Thus, having despised the ancient inhabitants of Thy holy land, who committed the hated deeds of sorcery and unholy sacrifices, and the merciless murderers of children, and at sacrificial feasts who devoured the entrails of human flesh and blood in secret meetings, and the parents who killed helpless souls, You wanted to destroy them with the hands of their fathers. ours, so that the land, most precious of all to You, may receive a worthy population of the children of God...

(Book of the Presence of Solomon 12:1-7)

Real name - Gaius Caesar

Character - cruel

Temperament - choleric

Religion - pagan pantheist

The attitude towards power is greedy

Attitude towards subjects is contemptuous

The attitude towards love is cynical

The attitude towards flattery is enthusiastic

The attitude towards material wealth is acquisitive

Indifferent attitude towards one's own reputation

Gaius Caesar Caligula, Roman Emperor (12-41)

Germanicus, the father of Gaius Caesar, enjoyed great respect among the people. The people loved him. He loved him so much that when Germanicus arrived or left somewhere, entire crowds gathered around him, stretching for many miles. The ancient Roman historian Suetonius wrote about him: “As is known, Germanicus was endowed with all the physical and mental virtues like no other: rare beauty and courage, remarkable abilities in science and eloquence in both languages, unparalleled kindness, ardent desire and amazing ability to win the favor of the people. and earn his love... He defeated the enemy hand-to-hand more than once. He did not stop giving speeches in court even after the triumph. Even Greek comedies remain among the monuments of his learning. Even when traveling, he behaved like a simple citizen; he entered free and allied cities without lictors.”

The same Suetonius gave Gaius Caesar a completely different description: “He was tall, his complexion was very pale, his body was heavy, his neck and legs were very thin, his eyes and temples were sunken, his forehead was wide and frowning, the hair on his head was sparse, with bald patches on the crown of his head.” , and thick throughout the body. Therefore, it was considered a capital crime to look at him from above as he passed by, or to accidentally utter the word “goat.”

He tried to make his face, already naturally bad and repulsive, even more ferocious, giving it a frightening and terrifying expression in front of the mirror. He was not distinguished by his health, either physically or mentally. As a child he suffered from epilepsy; in his youth, although he was hardy, at times he sudden weakness I could hardly walk, stand, hold on, or come to my senses.”

Adopted by Emperor Tiberius, his paternal uncle, Germanicus worked hard for the glory of the empire until he died in the thirty-fourth year of his life. He died suddenly, unexpectedly, while on business in Antioch. It was suspected that he was poisoned on the orders of Tiberius, who saw the people's favorite as a dangerous competitor. The poisoning version was confirmed by blue spots appearing all over Germanicus’ body and foam on his lips.

Germanicus was married to Agrippina, daughter of Marcus Agrippa and Julia. They had six children, two of whom died in infancy. Three girls survived: Agrippina the Younger, Drusilla and Livilla, and three boys: Nero, Drusus and Gaius Caesar. The Roman Senate, on the accusation of Tiberius, declared Nero and Drusus enemies of the state and put them to death.

Gaius Caesar was born in 12 AD. There is conflicting information about the place of his birth.

“Rhymes that circulated shortly after he came to power indicate that he was born in winter camps: He was born in the camp, grew up under his father’s arms: Don’t you know that the highest power was destined for him?” - wrote Suetonius.

Whether Gaius Caesar was born in a military camp or not is a moot point. But it is reliably known that he grew up among soldiers, they dressed him like an ordinary soldier. There he received his nickname Caligula, which means “boot” - the stern soldiers, deprived of the joys of family life, were touched by a little boy shod in a small copy of real soldier’s boots.

This upbringing gave Gaius Caesar the love of the entire Roman army. According to contemporaries, by his very appearance he could calm the heated crowd of soldiers who had become disobedient.

Caligula grew up as a cunning and cautious child. The death of his father and two brothers taught him to keep his thoughts to himself and not trust anyone. Without a doubt, this modest-looking young man was an excellent actor. Emperor Tiberius brought him closer to himself and appointed him as his heir when Caligula was nineteen years old. Many of the emperor's associates, by cunning or force, tried to provoke some expression of discontent from young Caligula, but failed. Caligula behaved as if he did not know or had completely forgotten about the fate of his father and brothers.

The future emperor endured all humiliations and insults (Tiberius, who had a very bad disposition and was often unfair to him), skillfully pretending to be humble and meek, “... hiding enormous claims under the guise of modesty, he was so in control of himself that neither his mother’s condemnation nor the death of his brothers did not elicit a single exclamation from him; As Tiberius began the day, he had the same appearance, almost the same speeches. Hence the catchphrase of the orator Passienus, which later became widely known: there has never been a better slave or a worse master,” the ancient Roman historian Tacitus wrote about Caligula.

Caligula could not curb only two qualities of his nature even then - his cruelty and his depravity.

“He was present with greedy curiosity at the torture and execution of the tortured; at night, wearing false hair and a long dress, he wandered through taverns and dens, and danced and sang on stage with great pleasure. Tiberius willingly allowed this, hoping to tame his fierce temper. The insightful old man saw right through him and more than once predicted that Guy was living to the destruction of both himself and everyone, and that in him he was feeding a viper for the Roman people and Phaethon [Phaethon, the son of the Sun, according to a well-known myth, burned the entire earth, unable to control the solar chariot. - A. Sh.] for the entire earthly circle,” wrote Suetonius.

While Tiberius was still alive, Caligula married. His chosen one was a young beauty named Junia Claudilla, the daughter of one of the most noble Romans, Marcus Silanus. Their marriage was short-lived - Junia died in childbirth. Caligula, who did not interrupt his vicious activities with his marriage, did not grieve for her at all.

He was occupied with one single goal - to become the heir of the aging Tiberius, and in the name of this goal, the unprincipled and power-hungry Caligula was ready to make any sacrifice. So, for example, he entered into a relationship with Ennia Naevia, the wife of the noble nobleman Macron, who commanded the Praetorians, and even promised that he would marry her when he became emperor, to which he took an oath and a receipt. However, Tacitus argued that it was the insidious and far-sighted Macron who ordered his wife to seduce Caligula in order to have influence over him.

The commander of the Praetorians (or, otherwise, the Praetorian Guard) was a very influential figure in Ancient Rome. The main support of the power of the emperors since the time of Augustus was and remained the army, and above all its best part - the Praetorian Guard, which was the object of close attention and tireless concern of all emperors. Praetorians were regularly paid a substantial salary, and upon completion of their service they were given a large “severance” allowance from the treasury. The entire Roman army was professional. By joining its ranks, a Roman citizen took an oath of allegiance to the emperor. Personally to the emperor, not to the senate and not to the people of Rome. Army service lasted about thirty years. At first, only Roman citizens had the right to serve in the Praetorian Guard, but even during the life of Augustus, free residents of the provinces also received this right.

