Julio-Claudian Emperors

Death and Succession

By the year 41, Caligula had made too many enemies, and when the Praetorian Guard, angry over issues of back pay, determined to kill the emperor, no one revealed the plot. Caligula was murdered by his own guard while exiting from the stadium of some public games.

The Praetorian Guard had not made ambitious political plans. Their purpose was to kill Caligula and loot the palace, which they did. As hours passed, they began to realize the political implications of their act. They murdered all the members of Caligula's family, so there should be no one in whose name retribution might be exacted. And, slowly, it dawned on them that with no emperor there was no longer need for a Guard.

In the course of looting the imperial palace, the Guard found an old man hiding behind some curtains. It was Claudius, uncle to Caligula. Claudius was aged, terrified, and generally regarded as an idiot. The Guard hailed him as emperor, perhaps seriously, perhaps only in jest. But when they paraded the old man through the streets and the crowds likewise hailed him as imperator, the die was cast. Poor old uncle Claudius, the family embarassment, was now emperor.

History of Western Civilization

E.L. Skip Knox
Boise State University

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