Caracalla
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Essentially a military dicator can be said of any Roman emperor since Julius Caesar
{{otheruses4|the Roman Emperor|the Lebanese dance company|Caracalla Dance Theatre}}
{{Infobox Roman emperor
| title = [[Roman emperor|Emperor]] of the [[Roman Empire]]
|name=Caracalla
| full name =Marcus Aurelius Septimius Bassianus Antoninus Augustus Caracalla
| image =[[Image:Caracalla.jpg|200px]]
| caption =
| reign =[[198]] - [[209]] (with [[Septimius Severus|Severus]]); <br>209 - [[February 4]] [[211]] <br>(with [[Septimius Severus|Severus]] & [[Publius Septimius Geta|Geta]]); <br>February - December [[211]] <br>(with [[Publius Septimius Geta|Geta]]); <br>December [[211]] - [[8 April]] [[217]] (alone)
| predecessor =[[Septimius Severus]] (alone)
| successor =[[Macrinus]]
| spouse 1 =[[Fulvia Plautilla]]
| spouse 2 =
| issue =
| dynasty =[[Severan dynasty|Severan]]
| father =[[Septimius Severus]]
| mother =[[Julia Domna]]
| date of birth ={{birth date|188|4|4|mf=y}}
| place of birth =[[Lugdunum]]
| date of death ={{death date and age|217|4|8|188|4|4|mf=y}}
| place of death =Near [[Harran]]
| place of burial =
}}
{{Severan dynasty
|image=[[Image:Severan dynasty - tondo.jpg|225px]]
|caption=The [[Severan Tondo]]
}}<!--LEAVE INFOBOXES IN A ROW PLEASE!!!!-->
'''Caracalla''' ([[April 4]] [[188]] – [[April 8]], [[217]]), born '''Lucius Septimius Bassianus''' and later called '''Marcus Aurelius Septimius Bassianus Antoninus Augustus Caracalla''', was the eldest son of [[Septimius Severus]] and [[Roman Emperor]] from 211 – 217.<ref>"Caracalla" ''The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary''. Tony Deverson. Oxford University Press 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.</ref> He was one of the most nefarious of Roman emperors.<ref>"Caracalla" ''A Dictionary of British History''. Ed. John Cannon. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>"Caracalla" ''World Encyclopedia''. Philip's, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.</ref> Caracalla's reign was notable for:
*the ''[[Constitutio Antoniniana]]'', granting [[Roman citizenship]] to freemen throughout the [[Roman Empire]] in order to increase taxation;
*debasing the silver content in Roman coinage by 25% in order to pay the legions; and
*the construction of a large [[thermae]] outside Rome, the remains of which, known as the [[Baths of Caracalla]], can still be seen today.
==Rise to power==
Caracalla, of [[Berber people|Berber]]<ref>[[:fr:Marcel Le Glay|Marcel Le Glay]]. ''Rome : T2, Grandeur et chute de l'Empire'' p336. Librairie Académique Perrin, 2005. ISBN 978-2262018986</ref><ref>[[:fr:Gilbert Meynier|Gilbert Meynier]]. ''L’Algérie des origines :De la préhistoire à l’avènement de l’Islam'' p74. La découverte, 2007. ISBN 978-2707150882 </ref> and [[Arab]] descent (from [[Syria]]),<ref>See [[Julia Domna]] for references</ref> was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus in [[Lugdunum]], [[Gaul]] (now [[Lyon]], [[France]]), the son of the later Emperor [[Septimius Severus]] and [[Julia Domna]]. At the age of seven, his name was changed to Marcus Aurelius Septimius Bassianus Antoninus to solidify connection to the family of [[Marcus Aurelius]]. He was later given the [[#His nickname|nickname ''Caracalla'']], which referred to the Gallic hooded tunic he habitually wore and which he made fashionable.
His father, who had taken the imperial throne in [[193]], died in [[211]] while touring the northern marches at [[Eboracum]] ([[York]]), and Caracalla was proclaimed co-emperor with his brother [[Publius Septimius Geta|Publius Septimius Antoninius Geta]]. However since both of them wanted to be the sole ruler, tensions between the brothers were evident in the few months they ruled the empire together (they even considered dividing the empire in two, but were persuaded not to do so by their mother). In December 211, Caracalla had Geta, the family of his former father-in-law [[Gaius Fulvius Plautianus]], his wife [[Fulvia Plautilla]] (also his paternal second cousin), and her brother assassinated. He persecuted Geta's supporters and ordered a ''[[damnatio memoriae]]'' by the Senate against his brother.
==Reign==
In [[213]] Caracalla went north to the German frontier to deal with the [[Alamanni]] who were causing trouble in the [[Agri Decumates]]. The emperor managed to win the sympathy of the soldiers with generous pay rises and popular gestures, like marching on foot among the ordinary soldiers, eating the same food, and even grinding his own flour with them.
Caracalla defeated the [[Alamanni]] in a battle near the river [[Rhine]], but failed to win a decisive victory over them. After a peace agreement was brokered, the senate conferred upon him the title "Germanicus Maximus". In the next year the emperor traveled to the East.