Information about the death of Tiberius is somewhat contradictory. If you believe Tacitus, then one day Tiberius stopped breathing, and everyone decided that he had died. However, when Caligula was already accepting congratulations as the new emperor, he was suddenly informed that Tiberius had woken up and was even asking to bring him food.

The congratulators, frightened by the revenge of the “resurrected” Caesar, immediately fled, and Caligula became very depressed, not expecting anything good for himself. The situation was saved by Macron, who retained both self-control and determination. He ordered his men to strangle Tiberius by throwing a pile of clothes over him, and the seventy-seven-year-old emperor died for real.

Suetonius claims that Caligula poisoned Tiberius, but he could not give up the ghost. Then Caligula ordered the servant to cover the emperor’s head with a pillow, and, to be sure, he squeezed Tiberius’ throat with his strong hands.

Caligula ordered the servant holding the pillow to be crucified on the cross immediately after the murder - as an unnecessary witness.

“Thus he achieved power in fulfillment of the best hopes of the Roman people, or, better said, of the entire human race,” wrote Suetonius. -

He was the most desired ruler both for most provinces and troops, where many remembered him as an infant, and for the entire Roman crowd, who loved Germanicus and pitied his almost destroyed family. Therefore, when he set out from Misenum, despite the fact that he was in mourning and accompanied the body of Tiberius, the people along the way met him with thick jubilant crowds, with altars, with sacrifices, with lighted torches, bidding him farewell good wishes, calling him “little light”, and “darling”, and “doll”, and “child”.

And when he entered Rome, he was immediately entrusted with the highest and full power by the unanimous verdict of the Senate and the crowd that broke into the curia, contrary to the will of Tiberius, who appointed his minor grandson as his co-heir.”

According to contemporaries, the people's joy was so great that in three months more than one hundred and sixty thousand animals were sacrificed.

The love of the Roman citizens was joined by the affection of foreigners. Thus, the Parthian king Artabanus, who throughout the reign of Tiberius openly expressed hatred and contempt for him, on his own initiative asked the new emperor for friendship and even, having crossed the Euphrates, paid honor to the Roman eagles, legion badges and images of the emperors of Rome.

It should be noted that the calculating Caligula himself did everything possible so that the people would imbue him with even greater love. The murdered Tiberius was buried solemnly, and Caligula himself, bursting into bitter tears, honored the memory of his predecessor with a heartfelt speech.

Wanting to emphasize his filial love, he, despite stormy weather, sailed to the islands to collect the ashes of his mother and brothers in urns, which he solemnly buried in the mausoleum. In memory of them, Caligula established annual memorial rites, and in honor of his mother, in addition, annual circus games, during which the image of Agrippina the Elder was carried around Rome in a special chariot. He did not forget about his father, in memory of him he renamed the month of September Germanicus.

After the dead, it was the turn of the living. In a Senate resolution, Caligula assigned truly great honors to his grandmother Antonia. He took his uncle (and successor) Claudius, who was at that time a Roman equestrian (the aristocratic class, second after the senatorial class), as consul, adopted his brother Tiberius on the day of his majority and gave him the honorary title of “head of the youth,” and in honor of the sisters ordered to add to every oath taken by his subjects: “And let me not love myself and my children more than Guy and his sisters.”

Caligula granted amnesty to all criminals and accused, returned some previously prohibited works to libraries, and allowed officials to freely rule the court without asking him for anything. He even tried to return the election of officials to the people by restoring popular assemblies, but the Senate opposed this, and Caligula did not insist on his own. In his populism, he even went so far as to exempt Italy from a half-percent sales tax and compensate losses to citizens affected by fires. Twice Caligula organized nationwide distributions of money, during which each free Roman received three hundred sesterces. Gifts and treats were often distributed.

The people rejoiced more than ever, and the Senate dedicated a golden shield to the young emperor, which was supposed to be brought to the Capitol every year on a set day with chants and praises.

Caligula was a great fan of gladiator battles and fist fights, during which he indulged his cruelty. He often organized theatrical performances and circus competitions. All this contributed to the growth of his popularity, since the people of Rome loved the spectacle.

“In addition, he invented a new and hitherto unheard-of spectacle,” wrote Suetonius. - He built a bridge across the bay between Baia and the Puteolan pier, almost three thousand six hundred steps long. To do this, he collected cargo ships from everywhere, lined them up at anchors in two rows, poured an earthen rampart on them and leveled them according to the model of the Appian Way. He rode back and forth across this bridge for two days in a row: on the first day - on a trimmed horse, wearing an oak wreath, with a small shield, a sword and a gold-woven cloak; the next day - in the clothes of a charioteer, in a chariot drawn by a pair of the best horses, and in front of him rode the boy Darius from the Parthian hostages, and behind him a detachment of praetorians and a retinue in carts.”

There was no meaning to the audience in this spectacle, but the Romans liked it for its novelty. Caligula himself was prompted to take this step by the old prediction of the astrologer Thrasyllus to Tiberius, who was preoccupied with the search for an heir, that Gaius Caesar would rather ride horses across the Gulf of Baia than become emperor.

Caligula did not forget about creation - he completed a number of buildings that were unfinished by Tiberius, began building a water supply system, restored the temple of the gods in Syracuse, which had collapsed from dilapidation, and laid out several new buildings.

He started well, and there was no end in sight to the praise.

One fine day, Caligula experienced what is commonly called “dizziness from success,” Caligula ordered divine honors to be given to himself, dedicated a special temple to his deity, appointed priests and established sacrifices in his honor. Suetonius writes that “the victims were peacocks, flamingos, black grouse, guinea fowl, pheasants - there is a different breed for each day.”

The emperor decided on an unheard-of step - he ordered images of gods, including Zeus himself, to be brought from Greece, their heads removed and replaced with his own.

Considering that he had done enough to strengthen his power, Caligula decided that he had enough of pretending and restraining himself. The change was striking - from a good ruler, loved by the people, he turned into a bloodthirsty libertine. More precisely, the bloodthirsty libertine threw away the mask of a good ruler and showed his true face to the people of Rome.

Caligula subjected his grandmother Antonia, who repeatedly tried to reason with her grandson and therefore asked him to talk in private, to many humiliations, thereby (and, according to some, poison) bringing her to the grave, and after death he did not give her any honors. It was said that, having received the old woman in the presence of Macron, Caligula threatened her: “Don’t forget that I can do anything to anyone!”

