And long live the historical films. ‘Gladiator II’, released last Friday for those who have spent the weekend away from the media, has done more for ancient history than a thousand and one essays by as many well-known authors. And I’m not saying it just to say it. Thanks to director Ridley Scott, and his boy Fred Hechinger, the ruthless Caracalla is today the talk of internet lies. Because, believe it or not, this Roman emperor is remembered in classical sources as a ruthless and abject little guy. Not in vain did he shamelessly murder his brother Geta in 211 AD to gain absolute power and avoid sharing the chair. It turned out half well…Turbid beginnings Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (later nicknamed Caracalla because of a characteristic foreign cloak he used to wear) came into the world in 188 AD And, from the beginning, he was at odds with his brother. «The children of Emperor Severus loved the chariot races in the circus, we do not know if the Amphitheater. Geta preferred the ‘factio’ of the greens, and Caracalla, that of the blues,” historian Federico Romero Díaz, administrator of ‘History and Ancient Rome’, tells ABC. Apparently, the hatred between the two arose when they were children, in a pony race in which they competed. The expert maintains that, in it, our protagonist “fell and broke his leg.” That stuck in his mind. Years later, when his father left this world and divided the empire between them, Caracalla ended Geta’s life. Partly out of animosity; in a larger part, to avoid sharing the throne. After the murder of his brother, classical authors maintain that Caracalla consolidated his power through brutal repression that earned him the reputation of a tyrant. Dion Cassius, his contemporary, defined him in his ‘Roman History’ as a type who carried out “the worst forms of cruelty” against the chiefs of related tribes. In his words, Antoninus deceived his friends, loved betrayal, and “rejoiced in mutual murders,” whether they had anything to do with him or not. His madness reached such a point that “if anyone wrote Geta’s name, or even pronounced it, he would immediately condemn him to death.” To make matters worse, society, tired of paying for his recurring military campaigns with high taxes, saw him as a capricious, childish leader prone to attacks of anger. Related News standard No The revenge of the Roman legions against the army of Spartacus that Jesus Christ also suffered Manuel P. Villatoro After crushing his army of slaves during the Third Servile War, Licinius Crassus ordered the crucifying of 6,000 prisoners from Rome to CapuaRomero Díaz is from the same opinion: “The murder of Geta at the hands of his brother was followed by the extermination of more than 20,000 followers of the greens loyal to Geta, among them the famous charioteer Euprepes, with more than 782 victories in his sporting resume.” With all these things, it is not surprising that Caracalla ended his days murdered by his own men. The proverb already says it, which is no less accurate because it is popular: he who kills with iron, with iron… True death Spring arrived in 217 AD for this controversial emperor. And with the new season, the effluvia of war also arrived. Popularizer Stephen Dando-Collins explains in his great ‘Legions of Rome’ that, at that time, the banners of the battalions had already been blessed in “the lustration ceremonies carried out in the Quatranalis of March.” Caracalla longed to resume his campaign in Parthia, with which he promised to become equal to Alexander the Great. But the boss did not know that the boatman was waiting for him with the boat ready on his way to the city of Carras, located in modern-day Türkiye. And all this, when he barely had 29 years under his belt. Cassius Dion narrates that Caracalla was not the only instigator of that campaign. And the “Parthians and Medes, very irritated by the treatment they had received, proceeded to raise a large army.” In fact, the chronicler states that, although the emperor longed to emulate the great Alexander, he “fell into the greatest terror” when he knew that it was his turn to enter the fray, since he was in reality “the greatest coward in the face of danger and the weakest.” when difficulties arose. To make matters worse, the barbarians understood that the legions, “although numerous, were so physically exhausted and so demoralized, that they no longer cared about anything other than the great donations that they were continually receiving in large quantities from Antoninus.” Thus were the ones and the others. others on car day. Cassius says that his enemy’s plan was put into practice on April 8, when Caracalla “had left Edessa for Carras.” Along the way, the emperor decided to “get off his horse in order to relieve himself”; Some say it’s to urinate, others say it’s to stretch your legs. The rest of the mounted column imitated him; among them, the members of his personal guard, the so-called ‘Lions’. These escorts were Scythians and Germans, since the emperor did not trust praetorians or legionaries to protect his life. Depraved, of course, but consistent, as the classic author explains well: “The emperor kept the Scythians and Germans around him, both freedmen and slaves, whom he had taken from their masters and their wives and had armed, putting In them, apparently, more confidence than in the soldiers. And among the various honors he showed them, he made them centurions and called them Lions. Furthermore, he used to talk with the ambassadors that, from time to time, were sent to him by the nations to which those soldiers belonged, with only the interpreters present, whom he ordered, in case something happened to him, to invade Italy. and marched on Rome, assuring them that it was very easy to capture. And, to prevent any hint of conversation from reaching our ears, he immediately killed the interpreters. During that stop, and surrounded by his Lions, a veteran soldier approached Caracalla: Julio Marcial. A retired guy who was then serving in the ‘evocati’ militia and who had been denied promotion to centurion by the boss; lousy breeding ground. He “approached as if he wanted to say something and attacked him with a small dagger.” One slash later, the emperor fell to the ground. The assassin fled in a hurry, although without dropping the crime weapon. And that bloody edge was what put one of the Scythians of the Lions on alert, who, in the chronicler’s words, finished him off “by throwing a javelin at him.” Hated to the end But it must be that weeds have a hard time dying. After the knife blow, Caracalla was still alive! As the soldiers and members of his staff gathered around the emperor, who was struggling to breathe, two people pushed their way through the crowd to apply the shock to him. They were two tribunes of the Praetorian Guard, the brothers Aurelio Nemesiano and Aurelio Apolinaris. In the end, and as had happened to many other leaders such as Caligula and Commodus, this character was a victim of his own men. “As for Antonino, the tribunes, pretending to come to his rescue, killed him,” says Dion Casio. Standard Related News No Pedro Ruiz goes to the cinema to see ‘Gladiator 2′ and gives his open opinion on Ridley Scott’s film: «It is a festival of violence…» Marina Ortiz standard No It was at the bottom of Lake Nemi The ship of Caligula’s orgies that confronted Hitler and Mussolini Israel VianaThe chronicler asserts, and makes it very sure of it, that the three assassinations had been persuaded to commit the murder by the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, Marcus Opelius Macrinus. The one who ultimately became Caracalla’s successor had held talks with the troops located in the region to end his life; all this, in exchange for ending once and for all the unpopular war against the Parthians. And the truth is that the chronicler must have been well informed, since he was at that time in the imperial delegation located in Mesopotamia. Antoninus’ body, the chronicler states, was cremated and his bones deposited in his family’s tomb. Although after “having been secretly taken to Rome at night.” And, in his words, “absolutely everyone, as many senators as the rest of the population, men and women alike, hated him with great violence.” However, no decree was passed taking away his honors, since the soldiers did not obtain the peace they expected from Macrinus. In fact, the new emperor earned the hatred of the combatants by taking away the hefty pay they had received until then. Although that did not eliminate the hatred that society had for Caracalla. Not at all.
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