Cassius Chaerea

Cassius Chaerea (fl. 1st century) was a centurion in the army of Germanicus and served in the Praetorian Guard under the emperor Caligula, whom he eventually assassinated.

Cassius was disturbed by the increasingly-unbalanced emperor, and angered at Caligula's mocking of his voice and his supposed or real effeminacy, possibly due to a wound to his genitaliaFact|date=October 2007 suffered while serving Caligula's father, Germanicus. It is reported that whenever Caligula had Chaerea kiss his ring, he presented his hand with outstretched middle finger, testifying to the long-standing popularity of "giving the finger".Fact|date=January 2008 He was also made to use degrading watch-words at night, including "Venus" (slang for a male eunuch) and "Priapus" (erection).

Unable to bear this any longer, Chaerea planned to assassinate Caligula during the Palatine games held in January. Cassius' plot was one of several that formed around the same time and eventually coalesced into one broad conspiracy including Praetorians, Senators, and Knights. On January 24, Cassius struck, and Caligula was killed. At the same time, Caligula's wife Caesonia and daughter Julia Drusilla were murdered, completing the task of destroying the emperor's family. Cassius was sympathetic to his co-conspirators in the Senate, and so wanted the destruction of the principate.

Unfortunately for Cassius, he did not control the loyalty of the majority of the Praetorians. His men had proclaimed Caligula's uncle, Claudius, as emperor. Shortly afterwards, he was sentenced to death, one of the few assassins to be actually condemned. Cassius requested to be executed with his own murder weapon, and this was granted.

Robert Graves, in "I, Claudius", invented the story that he was among the few survivors of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.

References

* Suetonius, "On the Life of the Caesars", "Caligula", LVI.