Roman Emperor from 211-217 AD
In the time-honored
tradition of the
Roman Empire, a strong emperor was followed by his
worthless son (see
Marcus Aurelius,
Commodus). Caracalla was the son of
Septimius Severus, and he
achieved the throne by
murdering his brother
Geta. Because he feared retribution, he then had all of Geta's
friends and
acquaintances murdered, as well as
anyone who was even
suspected of
disloyalty. He apparently felt
guilty for the murders he committed, having
nightmares for most of his life. Of course, this didn't
prevent him from committing even more murders out of fear. His
ultimate end came when he
chose the wrong murder
victim. He was told by an
oracle that his
Praetorian Guard Prefect,
Macrinus, was trying to kill him and become emperor. Macrinus was not trying to kill him at the time, but as soon as he heard of the oracle, he knew that his life was in
danger, and had Caracalla
stabbed to death by a
disgruntled soldier.
See
Roman Emperors