Roman emperor Caligula was assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard in 41 CE.
Caligula, whose official name was Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, became emperor in 37 CE. He was the son of the popular general Germanicus and initially received a favorable public welcome. Ancient sources later describe increasingly erratic and autocratic behavior, although some stories about his reign are debated because the surviving accounts were written by hostile or later authors.
On 24 January 41 CE, Praetorian tribune Cassius Chaerea and other conspirators attacked and killed Caligula in a passage beneath the Palatine complex. His wife Caesonia and their young daughter were also killed soon afterward.
The assassination exposed the political importance of the Praetorian Guard, an elite unit created to protect the emperor. After Caligula’s death, the guardsmen reportedly found his uncle Claudius and proclaimed him emperor. The Senate’s attempt to restore republican government therefore failed almost immediately.