After twenty-three years filled with fear, paranoia, and the countless lives lost in its reckless pursuit, the grim and wholly unlikable Emperor Tiberius died at the ripe old age of 78 - a milestone many of his victims would have envied. All of Rome breathed a collective sigh of relief with some debating whether Tiberius should be thrown down the Gemonian steps (a fate reserved for the most heinous of criminals) or cast into the river. In no time "Tiberius in the Tiberim" became a catch-all slogan.
But celebrations did not fully commence until two days later when the Senate officially confirmed his great-nephew, Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, as emperor. He is known to posterity as Caligula, or "Little Boots," a moniker acquired in childhood due to the tiny soldier's boots (caligae) that his mother forced him to wear when following his father on military expeditions. Yet to the Romans he was always known as Emperor Gaius.
Word of Caligula's succession spread rapidly throughout Rome. The mood was electric. The entire capital - from the rough-and-tumble warren of its cobblestone streets to the secluded marble-clad Palatine Hill - was enthralled with the moment and rallied in large numbers for their fair-haired twenty-four-year-old monarch. Suetonius reports that the festivities commemorating Caligula's ascension were extensive across the empire and persisted for three months, encompassing sports, opulent public displays, and the sacrifice of almost 160,000 animals.
The populace rejoiced not merely at the demise of a deeply unpopular emperor but also at the restoration of the long-lost Germanicus family, deliberately eliminated by Tiberius. To the Romans, Caligula, their sole surviving son, embodied the much-revered golden couple—Germanicus Julius Caesar and Vipsania Agrippina (Agrippina the Elder). In addition to being a legendary military hero, Germanicus had been a charismatic and celebrated heir apparent, while his wife, the strong-willed Agrippina, was the granddaughter of the “Divine Augustus,” whom Tacitus referred to as the “glory of the nation.” Tiberius was either directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of the golden couple and their two eldest sons. In defiance of Tiberius's best efforts to prevent it, one of the golden couple's sons ultimately succeeded him after all.
