Caracalla, The Roman Emperor Who Murdered His Own Brother
Public DomainCaracalla infamously had his brother and co-ruler, Geta, murdered.
As the son of Septimius Severus — widely considered to be a fairly good emperor — Caracalla came to power under the shadow of his father’s legacy. He would make his own name, though usually not in a good way.
Born in 188 C.E. as Lucius Septimius Bassianus, Caracalla came to power in 198 C.E. as a co-ruler with his father. His nickname Caracalla purportedly came from a cloak he created. However, Caracalla would make his mark not for his designs but for his bloodthirsty actions.
After his father died in 211 C.E., Caracalla became co-emperor alongside his younger brother, Geta. To eliminate his sibling and rival, Caracalla had Geta murdered. In a gruesome scene passed down in the generations afterward, Geta allegedly clung to their mother as he was stabbed to death.
Public DomainGeta was not only killed by his brother but erased from history, as seen here in this family portrait.
He not only killed many of Geta’s friends and supporters but had his brother erased from history by having the Senate issue a damnatio memoriae (condemnation of memory). Geta’s image was erased from paintings, coins bearing his face were melted down, and any mention of him was erased from papyrus scrolls. It was illegal even to mention Geta’s name.
That said, Caracalla did some good as emperor. He extended Roman citizenship to free men across the empire — though he may have done so to collect more taxes — and constructed a huge bath complex in Rome.
But he was also a cruel and violent ruler. Caracalla spent most of his time away from Rome chasing glory in military campaigns, and he allegedly once sicced his troops on the citizens of Alexandria after he heard about an unflattering satire that had been staged in the city (some 20,000 were purportedly killed).
Considered one of the worst Roman emperors of all time, Caracalla was stabbed to death in 217 C.E. by a disgruntled soldier.
