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Caligula- 3rd Emperor of Rome
Just how lusty was Caligula?
Gaius Caligula (12 AD -41 AD) was always destined to be a spoiled brat with an insatiable lust for power and sex. Caligula could be equally guilty of pride but his sexual misdeeds are among the most outrageous in history.
He won his surname, Caligula ('Bootikin') from an army joke, because he grew up among the troops and wore the miniature uniform of a private soldier. Many members of his family were murdered by the 2nd Caesar, his uncle Tiberius, who had gone mad. Caligula's accession upon the death of Tiberius seemed to the Roman people like a dream come true. The memory of Caligula's father and compassion for a family that had been practically wiped out by successive murders, made the people show extravagant joy that Caligula was now Emperor. When he escorted Tiberius' corpse from Misenum to Rome he was, of course, dressed in mourning, even though he despised the man. A dense crowd greeted him uproariously with altars, sacrifices, torches and praise.
We don't have much information on Caligula's life. Two scholars wrote about Caligula in the time he was alive but one was put to death by Caligula for his writings and the other as in a different country at the time. In "Lives of the Twelve Caesars" (written in 121 AD) Suetonius is mainly dismissive of Caligula's reign and gives a number of reasons why he was a terrible Emperor.
Source 1:
a. Turned the Palace of the Emperor (a sacred and important political building) into a brothel.
b. Promoted his pet horse Incitatus to head priest of the temples and made him a general.
c. Shared his bed with his horse.
d. Would take wives from their husbands on the day of their wedding and devirginate them first.
e. Had a life-long sexual relationship with his sister.
f. Poisoned and killed noblemen and women for the fun of it.
g. Passed a law declaring himself the one true god.
He won his surname, Caligula ('Bootikin') from an army joke, because he grew up among the troops and wore the miniature uniform of a private soldier. Many members of his family were murdered by the 2nd Caesar, his uncle Tiberius, who had gone mad. Caligula's accession upon the death of Tiberius seemed to the Roman people like a dream come true. The memory of Caligula's father and compassion for a family that had been practically wiped out by successive murders, made the people show extravagant joy that Caligula was now Emperor. When he escorted Tiberius' corpse from Misenum to Rome he was, of course, dressed in mourning, even though he despised the man. A dense crowd greeted him uproariously with altars, sacrifices, torches and praise.
We don't have much information on Caligula's life. Two scholars wrote about Caligula in the time he was alive but one was put to death by Caligula for his writings and the other as in a different country at the time. In "Lives of the Twelve Caesars" (written in 121 AD) Suetonius is mainly dismissive of Caligula's reign and gives a number of reasons why he was a terrible Emperor.
Source 1:
a. Turned the Palace of the Emperor (a sacred and important political building) into a brothel.
b. Promoted his pet horse Incitatus to head priest of the temples and made him a general.
c. Shared his bed with his horse.
d. Would take wives from their husbands on the day of their wedding and devirginate them first.
e. Had a life-long sexual relationship with his sister.
f. Poisoned and killed noblemen and women for the fun of it.
g. Passed a law declaring himself the one true god.
1. Look at the short list of Caligula's crimes (Source 1)- place these sins in order from least to most disgusting then write a paragraph explaining the order of your choices.
2. Which of these would be considered the greatest offence in ancient times? Why do you think ancient people would have a differing opinion?
2. Which of these would be considered the greatest offence in ancient times? Why do you think ancient people would have a differing opinion?
Making Rome's Palace a Pleasure Dome
Source 2: The Life of Caligula by Suetonius (excerpts)
24. It was his habit to commit incest with each of his three sisters and, at large banquets, when his wife reclined above him, placed them all in turn below him. They say that he ravished his sister Drusilla before he came of age: their grandmother Antonia, at whose house they were both staying, caught them in bed together. Later, he took Drusilla from her husband, the former Consul Longinus, openly treating her as his lawfully married wife; and when he fell dangerously ill left Drusilla all his property, and the Empire too. At her death he made it a capital offense to laugh, to bathe, or to dine with one's parents, wives, or children while the period of public mourning lasted; and was so crazed with grief that he suddenly rushed from Rome by night, drove through Campania, took ship to Syracuse, and returned just as impetuously without having shaved or cut his hair in the meantime. Afterwards, whenever he had to take an important oath, he swore by Drusilla's divinity, even at a public assembly or an army parade. He showed no such extreme love or respect for the two surviving sisters, and often, indeed, let his boy friends sleep with them; and at Aemilius Lepidus' trial, felt no compunction about denouncing them as adulteresses who were party to plots against him - openly producing letters in their handwriting confessing their plot.
36. He had not the slightest regard for chastity, either his own or others', and was accused of homosexual relations, both active and passive, with Marcus Lepidus, and various foreign hostages. A young man of consular family, Valerius Catullus, revealed publicly that he had buggered the Emperor. Besides incest with his sisters, and a notorious passion for the prostitute Pyrallis, he made advances to almost every woman of rank in Rome; after inviting a selection of them to dinner with their husbands he would slowly and carefully examine each in turn while they passed his couch, as a purchaser might assess the value of a slave, and even stretch out his hand and lift up the chin of any woman who kept her eyes modestly cast down. Then, whenever he felt so inclined, he would send for whoever pleased him best, and leave the banquet in her company. A little later he would return, showing obvious signs of what he had been about, and openly discuss his bed-fellow in detail, dwelling on her good and bad physical points and commenting on her sexual performance. To some of these unfortunates he issued, and publicly registered, divorces in the names of their absent husbands.
