Editing Caligula (section)

== Early life ==

{{See also|Julio-Claudian family tree}}
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Caligula was born in [[Antium]] on 31 August AD 12, the third of six surviving children of [[Germanicus]] and his wife and second cousin, [[Agrippina the Elder]]. Germanicus was a grandson of [[Mark Antony]], and Agrippina was the daughter of [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa]] and [[Julia the Elder]], making her the granddaughter of [[Augustus]].{{sfn|Suet. ''Calig.''|loc=7}} The future emperor [[Claudius]] was Caligula's paternal uncle.{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=59.6}} Caligula had two older brothers, [[Nero Julius Caesar|Nero]] and [[Drusus Caesar|Drusus]], and three younger sisters, [[Agrippina the Younger]], [[Julia Drusilla]] and [[Julia Livilla]].{{sfn|Barrett|2015|pp=20–21}}{{sfn|Suet. ''Calig.''|loc=7}} At the age of two or three, he accompanied his father, Germanicus, on campaigns in the north of [[Germania]].{{sfn|Suet. ''Calig.''|loc=9}} He wore a miniature soldier's outfit devised by his mother to please the troops, including army boots (''[[caligae]]'') and armour.{{sfn|Suet. ''Calig.''|loc=9}} The soldiers nicknamed him ''Caligula'' ("little boot"). Winterling believes he would have enjoyed the attention of the soldiers, to whom he was something of a mascot, though he later grew to dislike the nickname.{{sfn|Winterling|2011|pp=19–20}}<ref>{{harvnb|Seneca the Younger|loc=[[s:On the Firmness of the Wise Man|''On the Firmness of the Wise Man'']] XVIII 2–5}}. See also {{cite journal |last=Malloch |first=S J V |title=Gaius' persecution of the nobiles: a study in the politics of memory and nomenclature |journal=Athenaeum |volume=97 |issue=2 |year=2009 |pages=489–506 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297996819 }}</ref>

Germanicus was a respected, immensely popular figure among his troops and Roman civilians of every class, and was widely expected to eventually succeed his uncle Tiberius as emperor.{{sfn|Winterling|2011|pp=19–21}} For his successful northern campaigns, he was awarded the great honour of a [[Roman triumph|triumph]]. During the triumphal procession through Rome, Caligula and his siblings shared their father's chariot, and the applause of the populace. A few months later, Germanicus was despatched to tour Rome's allies and provinces with his family. They were received with great honour; at [[Assos]] Caligula gave a public speech, aged only 6. Somewhere ''en route'', Germanicus contracted what proved to be a fatal illness. He lingered awhile, and died at [[Antioch]], [[Roman Syria|Syria]], in AD&nbsp;19, aged 33, convinced that he had been poisoned by the provincial governor, [[Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso (consul 7 BC)|Gnaius Calpurnius Piso]].{{sfn|Barrett|2015|p=30}}{{efn|Barrett believes his death was probably natural; Syria was a notoriously unhealthy spot, and almost a century later the emperor Trajan would die from a disease contracted there.{{sfn|Barrett|2015|p=30}}}} Many believed that he had been killed at the behest of Tiberius, as a potential rival.{{sfn|Suet. ''Calig.''|loc=2}}{{sfn|Winterling|2011|pp=21–24}}

Germanicus was cremated, and his ashes were taken to Rome, escorted by his wife and children, [[Pretorian guard]]s, civilian mourners and senators, then placed in the [[Mausoleum of Augustus]]. Caligula lived with his mother Agrippina in Rome, in a milieu very different from that of his earlier years. Agrippina made no secret of her imperial ambitions for herself and her sons, and in consequence, her relations with Tiberius rapidly deteriorated.{{sfn|Suet. ''Calig.''|loc=10}} Tiberius believed himself under constant threat from treason, conspiracy and political rivalry. He forbade Agrippina to remarry, for fear that a remarriage would serve her personal ambition, and introduce yet another threat to himself.{{sfn|Tacitus|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 4#52|IV.52]]}}{{sfn|Barrett|2015|pp=37–40}} The last years of his principate were dominated by treason trials, whose outcomes were determined by senatorial vote. Agrippina, and Caligula's brother Nero, were tried and banished in the year 29 on charges of treason.{{sfn|Tacitus|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 5#3|V.3]]}}{{sfn|Suet. ''Calig.''|loc=54}} The adolescent Caligula was sent to live with his great-grandmother (Tiberius' mother), [[Livia]]. After her death two years later, he was sent to live with his grandmother [[Antonia Minor]].{{sfn|Suet. ''Calig.''|loc=10}} In the year 30, Tiberius had Caligula's brothers, Drusus and Nero, declared public enemies by the Senate, and exiled.{{sfn|Suet. ''Tib.''|loc=54}}{{sfn|Tacitus|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 5#10|V.10]]}} Caligula and his three sisters remained in Italy as hostages of Tiberius, kept under close watch.{{sfn|Suet. ''Calig.''|loc=64}}