Caligula executed his brother Tiberius, accusing him of secretly taking an antidote, as if fearing that the emperor would order him to be poisoned. In fact, Tiberius was taking medicine for a constant cough that tormented him.

Caligula forced the father of his late wife to commit suicide. The unfortunate man’s imaginary guilt was that he had never sailed with his son-in-law across the choppy sea for the ashes of Caligula’s mother and sisters, allegedly hoping to take possession of Rome himself in the event of a shipwreck. The real reason for avoiding participation in the voyage was Mark Silan's seasickness.

Caligula had an incestuous love affair with all his sisters. There were rumors that Drusilla, his most beloved sister, was deflowered by Caligula while still a teenager, and the grandmother Antonia, with whom they grew up together, once caught them during sexual intercourse.

Drusilla married Lucius Cassius Longinus, a senator of consular rank, but Caligula, having become emperor, brazenly violated the laws, taking her away from her husband and openly cohabiting with her.

Caligula was deeply attached to Drusilla, who was no doubt as vicious and depraved as he was. However, without hesitation, he gave it to the leaders of the praetorian cohorts for amusement, wanting to win them over even more. The nymphomaniac Drusilla was able to withstand many days of violence, but she could not endure the monstrous humiliation and soon died of grief.

When she died, Caligula established the strictest mourning, during which not only all types of entertainment and laughter for any reason, but even bathing and joint family dinners were punishable by death. Caligula himself henceforth swore only in the name of the deity Drusilla.

Caligula loved his other sisters less passionately and strongly. He more than once gave them away for the amusement of his favorites, and subsequently sent them into exile on charges of debauchery (just think!) and complicity in a conspiracy against him.

According to Suetonius, “it is difficult to say about his marriages what was more obscene in them: conclusion, dissolution, or remaining in marriage.”

Caligula personally came to congratulate the noble Roman Livia Orestilla, who was marrying Gaius Piso, on her marriage and, succumbing to a fit of passion, immediately ordered her to be taken away from her husband. A few days later he got bored with Livia, and he let her go home, but two years later he suddenly sent her into exile because she had the imprudence to get back together with her husband.

He summoned another noble lady, Lollia Pavlina, the wife of a military leader, from the province, having heard about her beauty. The rumors were well-founded, so Caligula, by his edict (decree), divorced Lollia from her husband and took her as his wife, only to soon let her go, forbidding her from allowing anyone to come near him in the future.

“Caesonia, who was not distinguished by either beauty or youth and had already given birth to three daughters from another husband, he loved most passionately and for the longest time for her voluptuousness and extravagance,” wrote Suetonius, “he often led her to the troops next to him, on horseback, with with a light shield, in a cloak and helmet, and even showed her naked to his friends. He honored her with the name of his wife no sooner than she gave birth to him, and on the same day declared himself her husband and the father of her child. He carried this child, Julia Drusilla, through the temples of all the goddesses and finally laid him on the womb of Minerva, instructing the deity to raise and feed her. He considered her fierce temper to be the best proof that she was the daughter of his flesh: even then she was so furious that she would scratch the faces and eyes of the children playing with her with her nails.” Truly, no better proof of blood relationship with the tyrant was required!

Caligula could put his friends to death for the slightest offense, and without any guilt at all. As they say, if there is a desire, there will always be a reason.

Caligula even dealt with Macron himself and his wife Ennia, who brought him to power. Caligula, contrary to his promise, never married Ennia Naevia; she remained his mistress. When Ennia tired of him, Caligula, accompanied by the executioner, showed up at Macron’s home, entered his bedroom and forced the spouses to make love in front of witnesses. Having seized the right moment, the executioner, at a sign from Caligula, hacked Macron to death with a sword, and strangled Ennia Caligula with his own hand. The executioner himself was killed by the Praetorians who came running to the noise, thinking that he dared to attack their beloved emperor.

Yes - the army and the people continued to love Caligula, despite all his antics, and thanks to this love, the power of the bloodthirsty emperor seemed eternal and indestructible.

Caligula used to take one of other people's wives to his chambers during a feast, and after enjoying her fully, return her to her husband, accompanying his act a detailed story about how exactly they made love, and at the same time noting both the shortcomings and the advantages of the woman.

The emperor's subjects meekly endured his antics, fearing to show the slightest dissatisfaction, lest they be executed.

“He showed just as little respect and meekness towards the senators,” Suetonius testified, “he forced some who occupied the highest positions, dressed in togas, to run for several miles behind his chariot, and at dinner to stand at his bed at the head or in legs, belted with linen [in Ancient Rome slave servants walked around wearing belts. - A. Sh.]. He secretly executed others, but continued to invite them as if they were alive, and only a few days later he falsely announced that they had committed suicide. He deprived the consuls who forgot to issue an edict on his birthday, and for three days the state was left without supreme power. He ordered his quaestor, accused of conspiracy, to be scourged, tearing off his clothes and throwing them at the feet of the soldiers, so that they would have something to lean on when delivering blows.

He treated other classes with the same arrogance and cruelty. Once, disturbed in the middle of the night by the noise of a crowd that was rushing to take seats in the circus, he dispersed them all with sticks: in the confusion, more than twenty Roman horsemen were crushed, as many married women and an uncountable number of other people.”

As soon as the price of cattle, which, among other things, were used to fatten wild animals for spectacles, became more expensive, Caligula ordered that criminals be used for this purpose instead of animals, and he did not hesitate to personally go around prisons and select future victims.

Branding innocent subjects with a hot iron, beating them to death with chains and whips, burning them at the stake, throwing them to wild animals or, for example, sawing them in half with a saw, Caligula forced the relatives of the unfortunate to be present at these monstrous executions. None of those who fell under the wrath or hostility of the emperor could count on an easy death. Simple murder was not enough for Caligula; he certainly wanted to enjoy the torment of the doomed, without which executions would lose all meaning for him.

Caligula always demanded that executions be carried out slowly, with small, frequent blows; at the same time, he sentenced, turning to the executioner: “Beat him so that he feels that he is dying!”

He lived and ruled according to the principle read in one of the tragedies: “Let them hate, as long as they are afraid!” Caligula belongs famous expression: “Oh, that the Roman people had only one neck!” He spoke these words during a chariot race in which he himself took part. Caligula's anger was caused by the fact that the audience dared to applaud one of his competitors.

“There is reason to think that because of the darkness of his mind, the most opposite vices coexisted in him - exorbitant self-confidence and at the same time desperate fear,” suggested Suetonius. -

In fact: he, who so despised the gods themselves, at the slightest thunder and lightning, closed his eyes and covered his head, and if the thunderstorm was stronger, he jumped out of bed and hid under the bed. In Sicily, during his trip, he cruelly mocked all the local shrines, but suddenly fled from Messana in the middle of the night, frightened by the smoke and roar of the crater of Etna.”

