Caracalla: A Military Biography

by Ilkka Syvänne

Caracalla has one of the worst reputations of any Roman Emperor. Many ancient historians were very hostile and Edward Gibbon later dubbed him 'the common enemy of mankind'. Yet his reign was considered by at least one Roman author to be the apogee of the Roman Empire. Guilty of many murders and massacres (including his own brother, ex-wife and daughter) he was, however, popular with the army, improving their pay and cultivating the image of sharing their hardships. Surprisingly this is the first full-length biography of this colorful character in English.

Ilkka Syvanne explains how the biased ancient sources in combination with the stern looking statues of the emperor have created a distorted image of the man and then reconstructs the actual events, particularly his military campaigns and reforms, to offer a balanced view of his reign. The biography offers the first complete overview of the policies, events and military campaigns of the reign and explains how and why these contributed to the military crisis of the third century.

Genres: History

336 pages, Hardcover

Published September 25, 2017

Reviews

[ERIC PECHINOT · Rating 2 out of 5]

Books about the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus are quite scarce, aren't they?
Books about him AND a fair and balanced point of view certainly do not grow on trees either.
That is why I was so happy to pick this one as it was meant to explain that Caracalla was so much more than an ambitious bold heir to the throne, in his case fratricide the price to pay for the right to the purple cloak all for himself. Power was not to be shared!

Ilkka Syvänne does his best with whatever sparse historical material available to paint the picture of a purposeful young ruler, eager to set out many reforms, by no means the least of them being the surprising revival of the Macedonian phalanx as a fresh formation within the Roman military.

Alas it is very difficult in this book to see the wood for the trees, as the writer is soon losing his way in an overgrowth of unnecessary detail and nitpicking and a propensity for ingratiating twaddle that eventually make poor reading.

[Jerry-Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author has a difficult task. The two main historians of this period, Dio and Herodian, dislike Caracalla. Prior accounts of Caracalla including an account by Gibbon have not been favorable. In this work, the author asserts the claim Caracalla was similar to Trajan and Aurelian, who were other soldier-emperors. As depicted by the author, Caracalla had to first undergo a power struggle for the throne with his younger brother Geta. Caracalla was successful in ousting and killing his younger brother. Perhaps, he had no choice. His two main civic achievements were the Baths of Caracalla and his granting citizenship to everyone in the Empire. He was loved by the army. He won battles and raised their pay. Also, he ate their food, marched and fought with them. Similar to Julius Caesar, he chose some subordinates who had grudges against him. In Caesar’s case, it was Brutus and Cassius and others. In Caracalla’s case, it was Macrinus and a few others. Caracalla successfully defeated the Germans, Dacians and initially the Parthians. However, his campaign against the Parthians was short-circuited by his assassination. The loyalty of the army to Caracalla was demonstrated by the fact Macinus’ reign was very short due to a successful rebellion by Caracalla’s wife and son. The book is designated a military biography. Thus, there is an overwhelming amount of detail about Caracalla’s troops and the opposing forces. We do learn Caracalla idolized Alexander the Great and tried to emulate him. We also learn Caracalla could be very treacherous in dealing with Rome’s foes. This cunning did save Roman lives. All in all I respect what this author did due to his lack of sources and his need to reconstruct everything. Moreover, his revisionist look at Caracalla seems balanced. He usually provides the opposing view.

[Dorin Lazăr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author makes quite an effort to be extensive in his approach to Caracalla's biography, however, he seems more eager to support a more favorable view of the character than to lean into the vociferous contemporary sources (Dio, Herodian). Syvänne prefers Sextus Aurelius Victor's view of a balanced emperor, only bloody and incestuous.

There are some interesting topics that the author dives passionately into. The military overview of the Roman army is quite interesting, and the deeper dive into describing military aspects of Caracalla's career is quite welcome. This book is an excellent supplement to reading the primary sources, which he quotes at length as well, with his own annotations. I also like the references to older books that I couldn't put my hands on yet, and notes where his points of view diverge from the traditional views of Caracalla.

[William Whalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agreem with the previous reviewer that the emphasis is on the military but that was as advertised. What was presented was a very accessible read which is not typical for Roman biographies. The author had clear biases but he was open about them and his method of showing the opposing view gave you the opportunity to see both viewpoints of Caracalla. A wider look at Caracalla outside of his military exploits would have probably raised the review to a 5 star but still well worth reading. Especially if interested how the late 2nd/early 3rd century Roman Army functioned.

[Jeremy Maddux · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to revise my review of this. I quit early on it before because of all the military jargon about formations and tactics. When I saw the author did go into some depth on Caracalla's sibling rivalry with Geta and court intrigue, I became intrigued."

Previous review: I know it says 'A Military Biography' right there in the title, but I was hoping for more insight into the personal character of Caracalla. I didn't know that 'military biography' was so literal in this book's case. Reading endlessly about formations, strategies, armaments, etc. did nothing for me. It would seem that there has yet to be a comprehensive book written about the actual man who slayed his brother in front of their mother.