4.4: Caracalla kills Geta
[211]  But the hatred and dissension between
them continued to grow. If it became necessary to appoint a governor or
a magistrate, each wished to select a friend for the post. If they sat
as judges, they handed down dissenting opinions, often to the ruin of
those on trial; for rivalry counted more than justice to these two.
Even at the shows the brothers took
opposite sides.
 They
tried every sort of intrigue; each, for example, attempted to persuade
the other's cooks and cupbearers to administer some deadly poison. It
was not easy for either one to succeed in these attempts, however: both
were exceedingly careful and took many precautions. Finally, unable to
endure the situation any longer and maddened by the desire for sole
power, Caracalla decided to act and advance his cause by sword or
slaughter or die in a manner befitting
his birth.
[19 December 211]  Since his plotting was unsuccessful, he thought he must try some desperate and dangerous scheme;
[so he killed his brother in the arms of their mother, and by this act really killed them
both],[1] his mother dying of grief and his brother from treachery. Mortally wounded, Geta died, drenching his mother's breast with his blood. Having succeeded in the murder, Caracalla ran
from the room and rushed throughout the palace, shouting that he had
escaped grave danger and had barely managed to save his life.
 He ordered the
soldiers who guard the imperial palace to protect him and escort him to
the praetorian camp, where he could be safely guarded, saying that if
he remained in the imperial palace he would be murdered. Unaware of
what had happened inside, the soldiers believed him and ran with him as
he dashed ahead at full speed. Consternation seized the people when
they saw the emperor speeding on foot through the middle of the city in
the early evening.
 Rushing into the camp
and into the temple where the standards and decorations of the guard
were worshiped, Caracalla threw himself on the ground; in the chapel,
he gave thanks and offered sacrifices for his safety. When this was
reported to the praetorians, some of whom were in the baths, while
others were already asleep, they hurriedly assembled in amazement.
 When he appeared
before them, Caracalla did not immediately reveal what had happened;
instead, shouting that he had escaped the deadly plots of an enemy and
rival, he identified his assailant as his brother. He cried out that he
had with difficulty emerged victorious, after a severe struggle with
his enemies; but when he and his brother had put everything at stake,
Fortune had chosen him as sole emperor. His motive in thus distorting
the facts was his desire to have them hear from him what had happened
rather than from someone else.
 In gratitude for his
deliverance and in return for the sole rule, he promised each soldier
2,500 denarii and increased their ration allowance by one-half. He
ordered the praetorians to go immediately and take the money from the
temple depositories and the treasuries. In a single day he recklessly
distributed all the money which Severus had collected and hoarded from
the calamities of others over a period of eighteen years.
 When they heard about
this vast amount of money, although they were aware of what had
actually occurred, the murder having been made common knowledge by
fugitives from the palace, the praetorians at once proclaimed Caracalla
emperor and called Geta enemy.
|
