Young Caligula

Abstract On returning to Rome, Caligula’s mother Agrippina and his two elder brothers, Nero and Drusus, were the targets of an intense campaign by the notorious prefect of the Praetorian guard Sejanus. His mother and brothers were implicated in some sort of plot and eventually all died in custody. Caligula first went to live with his great-grandmother, Livia, the widow of Augustus, in ad 27. On her death in ad 29 he joined another great-grandmother, the much admired Antonia the Younger, and then in ad 31 was summoned to join Tiberius, who had earlier left Rome permanently to live mainly on the island of Capri. There Caligula was readied for a public career and married his first wife, Junia Claudia, who died soon after. He also became acquainted with two significant figures, Herod Agrippa, the colourful grandson of Herod the Great, and Macro, commander of the Praetorian guard, who had played a key role in the downfall of Sejanus in ad 31. Tiberius died in ad 37. The sources claim that he was very frail and was finished off by Caligula and/or Macro.