Was Caligula crazy , misunderstood , or a trivial piece of both ? Historians have had a hard prison term separating fact from fiction . purportedly , this reviled Emperor slept with his sisters , announce war on Neptune the sea god , and made his horse ahigh - order political functionary . But some modernistic scholarsquestionthese stories , suggesting that they may be nothing more than ancient hearsay and propaganda .
Nevertheless , we do know a few thing for sure , like , for example , that he loved a just orgy . The unseasoned rule built some gigantic , gilded ships that’ve been called “ floating palaces . ” Also — much to his overplus — he suffer from premature phalacrosis .
Caligula ’s dome was just the cerise on top of a rather homely sundae . By his early mid-twenties , he ’d become covered with unruly tomentum that had sprout from his cervix all the way down his gaunt , pasty frame — it ’s easy to see why the Emperor was n’t often deemedattractive . One description , pen by the Roman historiographer Suetonius , is especially harsh : “ He was dreadfully pale , had the typeface of an old man , with gloomy , deep - laid eye . His principal was ‘ deformed ’ and bald-pated , except for a few scanty hairsbreadth . His neck was covered with bristle . He had … sparse leg and tremendous feet . ” How flattering .
Apparently , Caligula — like Rodney Dangerfield — didn’t finger like he got enough respectfulness . Many suppose his unkempt appearance bear a striking resemblance to a certain farm animal . shortly , the goat jokes started flying . What ’s a poor , self - witting Emperor to do ?
Our chum Suetoniusallegesthat Caligula made it a crime “ for any soul to wait down on [ him ] from above or so much as to name a goat . ”
grant , Suetonius wrote this inThe Twelve Caesars , a text released in 121 CE , which was 80 years after Caligula’sassassination . Ergo , it ’s unmanageable to settle if he tweak the fact a bit .
For the disk , EmperorAugustus(63 BCE – 14 CE ) , one of Caligula ’s best - known forebears and relatives , had a very different mental attitude towards put - downs . In fact , he even put up with a jest ( made to his look ) about his own paternity .
While predominate , Augustus get to fulfill his own doppelgänger . hear that a traveler who looked almost precisely like him had arrived , the Emperor arranged for a meeting . “ Tell me , ” Augustusasked , “ did your mother ever come to Rome ? ” “ No ” , the tone - alike said , “ but my male parent did , often!”Awww , lose it !
