Caligula

Imagine you suddenly became king or queen of a country. How would you react? Would you be a kind ruler? Or would you be cruel? Now imagine you were ruler of ancient Rome. You’ve got armies, slaves and lots of land, and you are regarded as a god. Caligula, became emperor of the vast Roman Empire in AD 37. he only lasted four years and he became famous for his cruelty, brutality, extravagance and madness. What happened to him? And why? To Die In Vain In AD 37 Emperor Tiberius died and Caligula suddenly became the most powerful man in the world. Things went well at first and Caligula was a good ruler. But then his character changed and he turned into a heartless, cold and ruthless ruler. He was most famous for his cruelty. Let’s see some examples of this. On one occasion Caligula was at the arena watching the gladiators. Half-way through, Caligula was informed that there weren’t enough condemned criminals to fight the tigers and lions. What was he going to do? Simple. Caligula just ordered some spectators to be dragged from the benches into the arena. Caligula also liked to steal money from rich senators. He ordered people to write out wills leaving everything to him. Then, he would just kill them and inherit all their money. Once, a supposedly rich man had died, but it turned out that he had no money, Caligula commented, “Oh dear, he died in vain.” Caligula also opened a brothel in his palace and ordered the wives and daughters of senators and soldiers to work there; and, of course, Caligula took all the money. Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow Caligula also suffered from paranoia. He was short and bald and had a hairy body. He was very sensitive about this and during his time it was a crime for anyone to look down on him from a high place. Sometimes he ordered those with a fine head of hair to be shaved. Even the mention of “hairy goats” in conversation was dangerous. One poor man was flogged to death for making a comment with this expression. Caligula was sexually perverted. He often committed incest with his three sisters; and at weddings, he would order the bride to strip naked, then carefully examine her in public.

Music To His Ears

Caligula was also famous for his short temper. Once, he asked a friend, “Who is the greater: Jupiter or Caligula?” Instead of answering immediately, the friend hesitated, and Caligula whipped him to death. As the poor man was dying, Caligula casually remarked, “Remember, I have the power to do anything to anyone.” On a funny note, Caligula was once at an auction. A senator was asleep and Caligula declared that each time the senator nodded, it was a bid for a gladiator. By the time the senator woke up, he had a massive debt and 13 very expensive gladiators. But at other times things were more serious. When Caligula became tired of someone, he would simply order them to commit suicide, as he once did with his secretary.

He Really Is Mad

There are lots of other examples of Caligula’s madness. Whenever he kissed his wife’s neck, he used to say, “This lovely neck will be chopped as soon as I say so”. He once ordered his slaves to construct a five-kilometre bridge of boats across the Bay of Naples. Then, he crossed the boats on horseback, wearing Alexander the Great’s armour. He also treated his horse, Incitatus, like a king. He gave it necklaces, a marble stable with furniture and servants to look

after it. He made it a priest of his temple, and even proposed to make it a senator. At dinner Caligula drank pearls that had been dissolved in vinegar, and during the day he liked to roll around on mountains of gold coins. About half-way through his reign he set up a special temple with a life-sized statue of himself in gold, which was dressed each day in the same clothing that he wore himself.

He’s Mad

So what exactly was the problem with this man? There are some theories that Caligula was actually suffering from schizophrenia. Others say Caligula’s eccentricities had something to do with his childhood. Caligula’s father Germanicus, his mother Agrippina and all his brothers were killed. And others think that having absolute power caused the worst features of his character to develop. Whatever the problem, it all came to an end after a very short period.

All Good Things Come To An End

By AD 41 the senators and guards had had enough. One night, his Praetorian guards stabbed him to death as he was leaving the theatre. One of the conspirators was Cornelius Sabinus, whose wife had been publicly humiliated by Caligula. Another was Cassius Chaerea, who was angry because Caligula had imitated his high voice. And so ended the life of the cruellest and most unusual of the Roman leaders.

GLOSSARY FOR CARTOON

to drag vb to pull someone phy-sically so far exp until now to slit someone’s throat exp to cut someone’s throat (the front part of your neck) carry on exp continue to get your oats exp “oats” are a type of cereal. To “get your oats” can mean, to have sex to make a mess exp in this case this expression means “to go to the toilet” to pick something up exp to put something in your hands and to lift this thing from a surface a facial mud bath n “mud” is a mixture of earth and water. This can be applied to the face as a beauty treatment giddy up! exp go faster (to a horse) to chop off phr vb to cut off hay adj dried grass stop bothering me exp stop irritating me a horseshoe n an object a horse wears on its feet to protect the feet shiny adj bright and clean a tough day exp a difficult day to send someone into exile exp to force someone to leave a country and to go and live somewhere else a nosebag n a bag with in it that a horse wears G L O S S A R Y

heartless adj cruel and sadistic ruthless adj with no mercy to drag vb to use physical force to take someone to a place a bench n a wide, hard, long chair - often found in parks to write out phr vb to write a will n a document that says what will happen to your possessions after you die to die in vain exp to die for nothing; to die for no good cause a brothel n a house where prostitutes work a short temper n if you have a “short temper”, you become angry very easily and quickly to whip someone to death exp to hit a person with a whip (a piece of rope or leather) until that person dies to remark vb to say casually an auction n a public sale to nod vb to move your head up and down. If you “nod” while you are awake, it is a way of saying yes a bid n an offer of a quantity of money to buy something a debt n if you have a “debt”, you must return a sum of money to someone bald adj with no hair on the head a fine head of hair exp with lots of hair on the head to shave vb to cut off all the hair to flog someone to death exp to hit someone with a whip (a piece of rope or leather) until they die to commit incest exp to have sexual relations with a member of your family the bride n the woman who is getting married during a wedding to strip naked exp to take off all your clothing to chop vb to cut on horseback exp on a horse armour n metal clothing that soldiers wear to protect themselves a necklace n jewellery that you wear around your neck a stable n a building where horses live a priest n a person who works in a church as a religious official to dissolve vb to turn a solid into a solution to roll around phr vb to lie on the floor and to move in circles on the ground a Praetorian guard n a special guard whose job was to protect the emperor to stab someone to death exp to kill someone by putting a knife in their body

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