Editing Caracalla (section)

== Reign as sole emperor ==
[[File:Julia Domna (Julia Pia), inv. 2210, Roman - Braccio Nuovo, Museo Chiaramonti - Vatican Museums - DSC00897.jpg|thumb|upright|Bust of [[Julia Domna]] ([[Museo Chiaramonti]])]]
When Geta died in 211, Julia Domna's responsibilities increased, because Caracalla found administrative tasks to be mundane.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2009|page=[https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/76 76]}} She may have taken on one of the more important civil functions of the emperor; receiving petitions and answering correspondence.<ref name=":23">{{Cite journal|last=Tuori|first=Kaius|date=2016|title=Judge Julia Domna? A Historical Mystery and the Emergence of Imperial Legal Administration|journal=The Journal of Legal History|volume=37|issue=2|pages=180–197|doi=10.1080/01440365.2016.1191590|s2cid=147778542 | issn = 0144-0365 }}</ref> The extent of her role in this position, however, is probably overstated. She may have represented her son and played a role in meetings and answering queries; however, the final authority on legal matters was Caracalla.<ref name=":23" /> The emperor filled all of the roles in the legal system as judge, legislator, and administrator.<ref name=":23" />

=== ''Constitutio Antoniniana'' ===
{{main|Constitutio Antoniniana}}
The ''[[Constitutio Antoniniana]]'' (lit. "Constitution of Antoninus", also called "Edict of Caracalla" or "Antonine Constitution") was an edict issued in 212 by Caracalla declaring that all free men in the Roman Empire were to be given full Roman citizenship,<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Edinburgh Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome: Late Antiquity|last=Lim|first=Richard|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2010|pages=114}}</ref> with the exception of the ''dediticii'', people who had become subject to Rome through surrender in war, and freed slaves.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|p=47}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Levine|first1=Lee|title=Caesarea Under Roman Rule|date=1975|publisher=Brill Archive|isbn=90-04-04013-7|page=195}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Benario|first1=Herbert|title=The Dediticii of the Constitutio Antoniniana|journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association|date=1954|volume=85|pages=188–196|doi=10.2307/283475|jstor=283475}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Cairns|first1=John|title=Beyond Dogmatics: Law and Society in the Roman World: Law and Society in the Roman World|date=2007|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-3177-3|page=42}}</ref><ref>Giessen Papyrus, 40,7-9 "I grant to all the inhabitants of the Empire the Roman citizenship and no one remains outside a civitas, with the exception of the dediticii"</ref>

Before 212, the majority of Roman citizens had been inhabitants of Roman Italia, with about 4–7% of all peoples in the Roman Empire being Roman citizens at the time of the death of [[Augustus]] in AD 14. Outside Rome, citizenship was restricted to [[Roman colonia]]e{{efn|name=a|Coloniae were cities of Roman citizens founded in conquered provinces.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whittock|first1=Martyn John |last2=Whittock|first2=Martyn |title=The Roman Empire |year = 1991 |publisher=Heinemann|isbn=0-435-31274-X|page=28 }}</ref>}}{{snd}}Romans, or their descendants, living in the provinces, the inhabitants of various cities throughout the Empire{{snd}}and small numbers of local nobles such as kings of client countries. Provincials, on the other hand, were usually non-citizens, although some magistrates and their families and relatives held the [[Latin Right]].{{efn|name=b|The Latin Rights or ''ius Latii'' were an intermediate or probationary stage for non-Romans obtaining full Roman citizenship. Aside from the right to vote, and ability to pursue a political office, the Latin Rights were just a limited Roman citizenship.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=Allan|last2=Coleman-Norton|first2=Paul|last3=Bourne|first3=Frank|last4=Pharr|first4=Clyde|title=Ancient Roman Statutes: A Translation with Introduction, Commentary, Glossary, and Index|date=1961|publisher=The Lawbook Exchange|isbn=1-58477-291-3|page=266}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Zoch|first1=Paul|title=Ancient Rome: An Introductory History|date=2000|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|isbn=0-8061-3287-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientrome00paul/page/91 91]|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientrome00paul/page/91}}</ref>}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lavan|first=Myles|date=2016|title=The Spread of Roman Citizenship, 14–212 CE: Quantification in the face of high uncertainty|url=https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/10023/12646/1/Lavan_2016_PandP_SpreadRomanCitizenship_RevisedAAM.pdf|journal=Past and Present|issue=230|pages=3–46|doi=10.1093/pastj/gtv043|hdl=10023/12646|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

