The assassination of the Roman emperor Caracalla

Those who wielded power in ancient Rome lived extremely dangerous lives, which is why many famous rulers fell victim to treacherous assassinations. One such victim was the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius Antonius, better known as Caracalla. Due to his brutality, he is still considered a tyrant today, so obsessed with power that he even had his own family killed. Caracalla was the son of Septimius Severus, who founded the Severan dynasty and appointed the 9-year-old Caracalla as co-regent in 197. His father also arranged his marriage to Publia Fulvia Plautilla, whom the 14-year-old Caracalla hated as much as her father, the Praetorian Prefect Gaius Fulvius Plautianus. However, since Plautianus came from the same hometown as Caracalla’s father and was in his favor, he held a position of great power, which he consolidated through the marriage of his daughter Publia to Caracalla. But Caracalla wanted to get rid of both of them as quickly as possible, so he hatched a plot against Plautianus. His tutor Euodus helped him in this endeavor. Euodus persuaded three centurions to accuse Plautianus of instigating an assassination attempt on Severus and Caracalla. Severus summoned Plautianus to a hearing, but Caracalla silenced him and almost killed him, which Severus prevented. He was then murdered by one of Caracalla’s companions. Caracalla’s wife was exiled to the island of Lipari, where Caracalla had her killed after his accession to the throne in 211 and imposed damnatio memoriae, the so-called condemnation of reputation, on her. After his father’s death, Caracalla initially ruled as desired together with his younger brother Gea. But after 10 months of joint reign, he lured him to the imperial palace with an invitation from his mother Julia Domna for a personal conversation, where a hired killer killed him in his mother’s arms, injuring her hand in the process. He then carried out an indescribable wave of purges, killing 20,000 of his brother’s sympathizers and imposing damnatio memoriae on his brother as well. But Caracalla, who had so much blood on his hands, also had his good sides. In 212, he granted Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of his Roman Empire. This made the empire a unified legal area. Although the Senate harbored a grudge against Caracalla, he was extremely popular with the soldiers. For some time, the Praetorian Prefect Macrinus had received a prophecy from an Egyptian soothsayer that he would become the future emperor of Rome. He knew that if Caracalla knew of the prophecy, he would be a dead man, so he staged a plot to murder Caracalla. Four days after his 29th birthday, Caracalla was on his way from Edessa to Carrhae to visit the sanctuary of the moon god Sin. Needing to relieve himself, he dismounted from his horse. He went to some bushes, where Julius Martialis, acting on Macrinus’ orders, stabbed him with a dagger. As Martialis fled, he was killed by Caracalla’s bodyguards. However, two Praetorian tribunes who had also been hired completed the murder of the emperor. This ended the dynasty of Septimus Severus, as there were no male descendants. Caracalla’s mother took her own life after hearing the news of his death. Caracalla was buried in Rome in the Mausoleum of Hadrian. On April 11, Macrinus was proclaimed emperor. Thus, his prophecy was fulfilled.