Now Snac, be an easy goer on Bosda. It’s only fair play to let someone display such foolish pleasure – doesn’t make him a ruffian.
I must say, Bibliophage, each citation you provide shows you to be a man of arts and letters – even with a subject like Caligula, no majestic prince, no empire maker, whose last hail to reason was a whirlaway from his demise. You’ve affirmed that we should hoist the flag to you. No one can call you a buckpasser – you tell the tale, whether it’s of a bold ruler, a war admiral, or just a native dancer. From Damascus to Danzig, you’ve got the straight dope on every man o’war.
Has anyone ever suggested that Gaius became fierce and despotic after his illness because he assumed that someone had tried to poison him? Especially if no-one had, in which case he would never find the ones who had done it (or, more likely, had tortured confessions out of endless numbers of people claiming they had ).
(Yes, I know that Roman citizens were supposedly not to be tortured, but this was a matter of National Security—and beside, they had plenty of slaves to question.)
Interesting idea, Stoopnagle. But if he thought he was poisoned, I suspect that fact would be mentioned in the ancient sources, and it’s not. There seems to have been a pro-Gemellus party (or at least Caligula thought there was) that planned to take over in case Caligula died, and which possibly took charge of running the empire while he was sick. But there’s nothing to suggest they actually caused his illness. According to Dio, Caligula suspected Gemellus of wishing he would die of his illness, but not of causing it.
The following article appeared in my news service today (August 11, 2003). I thought it would be an interesting addition to this thread, although I fail to see how discovering that one of the claims made about Caligula is, to some degree, true, validates the remainder of the unconfirmed stories. Over-enthusiastic reporting, perhaps?
For those who don’t want to click on the link: A new dig has uncovered evidence that Caligula’s palace did connect to the rear of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, as claimed by ancient historians.
"ROME (Reuters) - For centuries scholars have debated whether Caligula, the Roman empire’s eccentric third ruler, was a megalomaniac who dared to defy the gods or a maligned emperor whose caprices were exaggerated after his death.
Now a group of archaeologists digging up Caligula’s ancient palace say they have finally found concrete evidence that he was indeed a “maniac” who turned one of Rome’s most revered temples into the front porch of his residence."