This article is about the Roman emperor. For the felid species, see Caracal. For the racehorse, see Caracalla (horse).
Caracalla
Bust of Caracalla, Museo Nazionale Romano, 212–215 AD
Roman emperor
Reign
28 January 198 – 8 April 217 (senior from 4 February 211)
Predecessor
Septimius Severus
Successor
Macrinus
Co-rulers
Septimius Severus (198–211)
Geta (209–211)
Born
Lucius Septimius Bassianus 4 April 188 Lugdunum
Died
8 April 217 (aged 29) On the road between Edessa and Carrhae
Spouse
Fulvia Plautilla
Names
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus[1]
Regnal name
Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus[2]
Dynasty
Severan
Father
Septimius Severus
Mother
Julia Domna
Roman imperial dynasties
The Severan Tondo
Severan dynasty
Chronology
Septimius Severus
193–211
with Caracalla
198–211
with Geta
209–211
Caracalla
211–217
Geta
211
Macrinus' usurpation
217–218
with Diadumenian
218
Elagabalus
218–222
Severus Alexander
222–235
Dynasty
Severan dynasty family tree
All biographies
Succession
Preceded by Year of the Five Emperors
Followed by Crisis of the Third Century
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Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (/ˌkærəˈkælə/),[3] was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor Septimius Severus and Empress Julia Domna. Proclaimed co-ruler by his father in 198, he reigned jointly with his brother Geta, co-emperor from 209, after their father's death in 211. His brother was murdered by the Praetorian Guard later that year under orders from Caracalla, who then reigned afterwards as sole ruler of the Roman Empire. Caracalla found administration to be mundane, leaving those responsibilities to his mother. Caracalla's reign featured domestic instability and external invasions by the Germanic peoples.
Caracalla's reign became notable for the Antonine Constitution (Latin: Constitutio Antoniniana), also known as the Edict of Caracalla, which granted Roman citizenship to all free men throughout the Roman Empire. The edict gave all the enfranchised men Caracalla's adopted praenomen and nomen: "Marcus Aurelius". Domestically, Caracalla became known for the construction of the Baths of Caracalla, which became the second-largest baths in Rome; for the introduction of a new Roman currency named the antoninianus, a sort of double denarius; and for the massacres he ordered, both in Rome and elsewhere in the empire. In 216, Caracalla began a campaign against the Parthian Empire. He did not see this campaign through to completion due to his assassination by a disaffected soldier in 217. Macrinus succeeded him as emperor three days later.
The ancient sources portray Caracalla as a tyrant and as a cruel leader, an image that has survived into modernity. His contemporaries Cassius Dio (c. 155 – c. 235) and Herodian (c. 170 – c. 240) present him as a soldier first and an emperor second. In the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth started the legend of Caracalla's role as king of Britain. Later, in the 18th century, the works of French painters revived images of Caracalla due to apparent parallels between Caracalla's tyranny and that ascribed to king Louis XVI (r. 1774–1792). Modern works continue to portray Caracalla as an evil ruler, painting him as one of the most tyrannical of all Roman emperors.
^Hammond 1957, pp. 35–36.
^Cooley 2012, p. 495.
^"Caracalla". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
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also called the Edict of Caracalla or the Antonine Constitution, was an edict issued in AD 212 by the Roman emperor Caracalla. It declared that all free...
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the murder of Caracalla's brother, Publius Septimius Geta. He is beheaded in Rome, in Caracalla's presence.[citation needed] Caracalla quiets the objections...
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