Dio maintains that one purpose for Caracalla issuing the edict was the desire to increase state revenue; at the time, Rome was in a difficult financial situation and needed to pay for the new pay raises and benefits that were being conferred on the military.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|pp=47–48}} The edict widened the obligation for public service and gave increased revenue through the inheritance and emancipation taxes that only had to be paid by Roman citizens.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=406}} However, few of those that gained citizenship were wealthy, and while it is true that Rome was in a difficult financial situation, it is thought that this could not have been the sole purpose of the edict.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|pp=47–48}} The provincials also benefited from this edict because they were now able to think of themselves as equal partners to the Romans in the empire.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=406}}

Another purpose for issuing the edict, as described within the papyrus upon which part of the edict was inscribed, was to appease the gods who had delivered Caracalla from conspiracy.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|p=48}} The conspiracy in question was in response to Caracalla's murder of Geta and the subsequent slaughter of his followers; fratricide would only have been condoned if his brother had been a tyrant.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|pp=48–49}} The ''damnatio memoriae'' against Geta and the large payments Caracalla had made to his own supporters were designed to protect himself from possible repercussions. After this had succeeded, Caracalla felt the need to repay the gods of Rome by returning the favour to the people of Rome through a similarly grand gesture. This was done through the granting of citizenship.{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|pp=48–49}}{{sfn|Rowan|2012|p=127}}

Another purpose for issuing the edict might have been related to the fact that the periphery of the empire was now becoming central to its existence, and the granting of citizenship may have been simply a logical outcome of Rome's continued expansion of citizenship rights.{{sfn|Rowan|2012|p=127}}{{sfn|Hekster|Zair|2008|pp=49–50}}

=== Alamannic war ===
In 213, about a year after Geta's death, Caracalla left Rome, never to return.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=406}} He went north to the German frontier to deal with the [[Alamanni]], a confederation of [[Germanic Tribes|Germanic tribes]] who had broken through the ''[[Limes (Roman Empire)|limes]]'' in [[Raetia]].{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=406}}<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title=The Romans, from village to empire|last1=Boatwright|first1=Mary Taliaferro|last2=Gargola|first2=Daniel J|last3=Talbert|first3=Richard J. A.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-19-511875-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/romansfromvillag00boat_0/page/413 413]|url=https://archive.org/details/romansfromvillag00boat_0/page/413}}</ref> During the campaign of 213–214, Caracalla successfully defeated some of the Germanic tribes while settling other difficulties through diplomacy, though precisely with whom these treaties were made remains unknown.<ref name=":7" />{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=25}} While there, Caracalla strengthened the frontier fortifications of Raetia and [[Germania Superior]], collectively known as the [[Agri Decumates]], so that it was able to withstand any further barbarian invasions for another twenty years.

=== Provincial tour ===
[[File:Roman Empire in 210 AD.png|thumb|350px|The Roman Empire during the reign of Caracalla]]
In spring 214, Caracalla departed for the eastern provinces, travelling through the Danubian provinces and the Anatolian provinces of [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]] and [[Bithynia and Pontus|Bithynia]].<ref name=":82" /> He spent the winter of 214/215 in [[Nicomedia]]. By 4 April 215 he had left Nicomedia, and in the summer he was in [[Antioch]] on the [[Orontes River|Orontes]].<ref name=":82" /> By December 215 he was in [[Alexandria, Egypt|Alexandria]] in the [[Nile Delta]], where he stayed until March or April 216.<ref name=":82" />

When the inhabitants of Alexandria heard of Caracalla's claims that he had killed his brother Geta in self-defence, they produced a satire mocking this as well as Caracalla's other pretensions.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Morgan|first1=Robert|title=History of the Coptic Orthodox People and the Church of Egypt|date=2016|publisher=FriesenPress|isbn=978-1-4602-8027-0|page=31}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Fisher|first1=Warren|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JMpxi1AqaZYC&pg=PA86|title=The Illustrated History of the Roman Empire: From Caesar's Crossing the Rubicon (49 BC) to the Empire's Fall, 476 AD|date=2010|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=978-1-4490-7739-6|location=Bloomington, IN|page=86}}</ref>  Caracalla responded to this insult by slaughtering the unsuspecting deputation of leading citizens that had assembled before the city to greet his arrival in December 215, before setting his troops against Alexandria for several days of looting and plunder.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=406}}{{sfn|Melton|2014|page=338}}

In spring 216 he returned to Antioch and before 27 May had set out to lead his Roman army against the Parthians.<ref name=":82" /> During the winter of 215/216 he was in [[Edessa]].<ref name=":82" /> Caracalla then moved east into [[Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Armenia]]. By 216 he had pushed through Armenia and south into Parthia.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Boatwright|first1=Mary Taliaferro|url=https://archive.org/details/romansfromvillag00boat_0/page/413|title=The Romans, from village to empire|last2=Gargola|first2=Daniel J|last3=Talbert|first3=Richard J. A.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-19-511875-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/romansfromvillag00boat_0/page/413 413–414]}}</ref>

