The reign of the Emperor Caligula has been presented as a cavalcade of bizarre and violent behavior. From declaring war on the ocean to building a five kilometer floating bridge so he could ride his horse over the sea, many of the most infamous stories about the emperor emphasize his mania. However, many of the most upsetting stories about Caligula likely are not true. One of the only eye-witness accounts of the emperor in action present him as arrogant, but hardly insane. If the worst stories about Caligula are fabrications, then why was he so hated? Tune-in and find out how shame trophies, Alexander the Great’s Breast Plate, and vulgar display’s of power all play a role in the story.

Works Cited

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Tranquillus, C. Suetonius. The Lives of the Twelve Caesars. Dancing Unicorn Books, 2017.

Winterling, Aloys. Caligula: A Biography. University of California Press, 2011. 

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Woods, David. “Caligula’s Seashells.” Greece & Rome, vol. 47, no. 1, 2000, pp. 80–87. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/826949.