Was Caligula mentally normal? Definitely no. It is impossible to establish an exact diagnosis over the years, but there is no doubt that he was either a schizophrenic or a psychopath, and in any case, the course of the disease was aggravated by the unlimited power that Caligula possessed.

“He considered, in his own words, equanimity, that is, shamelessness, to be the best and most commendable feature of his character,” wrote Suetonius.

Caligula, without hesitation, loudly regretted that his reign was not marked by any national disasters and risked being disgraced due to public well-being. He envied the divine Augustus, whose reign was remembered by the terrible defeat of the military leader Quintillius Varus, when the Germans completely destroyed three entire legions, along with the commander, legates and all auxiliary troops. Caligula was also jealous of Tiberius, during whose reign the amphitheater in Fidenae, packed with people, collapsed. He was jealous and passionately dreamed of a great military massacre, of severe famine, of a plague epidemic, of terrible fires or destructive earthquakes.

Caligula could have caused the disaster himself. For example, during the consecration of a bridge in one of the provinces, he gathered a great crowd of people for the celebration and suddenly ordered them to be thrown from the banks into the sea. He himself swam on the ship between the drowning people, enjoying their horror, and with a hook he pushed away those who tried to escape by grabbing the stern.

He was capable of any sacrilege. Thus, one day, during a sacrifice in the temple, Caligula dressed up as a carver’s assistant, and when the sacrificial animal was brought to the altar, he suddenly swung and calmly killed the priest-carver himself with one blow of his hammer.

There was even more envy and anger in Caligula than cruelty. He ordered the destruction of all statues of illustrious men of the past, and also forbade the erection of statues or sculpted portraits of living people without his approval. Of course, only the image of the emperor himself received approval and no one else.

Caligula could have ordered the back of a handsome young man's head to be shaved in order to disfigure him, or he could have simply ordered the death of the impudent man who dared to outshine the emperor himself with his beauty. Suetonius wrote: “There was a certain Aesius Proculus, the son of a senior centurion, who was nicknamed Colossus Eros for his enormous height and handsome appearance. [that is, huge, like a colossus, and beautiful, like Eros, the messenger of love. - A. Sh.]\ During the spectacle, he suddenly ordered him to be driven from his place, taken to the arena, pitted against a lightly armed gladiator, then against a heavily armed one, and when he emerged victorious both times, he was tied up, dressed in rags, paraded through the streets for the amusement of the women, and finally , cut. Truly, there was no person so rootless and so wretched that he would not try to dispossess him.”

Caligula did not shy away from sodomy, which in Ancient Rome, unlike Ancient Greece, was condemned and punished very severely - even the death penalty.

A certain Valerius Catullus, a young man from a noble Roman family, complained without hesitation to his friends that his lower back hurt from tireless love affairs with the voluptuous emperor. Caligula also had many other male lovers.

He was so loving that he did not make any difference between men and women, and, while quenching his passion, he certainly tried to cause pain to the victim. Rough sex was ubiquitous in ancient Rome, where it was believed that victory in the battlefield was inseparable from violence, but Caligula left all his contemporaries far behind.

Having grown up among soldiers and seemingly not accustomed to luxury, Caligula, having become emperor, outdid the most desperate spenders among his predecessors with his exorbitant waste. Let us listen to Suetonius, who left us very detailed records about the lives of the twelve Roman Caesars, starting with the divine Julius: “He (Caligula. - A. Sh.) invented unheard-of ablutions, outlandish dishes and feasts - he bathed in fragrant oils, hot and cold, drank precious pearls dissolved in vinegar, distributed bread and snacks made of pure gold to the table diners. “You have to live either as a modest person or as a Caesar!” - he said. He even threw considerable amounts of money at the people from the roof of the Julian Basilica for several days in a row. He built the Liburnian galleys with ten rows of oars, with pearl sterns, with multi-colored sails, with huge baths, porticoes, banqueting chambers, even with vineyards and orchards of all kinds: feasting in them in broad daylight, he sailed along the coast accompanied by music and singing. Campaigns. Constructing villas and country houses, he forgot about all common sense, trying only to build what seemed impossible to build. And that is why dams were raised in the deep and stormy sea, passages were cut through flint cliffs, valleys rose in embankments to the mountains, and mountains, dug up, were leveled to the ground - and all this with incredible speed, because they paid for delay with their lives.”

Tiberius left two billion seven hundred million sesterces in the treasury - a gigantic sum at that time. Caligula managed to get it down in less than a year.

Left without money, the young emperor began to get it with his characteristic shamelessness.

He forced people whose grandfathers and great-grandfathers bought Roman citizenship for themselves and their descendants to pay again, extending the concept of “descendants” only to the sons of the acquirer. He sought to become a co-heir to almost every inheritance in Rome. He did not hesitate to impose exorbitant taxes on his subjects. He organized a wide variety of auctions, personally setting and inflating prices for them. Of course, all income from the auction went to the imperial treasury. Noble people who wanted to dine with the emperor had to shell out a lot, and in general his subjects were accustomed to paying Caligula for everything, literally for every sneeze or every breath. The emperor did not disdain banal usury, lending money at fabulous interest rates and ruthlessly collecting what was due (and often more) from debtors.

Overwhelmed by the mania of acquisitiveness and not at all ashamed of his subjects, who were frightened to the point of trembling, Caligula set up a luxurious and huge brothel (in ancient Roman - lupanar), where, under his compulsion, respectable married matrons, as well as boys and girls from noble families, offered themselves to everyone for money. , straight to Caligula.

As soon as Caligula’s daughter was born, he immediately began to demand offerings from his subjects for her upbringing and dowry.

His passion for gold went so far that Caligula ordered his servants to scatter gold coins on the floor so that they completely covered it, and began to walk on the gold with bare feet or even roll on it with his whole body. The benefits that were purchased for money were not enough for him - he sought to derive pleasure directly from contact with gold coins.

For all his cruelty and bloodthirstiness, Caligula was not a warrior, much less a commander. During his entire reign, he only once became concerned about war, and even then by pure chance. One day the emperor was reminded that his detachment of German bodyguards should be replenished, and he suddenly decided to go to war against Germany.

Caligula had long ago taught the Romans that all his desires, even the most extravagant ones, should be fulfilled immediately and exactly. Soon the army was assembled and set off on a campaign, led by the emperor himself.

Caligula tried to play the role of a wise and strict commander, but his idea failed, which, however, did not prevent the emperor from returning to Rome in triumph.