=== Baths ===
{{Main|Baths of Caracalla}}
[[File:Baths of Caracalla.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Baths of Caracalla]]]]
Construction on the [[Baths of Caracalla]] in Rome began in 211 at the start of Caracalla's rule. The ''[[thermae]]'' are named for Caracalla, though it is most probable that his father was responsible for their planning. In 216, a partial inauguration of the baths took place, but the outer perimeter of the baths was not completed until the reign of [[Severus Alexander]].{{sfn|Castex|2008|p=4}}

These large baths were typical of the Roman practice of building complexes for social and state activities in large densely populated cities.{{sfn|Castex|2008|p=4}} The baths covered around 50 acres (or 202,000 square metres) of land and could accommodate around 1,600 bathers at any one time.{{sfn|Castex|2008|p=4}} They were the second largest public baths built in ancient Rome and were complete with [[Natatio|swimming pools]], [[Palaestra|exercise yards]], a [[Stadion (running race)|stadium]], steam rooms, libraries, meeting rooms, fountains, and other amenities, all of which were enclosed within formal gardens.{{sfn|Castex|2008|p=4}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Oetelaar|first=Taylor|date=2014|title=Reconstructing the Baths of Caracalla|journal=Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage|volume=1|issue=2|pages=45–54|doi=10.1016/j.daach.2013.12.002}}</ref> The interior spaces were decorated with colourful marble floors, columns, mosaics, and colossal statuary.{{sfn|Castex|2008|pp=5–6}}

=== Caracalla and Serapis ===
[[File:SFEC EGYPT KOM-OMBO 2006-002.JPG|thumb|upright|Caracalla as [[Pharaoh]], [[Temple of Kom Ombo]]]]At the outset of his reign, Caracalla declared imperial support for the [[Egyptian Greeks|Graeco-Egyptian]] god of healing [[Serapis]]. The Iseum and [[Serapeum]] in Alexandria were apparently renovated during Caracalla's co-rule with his father Septimius Severus. The evidence for this exists in two inscriptions found near the temple that appear to bear their names. Additional archaeological evidence exists for this in the form of two [[Papyrus|papyri]] that have been dated to the Severan period and also two statues associated with the temple that have been dated to around 200{{nbsp}}AD. Upon Caracalla's ascension to being sole ruler in 212, the imperial mint began striking coins bearing Serapis' image. This was a reflection of the god's central role during Caracalla's reign. After Geta's death, the weapon that had killed him was dedicated to Serapis by Caracalla. This was most likely done to cast Serapis into the role of Caracalla's protector from treachery.{{sfn|Rowan|2012|pp=137–139}}

Caracalla also erected a temple on the [[Quirinal Hill]] in 212, which he dedicated to Serapis.{{sfn|Melton|2014|page=338}} A fragmented inscription found in the church of Sant' Agata dei Goti in Rome records the construction, or possibly restoration, of a temple dedicated to the god Serapis. The inscription bears the name "Marcus Aurelius Antoninus", a reference to either Caracalla or [[Elagabalus]], but more likely to Caracalla due to his known strong association with the god. Two other inscriptions dedicated to Serapis, as well as a granite crocodile similar to one discovered at the Iseum et Serapeum, were also found in the area around the Quirinal Hill.{{sfn|Rowan|2012|pp=142–143}}

=== Monetary policy ===
{{Coin image box 1 double
| header =
| image = Image:Caracalla-sol+.jpg
| caption_left = '''[[Obverse and reverse|O:]]''' [[laureate]] head of Caracalla
ANTONINVS [[Pius (epithet)|PIVS]] [[Augustus (honorific)|AVG.]] [[Germanicus (title)|GERM.]]
| caption_right = '''[[Obverse and reverse|R:]]''' [[Sol (Roman mythology)|Sol]] holding [[globe]], rising hand
[[Pontifex Maximus]], [[Tribune|TRibunus Plebis]] [[19 (number)|XVIIII]], [[Consul|COnSul]] [[4 (number)|IIII]], [[Pater Patriae]]
| width = 330
| footer = [[silver]] ''[[denarius]]'' struck in [[Rome]] 216 AD; ref.: RIC 281b, C 359
| position = right
| margin = 4
}}

The expenditures that Caracalla made with the large bonuses he gave to soldiers prompted him to debase the coinage soon after his ascension.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|pp=405–406}} At the end of Severus' reign and early into Caracalla's, the Roman ''[[denarius]]'' had an approximate silver purity of around 55%, but by the end of Caracalla's reign the purity had been reduced to about 51%.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Oman|first=C.|date=1916|title=The Decline and Fall of the Denarius in the Third Century A.D.|journal= The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society|volume=16|pages=37–60|jstor=42663723}}</ref>{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=130–131}}