When the inhabitants of [[Alexandria, Egypt|Alexandria]] heard Caracalla's claims that he had killed Geta in self-defense, they produced a satire mocking this claim, as well as Caracalla's other pretensions. Caracalla responded to this insult savagely in [[215]] by slaughtering the deputation of leading citizens who had unsuspectingly assembled before the city to greet his arrival, and then unleashed his troops for several days of looting and plunder in Alexandria. According to historian [[Cassius Dio]], over 20,000 people were killed.
During his reign as emperor, Caracalla raised the pay of an average legionary to 675 ''[[denarii]]'' and lavished many benefits on the army which he both feared and admired, as instructed by his father Septimius Severus who had told him[http://www.roman-empire.net/decline/caracalla.html] to always mind the soldiers and ignore everyone else.
Seeking to secure his own legacy, Caracalla also commissioned one of Rome's last major architectural achievements, the [[Baths of Caracalla]], the largest public bath ever built in ancient Rome. The main room of the baths was larger than [[St. Peter's Basilica]], and could easily accommodate over 2,000 Roman citizens at one time. The bath house opened in [[216]], complete with private rooms and outdoor tracks. Internally it was decorated with golden trim and mosaics.
==Fall==
While travelling from [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]] to begin a war with [[Parthia]], he was assassinated while urinating at a roadside near [[Harran]] on [[April 8]], [[217]] by Julius Martialis, an officer in the imperial bodyguard. [[Herodian]] says that Martialis' brother had been executed a few days earlier by Caracalla on an unproven charge; [[Cassius Dio]], on the other hand, says that Martialis was resentful at not being promoted to the rank of centurion. The escort of the emperor gave him privacy to relieve himself, and Martialis ran forward and killed Caracalla with a single sword stroke. He immediately fled on horseback, but was killed by a bodyguard archer.
Caracalla was succeeded by the Praetorian Prefect of the Guard, [[Macrinus]], who almost certainly was part of the conspiracy against the emperor.
==His nickname== <!-- do not rename section w/o fixing reference in intro -->
According to [[Aurelius Victor]] in his ''Epitome de Caesaribus'', the [[cognomen]] "Caracalla" refers to a Gallic [[cloak]] that Caracalla adopted as a personal fashion, which spread to his army and his court.<ref>[[Aurelius Victor]], ''Epitome de Caesaribus'' [http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/victor_ep.html#21 21] ([http://www.roman-emperors.org/epitome.htm translation]). For information on the ''caracallus'' garment, see [[William Smith (lexicographer)|William Smith]] ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'': [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Caracalla.html "Caracalla"]</ref> [[Cassius Dio]]<ref>[[Cassius Dio]], ''Roman History'' [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/79*.html#78-3 79.3]</ref> and the ''[[Augustan History|Historia Augusta]]''<ref>''[[Augustan History|Historia Augusta]]'': ''Caracalla'' [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Caracalla*.html#9.7 9.7], ''Septimius Severus'' [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Septimius_Severus*.html#21.11 21.11]</ref> agree that his nickname derived from his cloak, but do not mention its country of origin.
[[Image:Caracalla et Geta.jpg|thumb|right|Caracalla and Geta by [[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]]. 1907.]]
==Legendary king of Britain==
[[Geoffrey of Monmouth]]'s legendary ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae|History of the Kings of Britain]]'' makes Caracalla a king of Britain, referring to him by his actual name "Bassianus", rather than the nickname Caracalla. After Severus's death, the Romans wanted to make Geta king of Britain, but the Britons preferred Bassianus because he had a British mother. The two brothers fought a battle in which Geta was killed, and Bassianus succeeded to the throne. He ruled until he was betrayed by his [[Picts|Pictish]] allies and overthrown by [[Carausius]], who, according to Geoffrey, was a Briton, rather than the [[Menapii|Menapian]] Gaul that he actually was.<ref>[[Geoffrey of Monmouth]], ''[[Historia Regum Britanniae]]'' [[s:History of the Kings of Britain/Book 5#2|5.2-3]]</ref>
==See also==
*[[Severan dynasty family tree]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Commons|Caracalla}}
==External links==
*[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Caracalla*.html Life of Caracalla] (''Historia Augusta'' at LacusCurtius: Latin text and English translation)
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{{succession box|title=[[List of Roman Emperors|Roman Emperor]]|before=[[Septimius Severus]]|after=[[Macrinus]]|years=198 – 217<br>with<br>[[Septimius Severus]]<br>(198–211)<br>and<br>[[Publius Septimius Geta|Geta]]<br>(209–211)}}
{{succession box |
before=[[Publius Septimius Geta|Geta]]|
title=[[List of legendary kings of Britain|Legendary kings of Britain]]|
after=Interregnum<br/>-<br/>[[Carausius]]|
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}}
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{{Roman Emperors}}
<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
{{Persondata
|NAME= Caracalla
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Lucius Septimius Bassianus; Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= Roman emperor
|DATE OF BIRTH= 4 April 186
|PLACE OF BIRTH= Lugdunum, Gaul
|DATE OF DEATH=8 April 217
|PLACE OF DEATH= near Harran
}}
[[Category:Roman emperors]]
[[Category:Severan Dynasty]]
[[Category:Ancient Romans in Britain]]
[[Category:People from Lugdunum]]
[[Category:Roman emperors murdered by the Praetorian Guard]]
[[Category:Deified Roman emperors]]
[[Category:186 births]]
[[Category:217 deaths]]
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