Vilified by ancient historians, Caracalla succeeds his father Septimius Severus and reigns in violence. His first act is to assassinate Geta, his younger brother and co-heir. Admirer of Alexander the Great and appreciated by the soldiers whose salaries he increased, he campaigned against the Germans and the Parthians and exercised bloody repression against the inhabitants of Alexandria. Without knowing the motivation for this decision, he promulgated the Edict of Caracalla which extended the right of citizenship to all free men of the Roman Empire.
He died assassinated in 217 during an improvised attack by his praetorium prefect Macrinus, who only reigned for a year before being eliminated in his turn.
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