“And he wrote to his treasurers to prepare a triumph such as no one had seen, but to spend as little as possible on it: after all, they have at their disposal the property of the entire population,” wrote Suetonius.

Many atrocities could not pass without a trace - according to contemporaries, Caligula was tormented by insomnia. At night he could not sleep for a long time, and when sleep finally came to him, he was very restless and the emperor slept for no more than three hours at a time. Caligula was troubled by strange visions, and sometimes ghosts appeared to him. Without a doubt, there were among them those who fell victims to the ferocious and bloodthirsty emperor. Instilling fear in his subjects, he wandered, waiting for the long-awaited dawn, through the endless passages of his palace, looking for someone to take out his evil on.

The imperial style of dressing amazed the Romans. Without thinking at all about the impression his outfit made on others, Caligula could appear in public in clothes unworthy not only of an emperor, but also of an ordinary man. “He often went out to the people in colored capes embroidered with pearls, with sleeves and wrists, sometimes in silks (at that time only women wore silk clothes. - A. Sh.) and women's blankets, shod either in sandals or buskins [special boots with high soles, in which tragic actors performed, so that the public could see them better. -A. Sh. ], sometimes into soldier’s boots, sometimes into women’s shoes; many times he appeared with a gilded beard, holding in his hand a lightning bolt, or a trident, or a staff - the signs of the gods, or even in the vestments of Venus. He always wore the triumphal robe even before his campaign, and sometimes he wore the armor of Alexander the Great, obtained from his tomb,” wrote Suetonius.

Caligula was an excellent orator - eloquent, resourceful, and did not reach into his pocket for a well-aimed word. Loving to show off, he was always ready to make a speech in front of any audience, finding special joy in this activity if the speech was accusatory. His acting abilities were beyond praise - he skillfully controlled his voice, giving it expressiveness appropriate to the moment, and supported it with thoughtful, polished gestures and facial expressions that looked completely natural and sincere. For all that, Caligula, more accustomed to speaking before soldiers and the mob than before patricians and educated people in general, despised elegant style and was never distinguished by the softness of his colorful expressions. Of course, Caligula was passionately jealous of the success of other speakers. Poor, poor speakers... Their supreme envy must have cost them dearly!

Caligula's talents were versatile and multifaceted. “A gladiator and a driver, a singer and a dancer, he fought with military weapons, acted as a driver in circuses built everywhere, and he enjoyed singing and dancing so much that even at national spectacles he could not resist singing along with the tragic actor and echoing in front of everyone movements of the dancer, approving them and correcting them...

He sometimes danced even in the middle of the night: once, after midnight, he called three senators of consular rank to the palace, seated them on the stage, trembling in anticipation of the worst, and then suddenly ran out to them to the sounds of flutes and rattles in a woman’s veil and a tunic to his toes, and danced dance and left.

However, for all his dexterity, he did not know how to swim,” says Suetonius.

Without a doubt, such a monster as Caligula could not help but make a great many enemies. Many of those to whom he caused grief wanted to take revenge on him, intending to put an end to him in one way or another, but up to a certain point all the conspiracies failed, and the conspirators paid with their lives for their intentions.

Finally the cup of anger overflowed. There were two brave men, two noble Romans, whose names were Cassius Chaerea and Cornelius Sabinus. With good reason we can assume that almost the entire Senate and almost all the patricians of Rome stood behind them, because while Caligula was in power, no one, regardless of nobility of origin, position in society, wealth and past merits, could feel in security. In addition, the bloody millstones spun by Caligula were gaining momentum, and no one believed that they could stop without outside participation...

Cassius Chaerea and Cornelius Sabinus developed a plan to assassinate Caligula and managed to carry it out. In case of failure, the conspirators did not lose anything - their own lives were literally hanging by a thread, because the emperor already suspected them of malicious intent against his sacred person. Caligula was generally characterized by groundless, or, more precisely, unsubstantiated, unfounded suspicions.

According to the plan, it was necessary to attack Caligula during the Palatine Games (three-day games established in honor of Emperor Augustus after his death), exactly at noon, when the emperor was supposed to leave the performance.

Cassius Chaerea voluntarily took on the leading role. He was an honored and respected man of venerable age in Rome, who held the high position of tribune of the praetorian cohort. All these circumstances did not prevent Caligula from constantly (and very sophisticatedly - the emperor did not like to repeat himself, finding it humiliating) to mock Cassius. A favorite area for the highest ridicule was everything connected with love affairs. Caligula teased Cassius as a womanizer, not without a second thought assigned him the words “Priapus” or “Venus” as a password, publicly showed obscene gestures to the tribune... The arsenal was large, and just as great was the hatred of the offended Cassius, in addition to everything aware that sooner or later, the emperor will become bored with his mental torment and the time will come for physical torment, which will inevitably end in death.

The ancient Romans loved all kinds of fortune telling, predictions and signs. Of course, such a grandiose matter as the death of the tyrant Caligula could not do without signs. They said that shortly before his murder, the statue of Jupiter, which Caligula ordered to be dismantled and transported from Olympia to Rome, suddenly burst into a thunderous peal of laughter, which scared all the witnesses almost half to death. They said that in Capua lightning struck the Capitol, and in Rome it chose the temple of Apollo as its target, and interpreted what happened as signs foreshadowing the emperor of the danger posed by his servants.

The astrologer Sulla, in response to Caligula's question about his horoscope, allegedly announced to the emperor that his death was inevitably approaching. The fact is controversial, since Sulla got away with such a statement (he outlived Caligula by many years), which, knowing Caligula’s tough temperament, is impossible to believe. There is also a legend that says that the oracles of Fortuna of Actia advised Caligula to beware of the machinations of Cassius, which is why he immediately sent the assassins to a certain Cassius Longinus, who was then proconsul of Asia, not remembering that Chaereus, whom he hated, was also called Cassius.

Caligula, according to his own story, the night before his death had a dream in which he stood in heaven at the foot of the throne of Jupiter, who threw him from heaven to earth with a kick. On the very day of the murder, Caligula was allegedly splashed with the blood of a flamingo during a sacrifice, which was clearly interpreted as a bad sign...

About the murder of Caligula itself, which took place on January 24, 1941, two versions have reached us. According to the first of them, when Caligula was talking with boys from among the Roman nobility, Cassius Chaerea approached him from behind, suddenly cut the back of his head deeply with a precise blow of his sword and shouted: “Do your job!”, calling his partner Cornelius Sabinus to action, too. tribune. He did not make a mistake - he quickly grabbed the sword from its sheath and plunged it into the tyrant’s chest up to the hilt.

