In this research, I shall attempt, through a perusal of some of the ancient sources and through reading some of the theories of modern historians, to attain a better understanding of the personality and reign of the emperor Gaius, commonly known as Caligula. To this end, my focus will be on the writings of Cassius Dio. At the same time, I shall discuss of the life of Marcus Julius Agrippa I and his relationship to Gaius, and show how an understanding of Agrippa and his relationship with Gaius might also throw some light on the personality and reign of Caesar Caligula.  

Malhata is one of a group of fortresses on the Roman-Judaean frontier with Nabataea (roughly equivalent to modern Jordan). This fortress, located on a tel in the southern portion of the group, is associated with the remains of a Roman road and occupied a strategically central position on an important crossroads between southern Roman Palestine and central Judaea, and between the Dead and Mediterranean seas. It was also on the Roman sector of the Frankincense Trail caravan trade route with the Arabian Peninsula. As well, it is believed to have been ‘Malatha’, mentioned by the Roman- Jewish historian Josephus as the location where the fugitive Herodian prince, Agrippa I, hid when forced to fiee his privileged life in Rome among the Julio-Claudians. An archaeological excavation report and GIS spatial analysis of Malhata reveal information on the fortress’ purpose, and support its being the location where Agrippa hid.