Gaius Sources

Gaius Sources

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  According to Edward Salmon, a contemporary writer, “Thanks largely to the good officers of Macro, Gaius succeeded his great uncle without incident.”
  
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  Contemporary writer Cary says, “A welcome relief from the stern and suspicious reign of Tiberius”.
  
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  Cary writes that he was “received at Rome with general acclamation” and that “the young emperor at first gave promise of fulfilling the wildest hopes of the Romans”. This source reflects the positive attitudes the Romans had towards their new ‘emperor’ as he gave the empire much hope and potential, although isn’t very reliable as it contains bias.
  
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  According to the ancient writer Suetonius, “When he fell ill, anxious crowds besieged the palace all night” which shows a positive perspective on him.
  
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  Boak and Sinnigen write that “He was a weakling in body and in mind, however a serious illness, brought on by excesses, may have left him mentally damaged”.
  
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  Suetonius- ‘doing away with the pretence that he was merely the chief executive of a republic’.
  

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  Attitude of being depicted as a God is depicted by Boak and Sinnigen “He was the first emperor of Rome to insist on being a god in life, claimed deification of his sisters, and building a lofty bridge connecting the Palatine Hill with the Capitoline, so that he might communicate with Jupiter, his brother God.”
  
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  According to Suetonius, when Silanus delayed following the Emperor’s ship to sea. Caligula decided that he must die after he thought that Silanus was hoping that the Emperor’s vessel would be lost, enabling Silanus to seize power for himself.
  
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  Suetonius accused him of enjoying the sight of cruel and unusual punishments.
  
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  Salmon says of this “Unpopular sales tax reduced, and provided spectacular games and shows: he even temporarily restored the comitia to the people.”
  
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  As Suetonius says, “When impoverished and in need of funds Gaius concentrated on wickedly ingenious method, of raising funds by false accusations, auctions and taxes.”
  
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  Cassius’ actions were enforced by Suetonius when he says that “His frantic and reckless behaviour roused murderous thoughts in certain minds”.