of Vespasian alone to attempt to persuade him not to destroy the Jerusalem Temple. This demonstrates her following her father's expertise in diplomacy. Titus was so impressed with her intelligence that he agreed, but the fire supposedly occurred by accident.

The book of Acts tells also how Berenice and Agrippa II tried Paul (Paulus/Paulinus) together as equals and discussed together their legal decision on how to deal with his case following the trial, also demonstrating their corule. Since they were well educated and saw his approach as philosphical rather than political, they would have released him had he not already appealed to Caesar (the Supreme Court) on his arrest.

Titus fell in love with Berenice and would have married her, making her the next empress of Rome, but it is believed that his sudden death rather than anything else precluded this plan.

Agrippa II's closeness to Berenice as his sister and great respect for her political ability such that he coruled with her as an equal sparked rumours and scandal. The Romans and Romanised people loved scandals and would often accuse politicians of whom they were suspicious or who went about things differently of incestuous behaviour, affairs and so on, most of which are not taken seriously by modern scholars. Thus, in fact, any gossip repeated in the sources regarding such things can be assumed to be politically connected. Rome was very conservative, so a variety of behaviour would have shocked and intrigued them as potentially interesting gossip. The Herods sometimes married their first cousins as was allowed under Jewish Law -- and Antipas had married his neice, Herodias, Agrippa I's sister -- and these things were allowed by Judaic Law, but sibling marriages were considered incestuous. The Herods but even more so Agrippa I and his family made effort to follow the Mosaic laws. Agrippa I and his wife Cypros were part Hasmonaean/Maccabee through Herod's queen, Mariamne, and apart from his personality and choices, Agrippa I was also popular for the effort he made to follow the basic laws (even going out of his way to show them respect), and he made sure his family did the same. For this reason, both he and Agrippa II are mentioned in the Torah. Agrippa I's great popularity with the people kept the region extremely peaceful despite its diverse factions (Judaea was very multicultural, yet there is no record of Zealot activity occurring under his reign). Agrippa II and Berenice attempted to follow in their father's footsteps and often associate themselves with him on their dedications, so they would not have been involved romantically. But the gossip about Agrippa II allowing his sister (a woman) to corule became so pronounced that they eventually needed to live in separate locations.

There were similar rumours just a little earlier than this time regarding Agrippa I's friend, Caesar Gaius "Caligula", and his close relationship with his sisters. These siblings had lost their parents and older brothers growing up, mostly for political reasons and had only had one another, and Gaius as a young ruler in his 20s was untrained, sarcastic, impatient and outspoken and managed to get on the wrong side of the Senate. It was the senatorial class which wrote these histories, not to mention that records concerning him were also subject to a double smear campaign from both his successor (probably involved in his assassination), his uncle Claudius, and the succeeding Flavian dynasty. As well, the objective Roman source at the time is missing a large section that had covered his life, so we must rely on the inferior source by Suetonius, who specialised in writing tabloids. So we have some consequently juicy but defamatory writings about him as well.

NOTE: My main historical novel trilogy concerns someone in the Herodian family and his relationship with the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and my completed and published thesis and a few related articles regard the same topic.

(Image by Pinterest, obtained 2024)

UNA FIABA ROMANA: IL LACUS CURTIUS

Di Elizabeth Legge

Ecco una storia che aveva forti implicazioni morali per i romani e simboleggia una delle aree più importanti del pensiero romano. E non è una lettura prima di andare a dormire.

Tuttavia, mia madre me lo ha raccontato quando stavo crescendo per le lezioni che impartisce.

In altri post, abbiamo discusso un paio di resoconti giuridici storici tratti dai registri di Marco Livio (“Livio”), che visse al tempo di Cesare Augusto e del suo sovrano cliente Erode il Grande. Anche la seguente leggenda è stata registrata da Tito Livio.

Un giorno, durante la Repubblica Romana, nel Foro Romano si formò improvvisamente una crepa. Non solo è apparso così all'improvviso, ma ha cominciato rapidamente ad allargarsi, diffondendosi e inghiottendo tutto sul suo cammino! Il popolo, terrorizzato, consultò con grande trepidazione un oracolo. L'oracolo affermava che gli dei dell'Ade erano scontenti e dovevano essere placati altrimenti l'abisso avrebbe presto inghiottito l'intera Roma. L'unica cosa che li renderebbe felici sarebbe un dono volontario della cosa più apprezzata dal popolo romano.

