Not many people in India have heard of the emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman empire for 6 years. It is important to learn from the pages of history and what better to learn about tyranny than the rule of emperor Caracalla.

The Roman empire was one of the greatest empires in world  history and lasted for almost  450 years. It was an empire that covered all the lands around the Mediterranean Sea as well as Turkey and Asia Minor. Many great emperors ruled this empire, some good and enlightened and some sadists and cruel and some tyrants.

One of the tyrants was Caracalla. His real name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. The name Caracalla was a nickname like the one given to Caligula. Caraculla was born in 188AD in Lyons in present day France. In those days both France and England were part of the Roman empire. He was the son of the Roman emperor Septimus Severus. From an early age Caracalla was initiated into a military life. There is nothing surprising about this as kings and emperors first responsibility was to be a good soldier, proficient in the use of weapons. Caracalla joined his father in military campaigns from the age of 10.

In 202 Caracalla returned to Rome and got married and in 2008 he once again joined his father in the campaign against Britannia. Caracalla had a younger brother named Geta and he also joined his brother and father in the military battles.

In 211,  Septimus died at York , but before his death he called both his sons and announced that both would be emperors and rule jointly. This was not acceptable to Caracalla who after the death of his father plotted to kill his brother. He succeeded in the second attempt and Geta was done to death. Caracalla now became the sole emperor of the Roman empire.

Caracalla was however a suspicious man and once he became emperor he thought that many Romans were conspiring against him. He set about his task of crushing conspirators and sent almost 1000 persons including his wife and her relatives to the gallows. This was a barbaric act, but it had the desired effect as most Romans now were scared of Caracalla. He thus consolidated his rule.

In 215 Caracalla visited the Eastern part of the Roman empire. He visited Alexandria and Syria. His cruel streak overtook him and he slaughtered 20,000 Egyptians in Alexandria  for a perceived insult to him and his mother. Earlier in 214  in his campaigns in  Gaul, Germany and  Thrace he had subdued his enemies but carried out mass slaughter of villages, who he felt were opposed to him.

 The guard around  Caracalla were however getting restless, despite their increase of salary.  In 217 the opportunity came to eliminate him.  One of the guards killed the emperor  when he had dismounted from his horse to relieve himself. The other soldiers stood at a distance to give privacy to the emperor. This guard followed Caracalla and killed him. Probably it was a deep rooted plot hatched at a higher level. The guard who had killed Caracalla was executed immediately and the prefect of the guard   a man named Macrinus  announced that he would be emperor in place of Caracas. The reign of Caracas ended just after 6 years and after his death the down slide in the Roman empire began.

The life and rule of Caracas is interesting and show that a ruler to rule must shower some good on his subjects and rule by tyranny alone is not possible.