In 215 Caracalla introduced the ''[[antoninianus]]'', a coin intended to serve as a double ''denarius''.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=123}} This new currency, however, had a silver purity of about 52% for the period between 215 and 217 and an actual size ratio of 1{{nbsp}}''antoninianus'' to 1.5{{nbsp}}denarii. This in effect made the ''antoninianus'' equal to about 1.5{{nbsp}}''denarii.''<ref name=":19" />{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=139}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Harl|first1=Kenneth|title=Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700|date=1996|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=0-801-85291-9|page=128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5yPDL0EykeAC&q=antoninianus}}</ref> The reduced silver purity of the coins caused people to hoard the old coins that had higher silver content, aggravating the inflation problem caused by the earlier devaluation of the ''denarii''.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=123}}<ref name=":19">{{Cite journal|last=Bergeron|first=David|date=2007–2008|title=Roman Antoninianus|journal=Bank of Canada Review}}</ref>

=== Military policy ===
During his reign as emperor, Caracalla raised the annual pay of an average legionary from 2000 [[Sestertius|''sesterces'']] (500 ''[[denarii]]'') to 2700–3000 ''sesterces'' (675–750 ''denarii''). He lavished many benefits on the army, which he both feared and admired, in accordance with the advice given by his father on his deathbed always to heed the welfare of the soldiers and ignore everyone else.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|p=405}}<ref name=":7" /> Caracalla needed to gain and keep the trust of the military, and he did so with generous pay raises and popular gestures.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Grant|first=Michael|title=The Severans: the Changed Roman Empire|publisher=Psychology Press|year=1996|pages=42}}</ref> He spent much of his time with the soldiers, so much so that he began to imitate their dress and adopt their manners.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|pp=405–406}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Southern|first1=Patricia|title=The Roman Empire from Severus to Constantine|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-49694-6|pages=68–69}}</ref>{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=21}}

After Caracalla concluded his campaign against the Alamanni, it became evident that he was inordinately preoccupied with emulating [[Alexander the Great]].{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2009|page=[https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/74 74]}}<ref name=":92">{{Cite book|last=Brauer|first=G.|title=The Decadent Emperors: Power and Depravity in Third-Century Rome|year=1967|pages=75}}</ref> He began openly mimicking Alexander in his personal style. In planning his invasion of the Parthian Empire, Caracalla decided to arrange 16,000 of his men in Macedonian-style [[phalanx]]es, despite the [[Roman army]] having made the phalanx an obsolete tactical formation.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2009|page=[https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/74 74]}}<ref name=":92" /><ref name=":292">{{Cite book|last=Christopher|first=Matthew|title=An Invincible Beast: Understanding the Hellenistic Pike Phalanx in Action|publisher=Casemate Publishers|year=2015|pages=403}}</ref> The historian Christopher Matthew mentions that the term ''Phalangarii'' has two possible meanings, both with military connotations. The first refers merely to the Roman battle line and does not specifically mean that the men were armed with [[Pike (weapon)|pikes]], and the second bears similarity to the 'Marian Mules' of the late [[Roman Republic]] who carried their equipment suspended from a long pole, which were in use until at least the 2nd century AD.<ref name=":292" /> As a consequence, the ''phalangarii'' of [[Legio II Parthica]] may not have been pikemen, but rather standard battle line troops or possibly ''[[triarii]]''.<ref name=":292" />

Caracalla's mania for Alexander went so far that he visited Alexandria while preparing for his Persian invasion and persecuted philosophers of the [[Aristotelianism|Aristotelian]] school based on a legend that [[Aristotle]] had poisoned Alexander. This was a sign of Caracalla's increasingly erratic behaviour.<ref name=":92" />

=== Parthian war ===
{{main|Parthian war of Caracalla}}
In 216, Caracalla pursued a series of aggressive campaigns in the east against the [[Parthia]]ns, intended to bring more territory under direct Roman control. He offered the king of Parthia, [[Artabanus IV of Parthia]], a marriage proposal between himself and the king's daughter.{{sfn|Goldsworthy|2009|page=[https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/74 74]}}{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|pp=406–407}} Artabanus refused the offer, realizing that the proposal was merely an attempt to unite the kingdom of Parthia under the control of Rome.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|pp=406–407}} In response, Caracalla used the opportunity to start a campaign against the Parthians. That summer Caracalla began to attack the countryside east of the Tigris in the [[Parthian war of Caracalla]].{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|pp=406–407}} In the following winter, Caracalla retired to [[Edessa, Mesopotamia|Edessa]], modern [[Şanlıurfa]] in south-east [[Turkey]], and began making preparations to renew the campaign by spring.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|pp=406–407}}