IMP ANTONINVS (CARACALLA)

Born: April 4th A.D. 188 in Lyon

Emperor: A.D. 211-217

Caracalla was not his name, it was a style of cloak popularized by the emperor. He was never addressed as Caracalla. He was Born Lucius Septimius Bassianus but when he was adopted as heir to his father, the emperor Septimius Severus, he was given the name Marcus Aurelius Antoninus because of the names connection to the Antonines.

Caracalla and his brother Geta, who was younger than him buy a year, were both made co-rulers with their father though they apparently hated each other. They traveled with their father to Britain where Severus fell ill and died leaving two brothers at odds with each other as joint emperors. Once back in Rome, and in less than a year, Caracalla had Geta and many of his supporters killed in a bloody purge.

During his reign Caracalla showed himself as a reformer and competent ruler. He Granted citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire, raised the pay of soldiers, and began construction on the bathhouses that bear his name.

Little happened militarily during his reign as he sought to engage the Parthians but succeeded in only harassing them but making no significant gains and suffering no significant losses.

On a trip to Egypt that was marked by riots by the people and answered by Caracalla with bloody executions of the governor and many other malcontents, Caracalla was murdered. The official story is that he was murdered by a guardsman while defecating, the remaining guardsmen in turn killed the traitor. There was strong suspicion that he was killed at the order of the Praetorian Prefect, his successor, Macrinus.

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