# Is Caligula really as horrible as it is hyped to be? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 11, 2006, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207 "2006-04-11T08:47:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/41 "2006-04-12T00:02:47Z")
The pheasant feather exercycle was amusing. Other than that, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/42 "2006-04-12T00:51:19Z")
> [@bup](#): > > So you sat all the way through **Zapped!** starring Scott Baio!? Damn, my darkest secret revealed… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/43 "2006-04-12T01:02:01Z")
C’mon, someone, answer me! My mind is running rampant with notions of how the actors could have been decieved. Please tell me how the actors were tricked. Someone mentioned fisting . . . how exactly does one get tricked into that? “Come on man . . have some fun. I swear the camera is turned off.” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/44 "2006-04-12T01:07:24Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > C’mon, someone, answer me! My mind is running rampant with notions of how the actors could have been decieved. Please tell me how the actors were tricked. Someone mentioned fisting . . . how exactly does one get tricked into that? > > “Come on man . . have some fun. I swear the camera is turned off.” 😕 Well, the sex scene with the Senators’ wives has McDowell yelling out a few lines. The remaining 19:15 of it is a dreadfully repititious string of porn movie sequences. The fisting isn’t explicit (at least as far as I can remember). I think they thought they were making a regular movie with a little porn thrown in, to be edgy. It turned out to be the mess that we have today. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/45 "2006-04-12T01:20:05Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > What happened? Never heard of this movie, so I don’t know any of the backstory. From what I’ve HEARD, the porn was spliced in after the movie was made, and so the actors had no idea it was going to be so hardcore. Okay, my local library has this-I’m going for it. Wish me luck! ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/46 "2006-04-12T01:42:08Z")
> [@Lissa](#): > > C’mon, someone, answer me! My mind is running rampant with notions of how the actors could have been decieved. Please tell me how the actors were tricked. Someone mentioned fisting . . . how exactly does one get tricked into that? > > “Come on man . . have some fun. I swear the camera is turned off.” 😕 Well as far as I know…they just weren’t informed about the level of porn. Or for that matter porn violence …when they signed up for the project. There were just more exteme scenes that they apparently didn’t realize would be in there. However as I said once Malcolm McDowell fisted that guy how can he say he didn’t know what was going on? And it’s about Caligula!!! Oh and saoirse, I think well…considering some of the porn I’ve seen recently (much like the movies where people saw there legs off…although i perfer the porn) no it wasn’t that explicit. But it was pretty…obvious. We all know what he was doing. (And the real Caligula no doubt did exactly that…just that point I was trying to make. And yes again I will say that does not make it it a good movie.) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/47 "2006-04-12T02:47:27Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > From what I’ve HEARD, the porn was spliced in after the movie was made, and so the actors had no idea it was going to be so hardcore. Yes, the hardcore scenes don’t have the name actors in them, and are obvious splices that seem to have nothing to do with anything. Basically Alex commands that there be an orgy and that the senator’s wives will perform as prostitutes. Cut to hardcore sex scenes. > [@](#): > > Okay, my local library has this-I’m going for it. Wish me luck! If you like you can borrow my pocketknife afterwards, if there are any parts of your brain that need cutting out immediately. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/48 "2006-04-12T06:35:03Z")
Also old enough that I saw it in a movie theater. I remember being fascinated, but fascinated in the way people are who stare at a car wreck…even though you know you shouldn’t continue to look, a part of the brain won’t let you turn away. To be honest, the only scene I think I remember had to do with tying a guy’s genitals so he couldn’t pee, and then forcing him to drink wine and he was getting drunk and happy drinking the wine but then came the problem when his bladder was full and…I am not exactly sure how the scene ended, but I recall it wasn’t a happy moment and there may have been a knife involved? It was a long time ago but I still get the heebiejeebies thinking of it. Thanks for reminding me of that magic moment. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/49 "2006-04-12T14:41:18Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > To be honest, the only scene I think I remember had to do with tying a guy’s genitals so he couldn’t pee, and then forcing him to drink wine and he was getting drunk and happy drinking the wine but then came the problem when his bladder was full and…I am not exactly sure how the scene ended, but I recall it wasn’t a happy moment and there may have been a knife involved? > > It was a long time ago but I still get the heebiejeebies thinking of it. Thanks for reminding me of that magic moment. They poured the wine (was it wine? I don’t remember him being happy at any time) down his throat till he was bloated with it, then cut his belly and it all poured out again. Particularly disgusting scene. But the heebeejeebies are not dangerous…unless they become the screaming meemees. Which I’ve probably just induced…sorry about that 😃 . And I stand by my thought that it was accurate…in a sensational porn way. As pointed out, of course they went for the sensational and the decadent over the administrative. Caligula didn’t make a horse a Senetor. But as far as I know he did sleep with his sister…and anyone’s wife he wanted to whether they wanted to or not. And the cruelty of the age…well let’s take example of Nero using humans as torches at his parties (which unlike the “fiddling while Rome burned” I believe is considered pretty accurate). That was just a few years later. And they didn’t even bother to kill him (had to have his wife do it)). So it seems plausable to me. I mean in terms of the culture. And Cal, I haven’t read the 12 Caesars (looking foward to it) but from what I have read Caligula wasn’t much of an administrator either. Emptied the government coffers, taxed everyone, for some fairly stupid projects. Probably what got him killed at least as much as screwing everyone’s wife. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/50 "2006-04-12T14:45:02Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Also old enough that I saw it in a movie theater. While I’m just in my mid-thirties, I also saw it on a cinema. The movie does occasionally show up for one-shot showings in repertory houses, which is how I caught it. > [@DMark](#): > > I am not exactly sure how the scene ended, but I recall it wasn’t a happy moment and there may have been a knife involved? They use the knife to cut the cord that’s tied him off, and the wine has magically transformed into butterflies and happy bunnies, which flow from him in a beautiful rhapsody of color and song and fuzzy cuteness, and everybody lives happily ever after. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/51 "2006-04-12T14:46:25Z")
