# Caligula **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 21, 2000, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493 "2000-01-21T17:38:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TrayJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e68b1a/32.png) [@TrayJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TrayJay)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/1 "2000-01-21T17:38:00Z")
I don’t know if the spelling is accurate, but I have heard this word many times before and still have no idea what it means. I always assumed it was the name of a person. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/2 "2000-01-21T17:40:00Z")
Yes, he was a fine young man who was fond of horses. ---
**Author:** ![kylen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@kylen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kylen)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/3 "2000-01-21T17:44:00Z")
If you have a rather liberal video store in your neighbourhood, and it has a good back catalogue, look for the video (Caligula). Pretty much says it all, though they may have sugar-coated some of it due to those pesky movie ratings not going beyond XXX. kylen ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/4 "2000-01-21T17:50:00Z")
Caligula was one of the first 12 roman emperors (one of the “12 caesars”.) (between Tiberius and Claudius) [http://www.salve.edu/~dimaiom/caligula/gaius.htm](http://www.salve.edu/~dimaiom/caligula/gaius.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/5 "2000-01-21T17:50:00Z")
Seriously, though, [here](http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/caligula.html) is a somewhat gentle treatment of the third Caesar. Caligula is also the answer to the question, “what pornographic film starred Malcolm McDowell, Sir John Gielgud, and Peter O’Toole?” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/6 "2000-01-21T17:58:00Z")
There are a number of apocryphal/uncorroborated stories about Caligula (“little boots” in Latin, IIRC), like his making a horse a senator, since many were written after his death. However, in the 20th century, one of the world’s most-admired leaders did something similar: Nicolai Ceausescu, universally admired for his willingness to buck Moscow, elevated his dog to the rank of colonel. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/7 "2000-01-21T19:03:00Z")
Let’s see if I can get this thread booted over to Great Debates. Who was the creepiest Caligula; John Hurt or Malcolm McDowell? My money’s on Hurt. * * * Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/8 "2000-01-22T03:54:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Elmer J. Fudd: > \*\*Let’s see if I can get this thread booted over to Great Debates. > > Who was the creepiest Caligula; John Hurt or Malcolm McDowell? My money’s on Hurt. > > \*\* ## Did one of them star in _The Robe_ with Victor Mature? “I _am_ a god!” I heard that the actor who portrayed Caligula in this movie carried away real-life psychological problems from his experience portraying the third Roman emperor. _Exits, pursued by a bear_ ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/9 "2000-01-22T03:59:00Z")
That was Jay Robinson. He also played a crazed priest in Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask”. He is the host of the occasional show “Beyond Bizarre” on the Discovery Channe. ---
**Author:** ![RobRoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ba0ec/32.png) [@RobRoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobRoy)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/10 "2000-01-22T04:13:00Z")
John Hurt - “I Claudius” BBC, starring Derek Jacoby and the woman who played Magenta in Rocky Horror as a minor character as well (!). Malcolm McDowell - “Caligula” (the movie) I can’t decide who is better (badder), I mean in one he eats his sister’s unborn baby, in the other he sticks his fist up…well never mind. The word “Caligula” came up in the media the other day, it was a volunteer for Keyes (I can’t be bothered to check the spelling) - a “history major” who ranted (in Keyes style) about C-A-G-U-L-I-A, and “the fall of our society…blah blah blah” eeeccch! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/11 "2000-01-22T06:31:00Z")
> [@](#): > > John Hurt - “I Claudius” BBC, starring Derek Jacoby and the woman who played Magenta in Rocky Horror as a minor character as well (!). Another familiar face in _I, Claudius_ is _Star Trek_’s Patrick Stewart who played Sejanus. ---
**Author:** ![Seraphim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Seraphim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seraphim)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2000, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/12 "2000-01-23T04:39:00Z")
Unless you have a high tolerance for bizarre, graphic sexual imagery, I’d recommend avoiding the “Caligula” movie. That whole castration scene still gives me the willies–er, still makes me uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![Lawrence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Lawrence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lawrence)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/13 "2000-01-24T03:53:00Z")
Oh, hell, I’ll give this one a serious answer. According to the Enciclopèdia Catalana Basica, the only desk encyclopedia I have, Caligula was: Caius Julius Caesar Germanicus “Caligula”. (12-41 AD) Son of Tiberius and Agrippina the Elder. Succeded Tiberius and became emperor (37 AD) with the help of Sertorius Macrus (Macro in “I, Claudius”). Governed wisely for a few months but soon afterwards went nuts and freaked out and killed a whole bunch of more or less innocent folks. Was murdered by the Praetorian Guard Cassius Chaerea. Was succeeded by Claudius. (Note: The translation is mine and in parts quite liberal). ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/14 "2000-01-24T04:47:00Z")
I’m a bit hesitant to correct the ECB, Lawrence, but I’m fairly sure Caligula was the son of Germanicus (the general), not Emperor Tiberius. Tiberius did adopt him after his father was assasinated, though. ---
**Author:** ![RobRoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ba0ec/32.png) [@RobRoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobRoy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/15 "2000-01-24T05:28:00Z")
The Caligula moniker came when Germanicus took him on raids into Germany - the soldiers named him. This is from Graves. ---
**Author:** ![Lawrence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Lawrence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lawrence)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2000, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/caligula/6493/16 "2000-01-25T00:58:00Z")
You’re absolutely right, Ursa.