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Standard Loeb accounts record restoration of maiestas prosecutions after a brief halt

Dated 1 January 1914: Standard Loeb accounts record restoration of maiestas prosecutions after a brief halt. In the causal graph this event weakens Democratic Resilience, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

Rolfe and Dio print that Gaius at first shut the maiestas files and then reopened treason as a political weapon. A brief halt is not a constitution. Restoration is the harm.

Context

Tiberius’s last years had already made maiestas a terror. Reopening it after a popular pause is a resilience shock because it teaches that mercy is reversible personal weather.

Caligula is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Why it matters

Printed restoration of treason-as-politics weakens any claim that the early reign was a rights turn.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Caligula

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.36 · verified

    Princeps as named in later editions and objects. Historians, museums, and later states publish the instrument.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactStandard Loeb accounts record restoration of maiestas prosecutions after a brief halt
    2. weakensDriverDemocratic Resilience
    3. strengthensIndicators (3)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.45 · Effect from 1 January 1914 · verified

    Printed restoration of treason-as-politics weakens any claim that the early reign was a rights turn.

    • Having a say in government

      via Democratic Resilience

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.32 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.7)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Clean elections index

      via Democratic Resilience

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.2 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      0.53 score from 0 to 1 · 0.34 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      125 readings, 1900–2024: rose from 0.17 score from 0 to 1 to 0.53 score from 0 to 1.

      Above normal = better

    • WJP Rule of Law Index (global)

      via Democratic Resilience

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.2 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      0.55 index score (0-1) · 0.26 below the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      Above normal = better

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Britannica — CaligulaEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Cassius Dio Book 59 — LacusCurtiusLacusCurtius / University of Chicago · High credibility · verified

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorCaligula
  2. contributed toFactStandard Loeb accounts record restoration of maiestas prosecutions after a brief halt
  3. weakensDriverDemocratic Resilience
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Standard Loeb accounts record restoration of maiestas prosecutions after a brief halt. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/cal-treason-trials-restored

https://factrail.ai/facts/cal-treason-trials-restored

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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