According to another version, it all started when the centurions from the emperor’s guard, privy to the conspiracy, pushed the crowd of his companions away from Caligula. Then Cassius Chaerea shouted: “Get yours!” - and when Caligula turned around at the cry, he cut his chin with his sword. The Emperor fell to the ground, writhing in pain and shouting: “I’m alive! I'm alive!" - after which the rest of the conspirators finished him off with many blows (according to Suetonius, about thirty). The imperial German bodyguards came running at the noise, and a bloody brawl ensued, which would undoubtedly have pleased Caligula if he had been alive.

After the death of the emperor, his wife Caesonia was hacked to death, the same one “not distinguished by either beauty or youth,” and the conspirators killed Caligula’s daughter, Julia Drusilla, by taking her by the legs and smashing her head against the wall.

The conspirators first tried to burn Caligula's body on a funeral pyre, but it did not burn entirely and was hastily buried. Subsequently, the remains of Caligula were dug up, burned to the end and properly buried by his sisters - Agrippina the Younger and Livilla, who returned from exile after the death of their brother.

The people of Rome did not immediately believe in the death of Caligula. Many initially suspected that the emperor himself ordered the rumor of his own murder to be spread in order to find out how his subjects really felt about him.

Caligula’s successor was Claudius, already mentioned here, about whom Antonia’s own mother said that her son, among other people, looked like a real freak, that nature began him and did not end him, and intending to convict someone of lack of intelligence, she said: “He is stupider than my Claudius.” " The people of Rome were again unlucky, although the divine Claudius, in terms of the atrocities he committed, could not be compared with either his predecessor Caligula or his successor Nero.

Gaius Caesar, nicknamed Caligula, lived twenty-nine years, of which he reigned for only three years, ten months and eight days, but managed to leave a monstrous memory of himself as a bloodthirsty and utterly licentious creature, unworthy of the name of man.

In the entire history of mankind, few rulers managed to surpass Caligula in atrocities.

When speaking about his unbridled voluptuousness, one must not use the lofty word “love” so as not to desecrate it. Caligula never knew any love - he was tormented only by passions, base and vicious passions. His example convinces us that the high honor of ruling over their fellow men is not always awarded to the best of people. And it is unlikely that any story, any book, any film that talks about Caligula can convey the horror that his unfortunate subjects experienced during the reign of the tyrant.

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (12-41 AD) became famous as one of the most cruel rulers of the Roman Empire during the entire period of its existence. Better known as Caligula, he was proclaimed Princeps by the Roman Senate on March 18, 37. In the first few months of his reign, showing concern for his people and state, the new emperor reduced taxes and paid off the debts left by his predecessors. Caligula was distinguished by his special piety and very quickly won the love of the people. Eight months later, according to chroniclers, he became very ill and did not appear in public for a long time. There were rumors that Caligula would never return to state affairs and would soon die, but a miracle happened and everyone’s beloved emperor finally recovered. However, the joy from such news did not last long: soon the Romans dubbed Caligula the “black ruler,” and conspiracies began to be prepared one after another in the Senate. What influenced such a rapid development of hatred towards the once beloved ruler, and why did he pay with his life?

Crazy ruler

Modern researchers, based on historical documents and the works of ancient Roman writers, suggest that Caligula suffered from a disease that resulted in serious neurological abnormalities. In his book “The Lives of the Twelve Caesars,” dedicated to the biography of the first Roman emperors, the Roman encyclopedist and historian Suetonius, who lived at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, described Caligula’s illness as similar to epilepsy. Some modern scientists are inclined to believe that the emperor suffered a more serious illness - encephalitis, which affected the brain and, accordingly, affected his mental health.

Horses are people too, or how Caligula's favorite became a senator

One of the craziest acts of the Roman emperor was to appoint his horse named Inciatus to the post of senator and then consul. Caligula even sometimes spoke on his behalf in front of the people and organized magnificent celebrations in his honor! Intiate received from his patron as a gift a luxurious marble palace with a golden trough and a whole retinue of servants. The horse, in turn, regularly came to work and, together with the other senators, took part in all sorts of meetings.

Black Emperor Caligula

When Caligula fell ill, many Romans, who dearly loved their ruler, were so worried about his illness that they were ready to give their lives for the sake of the emperor’s recovery. When Caligula “recovered,” he ordered everyone who so wanted to sacrifice their lives to fulfill their promises. Because you need to keep your word.

His cruelty and tyranny manifested itself in literally everything. Most of all, the emperor enjoyed watching executions, in which, as the ancient Roman chroniclers testify, he often personally took part. Caligula treated death from a philosophical point of view and easily decided human destinies. He could sentence to death any person he did not like, regardless of whether the unfortunate person had committed any crime or not. Among those displeasing His Augustness were not only ordinary Romans, but also representatives of noble families, and even close relatives of the emperor.

Caligula: God Emperor

The narcissistic emperor proclaimed himself God and ordered his person to be worshiped. In honor of himself, he built a large temple, where he installed a golden statue, which the priests had to dress every day in the clothes in which Caligula went out to the plebs. In addition, the emperor attended the daily sacrifices performed in his divine honor, and executed those who worshiped other Gods.

One day, Caligula even decided to take possession of the sea and declared war on Neptune, the ancient Roman God of the seas and oceans. He gathered his army, led it to the shores of the sea and ordered them to throw spears and arrows into the water in order to defeat their sworn enemy.

Gold and easy money

Caligula never hid his passion for a luxurious life. Having almost completely emptied the state treasury to satisfy his own whims, he began to raise taxes and come up with new ones. In addition, the emperor forced rich citizens to include him in the inheritance, and when he received what he wanted, he ordered the testator to be poisoned if he turned out to be too alive. Caligula sold the high positions of consuls and priests for a lot of money, and for the position that the imperial horse received, all owners of these animals in Rome, without exception, had to be paid. If its owner could not fulfill the ruler’s next whim, this was regarded as an insult to the Intiate, and a rather sad fate awaited the careless horse along with its owner.

Caligula spent money with ease and wanted to receive it with the same ease. For large sums, he allowed everyone to share a dinner meal with him, but the buyer of such a precious service did not always return to his chambers. The emperor could poison his guest if he simply did not like him.

Pay

Caligula was at the head of the Roman Empire for only four years, but during this time he managed to become famous for his exceptional cruelty and was known as a madman. Conspiracies were prepared against him more than once, and the emperor knew about this, so he was always wary of everything that happened and did not trust anyone. However, one day, on the way to the baths, conspirators waylaid him and carried out their own sentence, taking the lives of not only Caligula, but also his wife and young daughter. Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was killed on January 24, 41 at the age of 28. According to Suetonius, the last words of the cruel ruler were “I am still alive!” Apparently, until the last minutes of his life, Caligula could not believe that retribution would still overtake him.