Pertanto, le persone cercavano avidamente i loro beni più preziosi da gettare nel vuoto crescente. Gettarono oro, gioielli costosi e persino bambini nel terribile abisso, ma senza successo, poiché la fessura continuava ad allargarsi in modo minaccioso. Cosa potrebbero fare?

Proprio in quel momento, Marco Curzio, un giovane guerriero molto bello e coraggioso, si rese conto dell'unica cosa che avrebbe soddisfatto gli dei. Allora cosa ha fatto? Si vestì con la sua armatura completa e montò sul suo bellissimo cavallo bianco. E coraggiosamente cavalcò il suo cavallo senza batter ciglio direttamente verso l'imboccatura del grande vuoto, mentre la gente, in soggezione, si separava da lui lungo il suo cammino.

Una volta raggiunto il bordo del crepaccio, non tirò indietro affatto le redini del suo cavallo. No, con totale stupore e shock di tutti, continuò a cavalcare il suo bellissimo cavallo direttamente nell'abisso, e poi, ecco, le pareti dell'abisso si chiusero proprio sopra la sua testa, e il varco fu sigillato, per non riaprirsi mai più. .

Qual era il divario? Era l'ingresso agli Inferi dell'Ade. Ade aveva chiesto pacificazione. E cosa aveva capito Marco Curtius? Che ciò che Roma apprezzava sopra ogni altra cosa non era né la ricchezza né il sacrificio di un altro, ma le armi e il coraggio personale.

E ancora oggi, una pietra segna il punto del Lacus Curtius nel Foro Romano, proprio il luogo in cui si era aperto il varco e in cui il coraggioso e bello Marco Curtius aveva cavalcato il suo cavallo. La porta per gli inferi. E possiamo vederlo da soli.

E cosa è simboleggiato qui? Il vero romano non doveva mostrare paura, nemmeno della propria morte. Il suicidio nell’antica Roma normalmente non era qualcosa che un romano faceva per sfuggire ai problemi attuali, ma una via d’onore. Un romano accusato di un delitto punibile con la morte aveva la possibilità di togliersi la vita, e questo era molto onorevole. Abbiamo molti esempi di ciò che accade nel corso della storia romana. Esempi rilevanti per l’epoca erodiana includono quando il governatore siriano Pisone fu accusato di aver assassinato Germanico, il popolare erede di Tiberio, come abbiamo menzionato prima; si tolse la vita in attesa del verdetto del processo di Roma. Quando Giulia Livilla, figlia di Antonia Minore, protettrice di Erode e dei membri delle famiglie di altri re clienti, fu accusata di aver aiutato il suo presunto amante dell'epoca, Seiano, prefetto del pretorio di Tiberio, ad avvelenare suo marito, figlio di Tiberio ed erede apparente Druso, come abbiamo anche accennato, potrebbe essersi tolta la vita.

Esiste anche un resoconto storico pre-repubblicano molto antico, che ebbe luogo per tradizione poco prima del 509 a.C., quando Roma si ribellò contro i suoi re etruschi e diede inizio alla sua Repubblica (da qui, come accennato, la forte antipatia innata di Roma per i re, e La necessità di Augusto di creare una “farsa” in cui i Cesari – in realtà gli imperatori – fossero votati dal Senato). In questa storia, Lucrezia, la bellissima moglie di Lucio Tarquinio Collatino, fu violentata dal malvagio Sesto Tarquinio, figlio di Lucio Tarquinio il Superbo, il tirannico re etrusco di Roma. Sebbene il marito di Lucrezia fosse convinto della sua innocenza e insistesse con lei sul fatto che non doveva fare nulla per fare ammenda, Lucrezia si tolse volontariamente la vita, dimostrando che il suo onore era molto più importante della sua vita. Divenne quindi una grande eroina romana. E proprio questa terribile tragedia fu ciò che scatenò la rivolta romana contro gli Etruschi e inaugurò la Repubblica. Pertanto, anche le donne hanno compiuto atti altrettanto coraggiosi e sono state ugualmente onorate per averlo fatto.

