Caracalla

Caracalla, Roman emperor from 211–17 A.D., the son of the Emperor Septimius Severus, was born at Lyons, 188 A.D. He was originally named Bassianus, from his maternal grandfather, but his legal name, as it appears on medals and inscriptions, was M. Aurelius Antoninus. Caracalla was a nickname given him from his favourite dress, a long hooded tunic, made in the fashion of the Gauls, and so called in their language. After his father's death at Eboracum (York) in 211 A.D. he ascended the throne as co-regent with his brother Publius Septimius Antoninus Geta, whom he after- wards caused to be murdered. He next directed his cruelty against all the friends and adherents of Geta, of whom it is said as many as twenty thousand of both sexes—including the great jurist Papinianus—were put to death. Innumerable acts of oppression and robbery were employed to raise supplies for the unbounded extravagance of the despot, and to pay his soldiers. In his famous constitution he bestowed Roman citizenship on all his free subjects not citizens—who formed the majority, especially in the provinces—but simply in order to levy a greater amount of taxes on releases and heritages, which were paid only by citizens. After almost exhausting Italy by his extortions, he turned to the provinces, which had been in a great measure spared by the tyranny of former emperors. In 214 he visited Gaul, Germany, Dacia, and Thrace; and after a campaign against the Alemanni, assumed the surname Alemannicus. He was assassinated, at the instigation of Macrinus, prefect of the Prætorians, by one of his veterans named Martialis, on the 8th of April 217, on the way from Edessa to Carrhæ. All the historians combine to paint the life of Caracalla in the darkest colours. Among the buildings of Caracalla in Rome, the baths—Thermæ Caracallæ—near Porta Capena, were most celebrated, and their ruins are still magnificent.