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> Take Caligula as an example. We all know him as the mad emperor who supposedly once declared war on Neptune, then ordered his soldiers to attack the sea and t

> Take Caligula as an example. We all know him as the mad emperor who supposedly once declared war on Neptune, then ordered his soldiers to attack the sea and take seashells as booty. The problem is that this story and the others like it all come from extremely late, hostile sources such as the biography Life of Caligula by Gaius Suetonius Tranquilus (lived c. 69 – after c. 122 AD) and Roman History by Kassios Dion (lived c. 155 – c. 235 AD). Actually, I think Caligula was more trolling than insane. Reading about him, reminds me not so much of insanity, as if a 4chan poster was suddenly given absolute power. It my view, he had the Roman Army march around collecting sea shells for the lulz. Absolute power can be its own madness apart from lead.

anyonecancode 4y ago
That's an interesting take -- and observing how some ultra-wealthy people today behave who aren't even emperors, just really rich -- seems plausible.
- bombcar 4y ago
  The "make my horse a senator" has always seemed to be a clear insult to the Senate and not actually thinking the horse should serve. It's like voting in a cat as mayor, it's saying the job is so pointless an animal could do it.
colechristensen 4y ago
Basically when an emperor died he was either transformed into a god or demonized depending on which was more politically convenient to his successor. The truth seemed more like the emperors were quite similar in their cruelty and competence compared to the exaggerations of the surviving propaganda about them.
- freeflight 4y ago
  > demonized depending on which was more politically convenient to his successor Didn't they straight up remove some people from historical records? [0] That's something that stuck with me when visiting the Pula Arena in Croatia; In there was plaque, as old as the colosseum, where a name was scratched out. Sadly the plaque didn't have any explanation with it, so I just assume that's a case of damnatio memoriae. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_memoriae#Ancient_Rome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_memoriae#Ancient_Rome

anyonecancode 4y ago

That's an interesting take -- and observing how some ultra-wealthy people today behave who aren't even emperors, just really rich -- seems plausible.

bombcar 4y ago
The "make my horse a senator" has always seemed to be a clear insult to the Senate and not actually thinking the horse should serve. It's like voting in a cat as mayor, it's saying the job is so pointless an animal could do it.

colechristensen 4y ago

Basically when an emperor died he was either transformed into a god or demonized depending on which was more politically convenient to his successor. The truth seemed more like the emperors were quite similar in their cruelty and competence compared to the exaggerations of the surviving propaganda about them.

freeflight 4y ago
> demonized depending on which was more politically convenient to his successor Didn't they straight up remove some people from historical records? [0] That's something that stuck with me when visiting the Pula Arena in Croatia; In there was plaque, as old as the colosseum, where a name was scratched out. Sadly the plaque didn't have any explanation with it, so I just assume that's a case of damnatio memoriae. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_memoriae#Ancient_Rome https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnatio_memoriae#Ancient_Rome