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Caracalla – Roman Emperor: 198-217 A.D.
Bronze 26mm (12.85 grams) of Nicopolis ad Istrum in Moesia Inferior
under Magistrate Aurelius Gallus circa 198-209 A.D.
Certification: NGC Ancients XF 4375823-038
AV K. M AVP ANTΩNEINO, laureate head right.
VΠ AVP ΓAΛΛOV NIKOΠOLITΩN ΠPOC I, Victory on globe left, holding wreath and palm.
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 Caracalla 198-217 A.D.
Caesar: 195-198 A.D. (under <font ioniaSeptimius Severus)
Augustus: 198-217 A.D. (198-209 A.D. with <font ioniaSeptimius Severus) (209-211 A.D. with <font ioniaSeptimius Severus and Geta) (211 A.D. with Geta) (211-217 A.D. Sole Reign)
Son of <font ioniaSeptimius Severus and <font ioniaJulia Domna | Brother of Geta | Husband of <font ioniaPlautilla | Nephew of <font ioniaJulia Maesa | Cousin of <font ioniaJulia Soaemias and <font ioniaJulia Mamaea |
Caracalla (4 April 188 – 8 April 217), formally Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus, was Roman emperor from AD 198 to 217. A member of the Severan Dynasty, he was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. Caracalla reigned jointly with his father from 198 until Severus’ death in 211. Caracalla then ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta, with whom he had a fraught relationship, until he had Geta murdered later that year. Caracalla’s reign was marked by domestic instability and external invasions from the Germanic people.
Caracalla’s reign was notable for the Antonine Constitution (Latin: Constitutio Antoniniana), also known as the Edict of Caracalla, which granted Roman citizenship to nearly all freemen throughout the Roman Empire. The edict gave all the enfranchised men Caracalla’s adopted praenomen and nomen: “Marcus Aurelius”. Domestically, Caracalla was known for the construction of the Baths of Caracalla, which became the second-largest baths in Rome, for the introduction of a new Roman currency named the antoninianus, a sort of double denarius, and for the massacres he enacted against the people of Rome and elsewhere in the empire. Towards the end of his rule, Caracalla began a campaign against the Parthian Empire. He did not see this campaign through to completion due to his assassination by a disaffected soldier in 217. He was succeeded as emperor by Macrinus after three days.
Caracalla is presented in ancient sources as a tyrant and cruel leader, an image that has survived into modernity. Dio Cassius and Herodian present Caracalla as a soldier first and emperor second. In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth started the legend of Caracalla’s role as the king of Britain. Later, in the 18th century, Caracalla’s memory was revived in the works of French artists due to the parallels between Caracalla’s apparent tyranny and that of King Louis XVI. Modern works continue to portray Caracalla as a psychopathic and evil ruler. His rule is remembered as being one of the most tyrannical of all Roman emperors.
Caracalla’s father, Septimius Severus, died on 4 February 211 at Eboracum (now York) while on campaign in Caledonia, north of the Roman Britannia. Caracalla and his brother, Publius Septimius Antoninus Geta, jointly inherited the throne upon their father’s death. Caracalla and Geta ended the campaign in Caledonia after concluding a peace with the Caledonians that returned the border of Roman Britain to the line demarcated by Hadrian’s Wall. During the journey back to Rome with their father’s ashes, Caracalla and his brother continuously argued with one another, making relations between them increasingly hostile. Caracalla and Geta considered dividing the empire in half along the Bosphorus to make their co-rule less hostile. Caracalla was to rule in the west and Geta was to rule in the east. They were persuaded not to do this by their mother.
On 26 December 211, at a reconciliation meeting arranged by their mother, Caracalla had Geta assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard loyal to himself, Geta dying in his mother’s arms. Caracalla then persecuted and executed most of Geta’s supporters and ordered a damnatio memoriae pronounced by the Senate against his brother’s memory. Geta’s image was removed from all paintings, coins were melted down, statues were destroyed, his name was struck from papyrus records, and it became a capital offence to speak or write Geta’s name. In the aftermath of the damnatio memoriae, an estimated 20,000 people were massacred. Those killed were Geta’s inner circle of guards and advisers, friends, and other military staff under his employ.
