Cassius Chaerea
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Cassius Chaerea (fl. 1st Century AD) was a centurion in the army of Germanicus. After the death of Tiberius and the execution of Macro, Caligula made him Prefect (commander) of the Praetorian Guard.
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 genitalia 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". 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, 41, the fourth day of a festival honoring the Divine Augustus, Cassius gave the signal - "Liberty" - and plans were set into motion. Conspirators accosted Caligula in a narrow passage within the theater, either while Caligula was speaking to or on his way to speak to an acting troupe of young boys, according to Josephus merely a few feet away from his personal bodyguard. Chaerea requested the watch word for the day, and upon receiving Caligula's response, cried "So be it." It was there that they fell upon him with their swords, Cassius striking the first blow. In victory, Cassius decided to wipe out Julio-Claudians once and for all, beginning with Caligula's empress Caesonia, and their infant daughter Julia, something the conspiracy had not agreed upon. 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.
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