Caligula becomes Emperor, 37 AD
Caligula Becomes Emperor, 37 AD
On this day, the dead Roman emperor Tiberius’ will was annulled and Gaius (Caligula) took the title of Augustus. The will named him and his cousin Tiberius Gemellus as joint heirs, but backed by Praetorian Prefect Q. Sutorius Marco, Caligula had it voided on grounds of insanity and then had his cousin killed just in case. Then, he had a pontoon bridge built leading across the sea from Baiae to Puzzuoli; a stretch of water two and a half miles long. With the bridge in place, Caligula, in the attire of a Thracian gladiator, mounted a horse and rode across. Once at one end, he got off his horse and returned on a chariot drawn by two horses. These crossings lasted for two days. The historian Suetonius explains that this was done because of a prediction made by an astrologer called Trasyllus to emperor Tiberius, that "Caligula had no more chance of becoming emperor than of crossing the bay of Baiae on horseback."
Also see: Alber Camus’ "Caligula".