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Ancient historians paint Caligula as insane and cruel, an evil and mentally unstable figure. This has more to do with the fact that most Roman historians were of the senatorial aristocracy, which had reason to hate the man that mocked them and tried to degrade their powers. Shortly after coming to power Caligula fell ill, and in this milieu plans were made for a successor in the event of his death. When he regained his health he had the plotters brutally killed, a "logical" choice since the chosen successor would now be a magnet for conspirators to the throne. Philo said of Caligula, "he being the stronger promptly did to the weaker what the weaker would have done to him. This is defense, not murder." His reign was plagued with conspiracies and, following another, Caligula responded by ending the "political paradox of the age, the contradictory combination of republic and monarchy," halting the Augustan Principate and declaring himself a monarch.

In his ancient books on medicine, Celsus identifies the two types of insanity recognized in Rome: in the first sufferers have delusions but unimpaired reasoning and in the second reasoning itself is disturbed, those who are declared insane and not legally responsible for their actions. If Caligula were insane then the whole of Rome would have been too,since his decisions were carried out and his instructions followed down to the lowest echelons. Appointing his horse to the Senate was not crazy, Caligula was simply showing that sole power rested with him and all others served by his grace alone. What better way to show contempt for the Roman aristocracy than to suggest that a horse have such a coveted honor? He did not believe himself to be one, but by wearing fancy dress and declaring himself a god he was showing the common people how absurd the senate was in worshiping him. These "jokes," far from making Caligula appear crazy, made the senate look ridiculous.

Stories such as Caligula turning part of his palace into a brothel featuring the Senators' wives simply have no historical validity. The incest charge did not surface until a century after Caligula's death. Since everybody hated Caligula, the earlier writers would have reported every last bit of slander. If he truly had been sleeping with his sisters then somebody would have mentioned it before Suetonius. Caligula was not insane but painted that way by historians and others who were burnt by his disregard for established aristocratic niceties. Caligula had a cruel sense of humor yes, but he was in no way insane. Caligula had no tolerance for such subterfuge used by Augustus and Tiberius: he wanted his rule openly acknowledged. This resulted in a number of conspiracies against him, resulting in increasing paranoia and reprisals from him. Caligula may not have been mad, and he may have been satirizing the aims and ambitions of the Roman aristocracy, but he was certainly cruel and dangerous to know.
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