Why did Caligula, and not someone else, receive supreme power? What role did Caligula's family, including his sisters and their husbands, play in this? What was the framework of the relationship between the new princeps and the senate? Did Caligula owe his appointment to the Senate? What happened to the Roman people, who by that time had actually been removed from power by Tiberius? What role did he play in the accession of Caligula? The high hopes placed on the new princeps gave him confidence, but no one could predict whether he would be able to justify them. Be that as it may, a new era was beginning. Caligula's life confirms the truth of the aphorism, which says that absolute power corrupts absolutely. This was the only lesson the first century Romans learned from his short reign (37-41 AD). The ruler of the "principate", who received the position by inheritance, and not appointed by the people, was a bloodthirsty and reckless despot. Undoubtedly, Caligula was needed: acting boldly, although largely unconsciously, he finally defeated the Senate. The age of autocracy has arrived. Two families - the Julios and the Claudians - will now rule the affairs of Rome.

Born in 1937, Doctor of History and former member of the House of Velazquez, Daniel Noni heads the Department of Roman History at the University of Paris. Pantheon - Sorbonne. Co-author with M. Kristol, From the Rise of Rome to the Barbarian Invasion (1974), he also worked under the direction of Claude Nicolet on the book Rome and the Conquest of the Mediterranean World (1978).

Noni D .Caligula. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, - 1998. - 350 p. - (Mark on history). Circulation 5000 copies