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Caligula was

Preceded by Tiberius

Succeeded by (and nephew of) Claudius

Brother of Agrippina the Younger

Son of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder

Great grandson of Augustus

Grandson of Drusus the Elder and Antonia the Younger

Grandson of Mark Antony and Octavia

Grandson of Marcus Agrippa and Julia the Elder

Many viewers see megalomanic attributes in these images of Caligula. That an imperial sculptor intended anything of this sort is ridiculous. While Caligula may have looked less like his great grandfather than imperial images suggest, reading the negative character judgments of ancient writers - senators with whom Caligula shared mutual contempt - into Caligula's portraiture is little more than a modern version of the ancient physiognomic pseudo-science advanced by those writers. Incidentally, the ancient historian Josephus, who was not a senator, penned a much kinder image of Caligula. That the negative accounts of most ancient writers fit squarely into the style of condemnation assigned to emperors deemed "bad" by their successors should cast serious doubt on the veracity of these accounts. Many identical (too identical), bad qualities, e.g. bragging about seducing the wives of senators, are reported for all "bad" emperors. After two millennia, there is unfortunately no valid means of extracting a core of historical truth from the sensational - sometimes yellow - journalism of ancient writers.

Photos 1- 7: Life-size marble portrait in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (Inv. 14.37). This may represent Caligula in the accession period; there seems to be considerable difference in opinions among scholars. The hair on the back of his head is long, but not quite to the shag state seen in some of the other portraits. Photo 3 is taken directly head-on; photo 4 is a few degrees off. Note the considerable asymmetry visible in photo 3. Many writers attribute this to actual facial characteristics of the living Caligula, but this cannot be the case. Such asymmetry is seen in almost all Roman imperial portraits. As with Augustus, the facial asymmetry in Caligula's portraits varies greatly between portraits. The asymmetry was probably intended to convey that the subject was in motion, or to enhance the image's appearance from a particular viewing position, although it isn't clear why artists would think this useful in a 3-dimensional representation of a 3-dimensional head.

Photos 8- 12: Small (~1/2 life size) marble head of Caligula in the Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo, Rome, inv 4256. It was found in the Tiber River, possibly indicating a symbolic, disgraceful disposal after his murder.

Photos 13 -17: J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu CA, inv. 72.AA.155. The portrait is 17 in./.44 m high.

Photos 18 -22: Small scale (head is approx. 5 inches/ .12m high) bronze portrait of Caligula. Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 23.160.23.

Photo 23: Miniature (head approx. 2.5 in./.05m high) bronze head of Caligula. Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. 25.78.35.

Many portraits of Caligula appear to have been recarved into portraits of other emperors. Examples include the Getty Augustus, Claudius (Museo Capitolino inv. 2443) and the Met's Claudius Gothicus.

For a concise summary of Caligula's life, see his page at De Imperatoribus Romanis by Garrett G. Fagan.

For more photos and a detailed discussion of coins and portraits of Caligula and the Julio-Claudians, see Joe Geranio's portraitsofcaligula.com. You might also enjoy the Yahoo JulioClaudian discussion group.
 

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