This was discussed several months ago. As Sly is trying to say and dozens of others have in the older thread we came to the conclusion that Caligula MAY have had some mental issues but was not as insane as Suetonius claims he was.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=271085&highlight=Caligula
Mary Beard already explained that there has been some serious mud slinging on his name in her special show about Caligula. Its on the BBC if you have a free hour.
Much of the more demented things like eating an unborn foetus of his sister is spurious nonsense made up by Robert Graves in his great work I Claudius.
Suetonius (our only complete source) wrote centruies after Caligula was dead and was more interested in the lurid stories about emperors rather than whether they were true or not.
The only historian who met Caligula and wrote about was Josephus and all that happened was the emperor discussing interior decoration with some decorators ignoring the Jewish envoys as they wouldnt put up a statue of him in the Temple.
Many of the bizarre claims made against Caligula bear some explanation to which you all seem too willing to jump on the "insane" bandwagon.
Why was he murdered by the Praetorians?
If you keep insulting the head of your Royal Guard's high effeminate voice, every day, by uncontrollably laughing at him of course hes going to snap and be all too willing to join a nasty plot.
As Claudius made clear in I Claudius was the murder of his wife and 2 year old child entirely necessary?
Whats the difference between Augustus and Caligula? Genius and good Propaganda. Tiberius was a dick who wanted to be left alone to his own perversions, Caligula was, in the beginning a decent ruler. Many of the works of Rome attributed to Claudius were initiated by Caligula. He erected new aqueducts, passed laws and was generally a well thought of Emperor to such an extent when he was murdered the Legions and people of Rome demanded he be made a god.
As for his 'abused' sisters, why are they the only ones to reclaim his body and ensure proper funeral arrangements and have his remains interred in the family tomb if they would have been maltreated by him?
Sleeping with other mens wives at dinner parties.....
Augustus was doing that for YEARS and no one calls him out on it.
He would return with newly weds looking red and flustered and both out of breath. So.... who cares about adultery when you are emperor.
Augustus is probably the only Emperor to murder a man with his BARE HANDS in the SENATE by sticking his thumbs into his eye sockets, when the poor bastard only wanted the Emperors signature. It takes real balls to stand up after and say to 300 gathered people "You saw him he came right for me."
Caligula was an asshole whose often sarcastic comments and practical jokes earned him far more enemies among the upper classes because he wasnt willing to play along with the charade that the Senate had any real power any more. The Historians of Rome are the Senatorial class. Rich layabouts with nothing to do but repeat the stories told to them by their families and the people around them.
It requires only a minor act of critical thinking to think that everything they say should be taken with more salt than can pay a legionaries wages for a year, than to take ONE SOURCE at face value on the rule of an Emperor.
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=271085&highlight=Caligula
Mary Beard already explained that there has been some serious mud slinging on his name in her special show about Caligula. Its on the BBC if you have a free hour.
Much of the more demented things like eating an unborn foetus of his sister is spurious nonsense made up by Robert Graves in his great work I Claudius.
Suetonius (our only complete source) wrote centruies after Caligula was dead and was more interested in the lurid stories about emperors rather than whether they were true or not.
The only historian who met Caligula and wrote about was Josephus and all that happened was the emperor discussing interior decoration with some decorators ignoring the Jewish envoys as they wouldnt put up a statue of him in the Temple.
Many of the bizarre claims made against Caligula bear some explanation to which you all seem too willing to jump on the "insane" bandwagon.
Why was he murdered by the Praetorians?
If you keep insulting the head of your Royal Guard's high effeminate voice, every day, by uncontrollably laughing at him of course hes going to snap and be all too willing to join a nasty plot.
As Claudius made clear in I Claudius was the murder of his wife and 2 year old child entirely necessary?
Whats the difference between Augustus and Caligula? Genius and good Propaganda. Tiberius was a dick who wanted to be left alone to his own perversions, Caligula was, in the beginning a decent ruler. Many of the works of Rome attributed to Claudius were initiated by Caligula. He erected new aqueducts, passed laws and was generally a well thought of Emperor to such an extent when he was murdered the Legions and people of Rome demanded he be made a god.
As for his 'abused' sisters, why are they the only ones to reclaim his body and ensure proper funeral arrangements and have his remains interred in the family tomb if they would have been maltreated by him?
Sleeping with other mens wives at dinner parties.....
Augustus was doing that for YEARS and no one calls him out on it.
He would return with newly weds looking red and flustered and both out of breath. So.... who cares about adultery when you are emperor.
Augustus is probably the only Emperor to murder a man with his BARE HANDS in the SENATE by sticking his thumbs into his eye sockets, when the poor bastard only wanted the Emperors signature. It takes real balls to stand up after and say to 300 gathered people "You saw him he came right for me."
Caligula was an asshole whose often sarcastic comments and practical jokes earned him far more enemies among the upper classes because he wasnt willing to play along with the charade that the Senate had any real power any more. The Historians of Rome are the Senatorial class. Rich layabouts with nothing to do but repeat the stories told to them by their families and the people around them.
It requires only a minor act of critical thinking to think that everything they say should be taken with more salt than can pay a legionaries wages for a year, than to take ONE SOURCE at face value on the rule of an Emperor.
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