_In_ a cinema, or on a cinema _screen_, take your pick. Duhhr. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/52 "2006-04-12T15:18:20Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > They use the knife to cut the cord that’s tied him off, and the wine has magically transformed into butterflies and happy bunnies, which flow from him in a beautiful rhapsody of color and song and fuzzy cuteness, and everybody lives happily ever after. Errr…DMark that’s what I meant to say. That’s what really happened. I swear. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/53 "2006-04-12T15:23:57Z")
> [@](#): > > And Cal, I haven’t read the 12 Caesars (looking foward to it) but from what I have read Caligula wasn’t much of an administrator either. Emptied the government coffers, taxed everyone, for some fairly stupid projects. Probably what got him killed at least as much as screwing everyone’s wife. Definitely not great, but my point (and Grant’s) was that these guys weren’t 24/7 degenerates doing nothing but livin’ large at the public’s expense and surfing the Internet from work. He may have been a bad administrator, but he was an administrator. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/54 "2006-04-12T17:46:08Z")
don’t have time right now to scan whole thread - but here’s my two cents to the original post: Yes, it really was that bad. It was fairly enjoyable with a group of friends all mocking it MST style tho. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/55 "2006-04-12T18:30:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Definitely not great, but my point (and Grant’s) was that these guys weren’t 24/7 degenerates doing nothing but livin’ large at the public’s expense and surfing the Internet from work. He may have been a bad administrator, but he was an administrator. I dunno…Nero never seemed to want to show up at the office very often. Of course Nero made Caligula look good. And of course there was a system in place that kept things running regardless of the sex and violence. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/56 "2006-04-12T19:24:11Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > I dunno…Nero never seemed to want to show up at the office very often. Of course Nero made Caligula look good. > > And of course there was a system in place that kept things running regardless of the sex and violence. I seem to recall watching one of those history shows on TV where the talking head academic said that Nero was the first Emperor who tried to treat the position like a part-time job. Anybody know how accurate that is? ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_O\_Malley\_s\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Mrs\_O\_Malley\_s\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_O_Malley_s_Cow)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/57 "2006-04-12T20:51:01Z")
Nero was a boy scout compared to Caligula. Nero fed Christians to the lions. Caligulua did it all. The incest rumors are probably true and some say it stems from the isolation he experienced. (Of course, there still is no excuse.) Before he went crazy, he acted like a spoiled child. But the people for the most part liked him because he provided wonderful entertainment. Then he changed and became very cruel. Some think he had a virus that went to his brain. Some that he just went mad or developed schizophrenia. No one knows for sure. What is known is that he was one of the cruelest people to have ever exsisted. \*This doesn’t even hit the top of the iceberg but there are some books out there if anyone is interested. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/58 "2006-04-12T21:03:05Z")
> [@Rube E. Tewesday](#): > > I seem to recall watching one of those history shows on TV where the talking head academic said that Nero was the first Emperor who tried to treat the position like a part-time job. Anybody know how accurate that is? Seems like he never wanted the job. He just wanted to be and actor. His mom wanted it. Sort of a different version of a stage mother. (Warning to stage moms…you might get stompted to death.) And while I’m symathizing, I’ve always had a certain symapathy for Little Boots…whatever he did to other people. He had to grow up with the guy who killed his family. And be really really nice to him. And he reacted to an insane situation…absolute power…by doing insane things. In a way that’s a sort of sanity. But now I’ve strayed pretty far from the cheesy movie…I still think it’s a pretty good cheesy movie. Althogh the last time I tried to watch it…well it wasn’t as good as when I watched it when I was 13 (yes I watched it when I was 13, the first thing we rented when we got a VCR {remember them?} .) Yes my mother let me watch it…she didn’t know!) And I’d agree it’s mostly good becauce of Alex…I mean Malcom…being so perfectly eeeeeeviiiiillllll. I love him. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/59 "2006-04-13T07:46:34Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > And the cruelty of the age…well let’s take example of Nero using humans as torches at his parties (which unlike the “fiddling while Rome burned” I believe is considered pretty accurate). If by “considered pretty accurate” you mean “totally bogus, not to mention scientifically impossible”. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207/60 "2006-04-13T16:20:45Z")
> [@Dan Norder](#): > > If by “considered pretty accurate” you mean “totally bogus, not to mention scientifically impossible”. Any cites, from either side of this argument? Scientifically impossible is a bit much to say, since reasons for Spontanious Human Combustian have been reasonably confirmed scientifically (google whick effect and spontaneous human combustion). With people wrapped in wax soaked muslin cloth (as was shown in a TV dramatisation of Nero’s life in UK some time ago) I would highly doubt that human torches are impossible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-caligula-really-as-horrible-as-it-is-hyped-to-be/352207.md?page=4)