41. He never missed a chance of securing money for the economy: setting aside a suite of Palace rooms, he decorated them worthily, opened a brothel, stocked it with married women and free-born boys, and then sent his messengers around the squares and public halls, inviting all men, of whatever age, to come and enjoy themselves. Those who appeared were lent money at interest, and clerks openly wrote down their names under the heading 'Contributors to the Imperial Revenue'.
24. It was his habit to commit incest with each of his three sisters and, at large banquets, when his wife reclined above him, placed them all in turn below him. They say that he ravished his sister Drusilla before he came of age: their grandmother Antonia, at whose house they were both staying, caught them in bed together. Later, he took Drusilla from her husband, the former Consul Longinus, openly treating her as his lawfully married wife; and when he fell dangerously ill left Drusilla all his property, and the Empire too. At her death he made it a capital offense to laugh, to bathe, or to dine with one's parents, wives, or children while the period of public mourning lasted; and was so crazed with grief that he suddenly rushed from Rome by night, drove through Campania, took ship to Syracuse, and returned just as impetuously without having shaved or cut his hair in the meantime. Afterwards, whenever he had to take an important oath, he swore by Drusilla's divinity, even at a public assembly or an army parade. He showed no such extreme love or respect for the two surviving sisters, and often, indeed, let his boy friends sleep with them; and at Aemilius Lepidus' trial, felt no compunction about denouncing them as adulteresses who were party to plots against him - openly producing letters in their handwriting confessing their plot.
36. He had not the slightest regard for chastity, either his own or others', and was accused of homosexual relations, both active and passive, with Marcus Lepidus, and various foreign hostages. A young man of consular family, Valerius Catullus, revealed publicly that he had buggered the Emperor. Besides incest with his sisters, and a notorious passion for the prostitute Pyrallis, he made advances to almost every woman of rank in Rome; after inviting a selection of them to dinner with their husbands he would slowly and carefully examine each in turn while they passed his couch, as a purchaser might assess the value of a slave, and even stretch out his hand and lift up the chin of any woman who kept her eyes modestly cast down. Then, whenever he felt so inclined, he would send for whoever pleased him best, and leave the banquet in her company. A little later he would return, showing obvious signs of what he had been about, and openly discuss his bed-fellow in detail, dwelling on her good and bad physical points and commenting on her sexual performance. To some of these unfortunates he issued, and publicly registered, divorces in the names of their absent husbands.
41. He never missed a chance of securing money for the economy: setting aside a suite of Palace rooms, he decorated them worthily, opened a brothel, stocked it with married women and free-born boys, and then sent his messengers around the squares and public halls, inviting all men, of whatever age, to come and enjoy themselves. Those who appeared were lent money at interest, and clerks openly wrote down their names under the heading 'Contributors to the Imperial Revenue'.
3. Suetonius wrote his histories 80 years after Caligula's reign. Give three examples of bias in the above passages and provide an explanation why Caligula may be represented to be worse than he actually was.
4. In chapter 36 Suetonius tells us of Caligula's infamous disregard for chastity. Name a literary technique used in this paragraph and explain what this tells you about Caligula's attitude towards sex.
5. In chapter 41 Suetonius speaks of the Imperial Palace being converted into a brothel. What building would be an equivalent in the modern day? What does the success of this brothel say about the common man/woman's opinion of sex?
4. In chapter 36 Suetonius tells us of Caligula's infamous disregard for chastity. Name a literary technique used in this paragraph and explain what this tells you about Caligula's attitude towards sex.
5. In chapter 41 Suetonius speaks of the Imperial Palace being converted into a brothel. What building would be an equivalent in the modern day? What does the success of this brothel say about the common man/woman's opinion of sex?
The Death of Caligula
Caligula was a continual frustration to his political rivals. Those that Caligula did not execute had to work in secrecy if they were to get rid of the Emperor. Eventually a group of guards from the main religious temple mobbed Caligula in an underground passageway while he was preparing for the next festival games. The leader of this group Chaerea (Ky-ree-a) was a favourite for Caligula to bully which explains why he was left alive long enough to launch an uprising. Caligula was stabbed thirty times and left to bleed to death. When his body was discovered there were riots in the streets and much chaos. Caligula's lust and horrifying acts of violence had caused many people to fear him.
Caligula will be remembered for his extravagance and cruelty, he is an example of lust taken beyond a level any man should reach.
Caligula will be remembered for his extravagance and cruelty, he is an example of lust taken beyond a level any man should reach.
*Expected word count 400-500 words.
*Use three points with evidence
*Write and introduction, body and conclusion
Using information on Caligula, online news articles and your own knowledge write an argument on the following statement:
People should not be held responsible for what they do out of lust.
Possible points in agreement:
*Humans are just animals and we were born to operate on our desires
*Our media is saturated with sexual images
*Caligula proved that money can be made from prostitution
Possible points against:
*Some sexual crimes are horrendous- rape, pedophilia etc.
*If we give into our lust we are no better than animals
*Caligula was murdered because of his corruption and excessive lust
*Use three points with evidence
*Write and introduction, body and conclusion
Using information on Caligula, online news articles and your own knowledge write an argument on the following statement:
People should not be held responsible for what they do out of lust.
Possible points in agreement:
*Humans are just animals and we were born to operate on our desires
*Our media is saturated with sexual images
*Caligula proved that money can be made from prostitution
Possible points against:
*Some sexual crimes are horrendous- rape, pedophilia etc.
*If we give into our lust we are no better than animals
*Caligula was murdered because of his corruption and excessive lust