D’altro canto, per quanto riguarda la famiglia erodiana, Giuseppe Flavio racconta di come Agrippa I, quando dovette fuggire da Roma e nascondersi in un’antica proprietà di famiglia nell’Idumea (Giudea meridionale, zona del Negev), fosse così depresso che tentò di togliersi la vita finché sua moglie Cipro non lo avesse aiutato a trovare una soluzione - anche se potrebbe esserci stato un elemento d'onore coinvolto qui con il romanizzato Marco Agrippa, sembra da ciò che dice Giuseppe Flavio che avesse contemplato il suicidio per depressione. E non c'è traccia di nessuno degli Erode, nonostante molti di loro si sentissero romani e fossero cresciuti a Roma, si togliessero la vita. Quindi forse in alcuni elementi gli Erode erano più semitici. Togliersi la vita va contro i Dieci Comandamenti (poiché è ancora considerato togliersi la vita), e questo potrebbe essere un fattore che contribuisce. Dopotutto gli Erode erano edomiti (i “fratelli” degli ebrei secondo la legge ebraica).

In ogni caso, essere forti, logici e coraggiosi in ogni circostanza era molto romano. Durante la Repubblica Romana queste qualità furono ancora più evidenti.

La leggenda di Marco Curzio è anche considerata dagli storici il prototipo di una forma ritualizzata di sacrificio di sé romano praticata nella precedente era repubblicana romana durante le emergenze belliche. Nel caso in cui i romani scoprissero che stavano perdendo irrimediabilmente una battaglia con un nemico, il loro capo militare si sarebbe quindi sacrificato volontariamente e coraggiosamente agli dei per guadagnarsi la loro pacificazione cavalcando in armatura completa direttamente nel vivo della battaglia per essere tagliato. abbattuto dal nemico. Gli dei avrebbero quindi mostrato la loro gratitudine per tale puro coraggio ribaltando immediatamente la situazione e permettendo ai romani di vincere il conflitto. Tale sacrificio di sé di un capo militare durante la guerra era chiamato "devotio": sacrificare la propria vita in battaglia insieme al nemico per onorare gli dei ctoni. La devotio era una forma estrema di "volum": un'offerta in adempimento di una promessa anticipata ("volontario" nasce dalla stessa radice). In realtà funzionò in modo molto efficace poiché una volta che i romani avessero visto il loro leader agire in questo modo, la loro fiducia sarebbe diventata così grande che avrebbero effettivamente "spazzato via" il nemico anche in condizioni estreme. La pratica però cessò nell'ultimo periodo della Repubblica.

Livio menziona anche un esempio di tale coraggioso abnegazione in cui un console coraggioso ed eroico, Publio Decio Mure, in una battaglia molto seria, rovesciò completamente la situazione facendo proprio questa cosa, e salvò la parte vincente per Roma. Ovviamente, nessuno dovrebbe prendere spunto da questo libro, ma questo si riferisce semplicemente ad alcune delle prime pratiche romane insieme a un'idea di ciò che costituisce l'onore romano. Il vero romano era molto forte emotivamente e un po' duro. Sotto l'Impero, tuttavia, ci fu un certo ammorbidimento, ma gli elementi essenziali rimasero gli stessi. Questo è uno dei motivi per cui i leader romani più sensibili, amanti del divertimento, gradevoli alla plebe e meno guerrafondai, come Caligola e Nerone, furono in qualche modo denigrati nelle fonti. Ma il coraggio e la serietà sono anche il motivo per cui Roma stessa era così forte e logica, e questo ha contribuito alla Pax Romanum.

Per quanto riguarda il vero Marcus Curtius: è esistito, e c'è un resoconto di lui e del suo cavallo che in qualche modo sono caduti in una palude. Le paludi in alcune culture antiche erano considerate ingressi agli Inferi. E Roma aveva originariamente costruito il suo foro su un terreno paludoso bonificato.

Se qualcuno avesse qualcos'altro da aggiungere qui, è il benvenuto, poiché per mancanza di tempo a disposizione, anche se in passato ho studiato la leggenda e il periodo molto più approfonditamente sia autonomamente che in lezioni universitarie sull'argomento, non Sto riassumendo la maggior parte della situazione a memoria. Quindi chiunque desideri aggiungere ulteriori dettagli o chiarire qualsiasi elemento è benvenuto a farlo in modo educato e rispettoso.