Caracalla, Roman Emperor

CARACALLA (Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Pius), Roman Emperor. - Son of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna, born at Lyon in 188; commonly known by the nickname C. (the Gallic cloak he preferred). He was named Caesar in 196 and Augustus in 198; he ascended the throne in 211 together with his brother Septimius Geta, of whom he rid himself a year later by having him killed and even erasing his memory.

Having thus remained sole emperor, he stifled every reaction to his crime either by suppressing the partisans of the dead man, such as the famous jurist Papinian, or by lavishing large sums. Violent, impetuous and endowed with scant intelligence, he wished to create for himself a class that would support his tyrannical government even against the Senate; he therefore sought to win over the army not by brilliant military exploits, but by increasing pay and frequent largesses, which had the result of increasing the arrogance and corruption of his troops. But the measure of greatest resonance taken by the emperor was the granting of Roman citizenship to all the inhabitants of the empire, issued in 212. This decision, whose only motive was perhaps a greater source of revenue, produced the unification of law and a broader introduction of foreign elements into Rome. He took little interest in internal politics, which he left to the arbitrary judgment of the consilium and of Julia Domna, but he was lavish in proclaiming grandiose festivals and in erecting rich architectural works such as the baths at the foot of the small Aventine.

In 213 he carried out an expedition against the Alemanni; a few years later he resumed the war against the Parthians, his old aspiration, and was already near Odessa when on 8 April 217 he was killed by one of his soldiers at the age of 30. Under C. there was no true persecution against the Christians, but only episodes of local violence, as in Osroene and in the African provinces.

Paolo Brezzi