10:29 — REGNUM Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known by his nickname Caligula, went down in history as perhaps the most terrible of all Roman rulers of the imperial era. There is no end in sight to the list of his atrocities, and it seems surprising that it is possible to do such a thing in less than four years of his reign.

Although, as you know, Caligula began his vicious path in very early childhood, as the famous Roman historian eloquently tells Gaius Suetonius Tranquil.

“He lived in a criminal relationship with all his sisters, and at all dinner parties they alternately reclined on the bed below him, and his legal wife above him. They say that he deflowered one of them, Drusilla, when she was still a teenager, and the grandmother Antonia, with whom they grew up, once caught them together.”, writes Suetonius, without specifying who spread such rumors.

Like this, with light hand Roman historian, born 30 years after the death of Caligula, the whole world has been cursing the fourth Caesar as a shameful libertine for 2 thousand years.

But the testimony of Suetonius, this outstanding writer, personal secretary of Emperor Hadrian, is the most valuable source for the biography of Guy Caligula, as well as other Caesars. It is from them that we draw the lion's share of evidence about rulers distant from us.

It is noteworthy that of the four dynasties of the Principate era, only one was highly valued by contemporaries and, as a consequence, by many generations of future historians, who in their works were forced to be guided by a narrow list of sources. We are talking about the Antonines, who went down in history as a dynasty of “good emperors.”

Quote from the film "Caligula". Dir. Tinto Brass. 1979. UK, USA, Italy

The rest of the dynasties, presumably, were bad. It is not difficult to guess that the assessment depended on the personal opinion of the author telling us the story. From the personal opinion of Suetonius, from the personal opinion Lucia Annaea Seneca, from the personal opinion of everyone else, those few whose works have survived to this day.

Not surprisingly, the writings of representatives of the upper strata of Roman society have reached us, so their sympathies were often of a class nature, and the assessment of the work of a particular emperor was based on the question: “What have you done for the senatorial class?”

Quote from the film "Caligula". Dir. Tinto Brass. 1979. UK, USA, Italy

It is not necessary to study the work of the Antonine dynasty to understand that in its policies it relied on the Roman Senate: you can guess this anyway. That is why we remember it as a good dynasty. From here it is easy to conclude that the Julio-Claudians were looking for support in other environments. It is no coincidence that half of the representatives of this dynasty died violently, as a result of conspiracies.

Caligula lasted the longest on the throne. According to sources, the conspiracy was extensive in scope, which means that the ruler incurred great hatred from the ruling class.

As Suetonius notes, during the first months of his reign he was moderate in his actions and did not demonstrate a violent temper. It all started after he suffered from an illness. It is noteworthy that in his biography of the Caesars, the historian more than once uses a similar explanatory technique, when a normal, restrained ruler suddenly turns into a madman. Thus, Emperor Tiberius turned into a monster after the death of his son. The biographies of other rulers also look unconvincing due to their striking contrast.

In reality, the whole point is not Caligula’s illness, but the fact that during the first period of his reign he did not take any active steps against the Senate. But as soon as it began, it became a reason to think about the mental well-being of the princeps. Indeed, only a madman would care about the mob.

One of the emperor's first decisions was an attempt to return to the people the right to choose officials. This privilege was transferred by Tiberius to the Senate. Such a start, which, however, was not successful, could not but alert the fathers of Rome.

He also loved to make fun of noble people in the presence of slaves and freedmen, and favored the plebeians.

“At theatrical performances, wanting to quarrel between the plebeians and the equestrians, he distributed free passes ahead of time so that the mob would also seize the equestrian seats.”“, notes Suetonius with obvious dissatisfaction towards the “rabble”.

It is noteworthy that the court historian Antoninov admits that Caligula’s reign was a time of general prosperity in the empire, but even this he blames the emperor.

“He did not even hide how he regretted that his time was not marked by any national disasters: the reign of Augustus was remembered for the defeat of Varus, the reign of Tiberius for the collapse of the amphitheater in Fidenae, and his reign will be forgotten because of the general well-being.”, writes Suetonius.

Quote from the film "Caligula". Dir. Tinto Brass. 1979. UK, USA, Italy

It seems that Caesar's chief accuser is not trying at all to hide the fact that Caligula enjoys sympathy among the common people and the horsemen. It is obvious to him that the real crime is disrespect only towards the Senate.

“And in the edict he declared that he was returning only for those who wished him - for the horsemen and the people; for the Senate he will no longer be either a citizen or a princeps.”, says Suetonius, mentioning another eloquent episode in the biography of Caligula, when he abandoned his own triumph.

Not only Suetonius threw mud at Caligula, another writer known to us, Seneca, also did this, who, unlike the first, was a contemporary of our hero.

The most remarkable may seem to be the description of the emperor’s appearance, which tells us more about the philosopher’s attitude towards his royal contemporary than about his appearance:

“Disgusting pallor, betraying madness; the wild look of eyes deeply hidden under the senile forehead; an irregularly shaped, ugly bald head with pathetic little hairs sticking out here and there; add to this a neck overgrown with thick stubble, thin legs and monstrously huge feet.”“, writes Seneca, obviously wanting to insult rather than capture the ruler.

Probably, this attitude was caused by the emperor’s skeptical attitude towards Seneca’s philosophical exercises, especially towards his sententious style of narration.

“He called the works of Seneca, who was then at the height of his fame, “pure scholarship” and “sand without lime.”, writes Suetonius.

The apotheosis of madness was Caligula’s accusation that he allegedly wanted to make his horse Incitatus consul, which did not happen only because of the emperor’s imminent death at the hands of the conspirators.

This anecdote is still widely quoted today when talking about the ancient Roman ruler. Modern researchers give different interpretations of this episode, but still generally agree that it should not be taken literally. As a result, it turns out that our judgments about the ruler who died 2 thousand years ago are based on the speculation of his ill-wisher, which we simply could have misinterpreted.

Ultimately, he was killed, some historians note that the conspirators feared popular reprisals, since Caligula's popularity was great, some of them could not avoid execution, including one of the leaders of the conspiracy Cassius Chaerea, ironically had the same name as the killer Guy Julius Caesar.

In conditions where history is written by the aristocracy, such rulers will always be villains, murderers and criminals, which is probably why this term subsequently acquired a negative connotation.

But who was he really, Emperor Gaius Julius Caesar Caligula? I think neither a hero nor a villain, but rather an ordinary person, by the will of fate, became the ruler of the world. Dying at the hands of the conspirators, he seemed to say “I’m still alive!” In a sense, this was really so, only the man Caligula died in order to open the way into history for the myth about him. The man lived only 28 years; today the myth turns 2006 years old. Into history, Caligula, into history!