Provincial tours
In 213, about a year after Geta’s death, Caracalla left Rome never to return. He went north to the German frontier to deal with the Alamanni and Goths tribesmen, a confederation of migrating Germanic tribes who had broken through the limes in Raetia. During the campaign of 213-214, Caracalla successfully defeated some of the Germanic tribes while settling other difficulties through diplomacy, though precisely with whom these treaties were made remains unknown. While there, Caracalla strengthened the frontier fortifications of Raetia and Germania Superior, collectively known as the Agri Decumates, so that it was able to withstand any further barbarian invasions for another twenty years. Historian Edward Gibbon compares Caracalla to emperors such as Hadrian who spent their careers campaigning in the provinces and then to tyrants such as Nero and Domitian whose entire reigns were confined to Rome and whose actions only impacted upon the senatorial and equestrian classes residing there. Gibbon then concludes that Caracalla was “the common enemy of mankind”, as both Romans and provincials alike were subject to “his rapine and cruelty”.
After Caracalla concluded his campaign against the Alamanni, it became evident that he was inordinately preoccupied with the Greek-Macedonian general and conqueror Alexander the Great. He began openly mimicking Alexander in his personal style. In planning his invasion of the Parthian Empire, Caracalla decided to equip 16,000 of his men with Macedonian-style phalanxes, despite the Roman army having made the phalanx an obsolete tactical formation. The historian Christopher Matthew mentions that the term Phalangarii has two possible meanings, both with military connotations. The first refers merely to the Roman battle line and does not specifically mean that the men were armed with pikes, and the second bears similarity to the ‘Marian Mules’ of the late Roman Republic who carried their equipment suspended from a long pole, which were in use until at least the 2nd century AD. As a consequence, the Phalangarii of Legio II Parthica may not have been pikemen, but rather standard battle line troops or possibly Triarii. Caracalla’s mania for Alexander went so far that Caracalla visited Alexandria while preparing for his Persian invasion and persecuted philosophers of the Aristotelian school based on a legend that Aristotle had poisoned Alexander. This was a sign of Caracalla’s increasingly erratic behaviour. But this mania for Alexander, strange as it was, was overshadowed by subsequent events in Alexandria.
When the inhabitants of Alexandria heard of Caracalla’s claims that he had killed his brother Geta in self-defence, they produced a satire mocking this as well as Caracalla’s other pretensions. In 215 Caracalla travelled to Alexandria and responded to this insult by slaughtering the deputation of leading citizens who had unsuspectingly assembled before the city to greet his arrival, before setting his troops against Alexandria for several days of looting and plunder. Following the massacre at Alexandria, Caracalla moved east onto Armenia. By 216 he had pushed through Armenia and south into Parthia.
Julia Domna
During the reign of Septimius Severus, Julia Domna had played a prominent public role, receiving titles of honor such as “Mother of the camp”, but she also played a role behind the scenes helping Septimius administer the empire. Described as ambitious, Julia Domna surrounded herself with thinkers and writers from all over the empire. While Caracalla was mustering and training troops for his planned Persian invasion, Julia remained in Rome, administering the empire. Julia’s growing influence in state affairs was the beginning of a trend of emperors’ mothers having influence, which continued throughout the Severan dynasty.
When Geta died in 211, her responsibilities increased because Caracalla found administrative tasks to be mundane. She may have taken upon one of the more important civil functions of the emperor; receiving petitions and answering correspondence. The extent of her role in this position, however, is probably overstated. She may have represented her son and played a role in meetings and answering queries; however, the final authority on legal matters was Caracalla. When Caracalla was murdered, Julia was in Antioch sorting out correspondence, removing unimportant messages from the bunch so that when Caracalla returned, he would not be overburdened with duties. The emperor filled all of the roles in the legal system as judge, legislator, and administrator.
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