016. Caligula

Whatever damage Tiberius's later years had done to the carefully crafted political edifice created by Augustus, Gaius multiplied it a hundredfold. When he came to power in A.D. 37 Gaius had no administrative experience beyond his honorary quaestorship, and had spent an unhappy early life far from the public eye. He appears, once in power, to have realized the boundless scope of his authority and acted accordingly. His reign highlighted an inherent weakness in the Augustan Principate, raw monarchy in which only the self-discipline of the incumbent acted as a restraint on his behavior. 

Æ As (28mm, 10.19 gm). Rome mint. Struck 37-38 AD. Bare head left / Vesta seated left, holding patera and sceptre. RIC I 38; Cohen 27. Near VF, dark brown surfaces. Ex-CNG

Collection : Roman Personalities