Caligula

The heir to Tiberius was a man of a completely opposite type - we are talking about Gaius Caesar, better known under the nickname Caligula.

All the classical sources that tell of this most incomprehensible representative of the Julio-Claudian house agree that he combined all the signs of madness, cruelty, vulgarity and depravity that were characteristic of the most unbalanced of the Caesars. Of particular interest to us is his sexual character, which we will try not to stigmatize, but to understand and evaluate. We must begin with the indisputable point that Caligula was marked by hereditary degeneration and that the absolute power he acquired strengthened and developed the worst traits of his personality. He was the son of Germanicus (and as such belonged to the house

Claudius) and Agrippina the Elder, daughter of the dissolute Julia, daughter of Augustus. From his great-grandfather Anthony, he inherited a craving for extravagant vices, and from the Yulies - ambition and sensuality, as well as a family tendency to epilepsy. Modern researchers such as Müller and von Delius consider Caligula "feeble-minded" and diagnose him dementia praecox(youthful madness); based on his sculptures and portraits on coins, they attribute to him stupidity, rudeness, despotism and cruelty, combined with insane energy, which usually found outlet in crimes. Interestingly, Caligula's true nature was revealed only over time. Müller considers this an important indicator of his unhealthy mental state. As he says (op. cit.), “Caligula became mentally unstable only after several months of rule. Obviously, it was then that he was struck by the first attack dementia praecox“Until that time, his reign was moderate, and the Roman people praised him as the son of Germanicus, but after that time madness took possession of him.”

The picture that emerges is quite consistent. As Müller points out, Suetonius's description of Caligula is psychologically reliable. As a young man, Caligula committed incest with his sister. (Suetonius. Caligula, 24). Unfortunately for him, he grew up in an army camp, where the rude and ignorant soldiers who idolized the boy completely spoiled him. In his youth he was under the supervision of his grandfather Tiberius, but, obviously, it was too late to correct him. It is clear that he always played the role of a diligent and straightforward young man, but Tiberius was too shrewd to be deceived by such a pretense. The character of Caligula often became a cause of concern for Tiberius, expressed in words such as “there was no better slave and worse sovereign in the world,” and that in the person of Caligula “he feeds the viper for the Roman people and Phaeton for the entire earthly circle.” (Suetonius. Caligula, 10 and 11).

Caligula's character was most clearly manifested in his exceptional passion for cruelty and undisguised sadism. “He once stood near the statue of Jupiter and asked the tragic actor Apelles, who has more greatness? And when he was slow to answer, he ordered them to whip him with a whip and, in response to his complaints, said that he had an excellent voice even through his groans. Kissing his wife or mistress on the neck, he said every time: “Such a good neck, but if I order it, it will fly off your shoulders!” And more than once he threatened that he would find out from his dear Caesonia, at least under torture, why he loved her so much.” And again (Suetonius, 32): “In the midst of a magnificent feast, he suddenly burst out laughing; The consuls lying nearby flatteringly began to ask why he was laughing, and he answered: “And the fact that if I nod, both of your throats will be cut!” Here’s another (Suetonius, 26): “He ordered his quaestor, accused of conspiracy, to be scourged, tearing off his clothes and throwing them at the feet of the soldiers, so that they would have something to lean on when delivering blows.” Further (Suetonius, 27): “He ordered the overseer of gladiatorial battles and persecutions to be beaten with chains for several days in a row in front of his eyes and killed no sooner than he felt the stench of a rotting brain. He burned the author of Atellan at the stake for a poem with an ambiguous joke in the middle of the amphitheater. One Roman horseman, thrown to wild beasts, did not stop shouting that he was innocent; he brought him back, cut off his tongue and drove him into the arena again.”

There will probably be enough examples like this. Suetonius describes many similar actions and inclinations of Caligula: they all remind us that “he considered, in his own words, the best and most praiseworthy feature of his character, equanimity, that is, shamelessness,” in other words, he was proud of his sadism and considered it a truly Roman trait. When his grandmother Antonia tried to persuade him, he objected: “Don’t forget that I can do anything with anyone!” As usually happens, absolute despotism and sadism went hand in hand in him - remember his famous regret that the Roman people had more than one neck so that they could cut it off whenever they wanted. He could not suppress his sadistic aspirations even at games or feasts, when people were tortured or even beheaded before his eyes (Suetonius, 32). Even in his “healthy” period, “he could not curb his natural ferocity and depravity. He was present with greedy curiosity at tortures and executions” (Suetonius, 11). From the chapter on Roman sadism, it will become clear to our readers that among the sadistic Roman people, a person would inevitably appear in whose personality this type of degeneration would find its highest embodiment.

All of Caligula's sexual extravagances and vices can be easily deduced from what we know about his sadistic nature. Suetonius rightly says (35): “Truly there was no man so rootless and so wretched that he would not try to dispossess him.” He was unable to leave alone any beautiful young woman he did not possess, not even his sisters, with whom he committed the most shocking acts of incest. He loved to dishonor high-ranking women, and then abandon them like bitten fruits. Finally, he found in Caesonia a wife whose natural sensuality and debauchery perfectly suited his own inclinations. Caesonia kept him on a strong leash, and her personal qualities were such that Caligula often took her out to the soldiers in an army cloak, helmet and shield, and showed her naked to his friends (Suetonius, 25). He recognized the girl born from this marriage as his daughter, because already in infancy “she became so furious that she scratched the faces and eyes of the children who played with her with her nails” (ibid.).

It is not surprising, therefore, that he was also accused of sexual relations with men, and the first among them were the pantomime Mnester and Valery Catullus, a young man from a consular family.

Finally, another trait of his character was incredible extravagance. In a few months, he completely squandered the fortune that Tiberius had accumulated over years of saving. We know about his luxurious pleasure ships, palaces, country estates, crazy construction projects and his habit of rolling on piles of gold (Suetonius, 37, 42). Like Nero, he appeared in public as an athlete, charioteer, singer and dancer, although these traits were not so strongly expressed in him. “He so protected his horse Swift from any disturbance that every time on the eve of the race he sent soldiers to restore silence in the neighborhood; he not only made him a stable of marble and a manger of ivory, not only gave him purple bedspreads and pearl necklaces, but even gave him a palace with servants and utensils” (Suetonius, 55).

Rome was truly relieved when several officers, out of personal revenge, dealt with this degenerate. Suetonius notes as an unusual circumstance that during the murder, some of the conspirators pierced Caligula's genitals with swords. It is possible that this is a fiction. But nevertheless, there is no doubt that Caligula was first and foremost a sexual degenerate. His wife Caesonia and little daughter died with him.