There’s nothing worse than having a Finicky Anus aka Lucius Annius Vinicianus. According to Josephus, Vinicianus was one of the main conspirators. As we’ll see, Vinicianus was a long history of conspiring against the Julio-Claudians – he was...
The final conspiracy against Caligula involved Cassius Chaerea, an officer of the Praetorian Guard; Callistus, Caligula’s wealthy freedman adviser; and the senator Lucius Annius Vinicianus. Over the next three episodes, we’ll explore whether or not the...
My guest today is Anthony Poulton-Smith – Freelance Journalist, Author of 78 books, and many more articles, ghostwriter, speaker and etymologist. Chair of Tamworth Literary Festival, Tamworth History Group. He spoke to me recently about the Latin roots of some...
Caligula got back to Rome around May 40 but stayed outside of the city until he could celebrate his ovation on his 28th birthday, 31 August. In the meantime he met with delegations from various parts of the world, including Philo’s delegation from Alexandria,...
Ray recently interviewed Lindsay Powell about Caligula. I asked Ray for show notes. This is what he gave me. “We talked of keeping the sources in context, considering the times they lived it and agenda. He went deep. Then his analysis of the events in the German...
Many historians claim that Caligula’s demand to be treated as a living god is a sure sign of madness. And yet – JESUS claimed the same thing and nobody calls HIM insane. Why does he get special treatment? On this episode, we drill down into the evidence for the...
Caligula plans his invasion of Britain. It would have been the first time any Roman solider had been there since Julius Caesar. What motivated his plans? Was he even serious? It’s often portrayed as a stupid stunt. But we discover there may be more to it. How...
Sometime around the year 40, Caligula executed Ptolemy, the king of Africa Proconsularis and Roman ally. It’s usually portrayed as evidence of his insanity and greed – but perhaps there is an alternative explanation....
Caligula suspects a grand conspiracy against his person and the sword falls on a variety of people – including the commander in Gaul, his two surviving sisters and his best friend / lover, Lepidus....
Caligula built a 3-mile long bridge over the Bay of Naples. Why? So he could ride over it to prove someone wrong. Then he marries his third and last wife, Caesonia. Then he fires two consuls for not celebrating his birthday and starts a general purge of governors who...
In 39 CE, Caligula walked into the Senate and tore them all a new one. The gloves came off. The nice guy act was over. He criticized them for enabling Sejanus’ persecution of his family and for criticizing Tiberius when in fact they urged him on. Then he...
While I wait for my IT guy to set up a new website for The Psychopath Epidemic, I thought I’d share you with the first episode of The Psychopath Epidemic podcast. My inaugural guest is Dr Nathan Brooks PhD from CQUniversity. He’s a forensic psychologist...
When Caligula’s favorite sister, Drusilla, suddenly died in 38 CE, he couldn’t cope. He made her a god, to be worshipped as Panthea, the “All-Goddess,” or “all-embracing deity”, Divae Drusillae Sorori Caius Augusti Germanici. One senator declared under...
Caligula’s absolute favourite thing in the world, apart from spending money, is screwing. And seriously, who can blame him. It’s good to be the king. And, like Ray, he was happy to be a power bottom. He liked horse racing, and was fond of poisoning other...
Caligula’s absolute favourite thing in the world, apart from spending money, is screwing. And seriously, who can blame him. It’s good to be the king. And, like Ray, he was happy to be a power bottom. He liked horse racing, and was fond of poisoning other...
The Nemi ships were two pleasure barges, one larger than the other, built under Caligula at Lake Nemi. Although there were several attempts to recover them from the 15th century onwards, it wasn’t until 1929 that Mussolini ordered the whole of Lake Nemi would be...
According to Suetonius, Caligula was quite proud of his “adiatrepsia” – shamelessness. He lived in habitual incest with all his sisters and was especially fond of Drusilla. He made her divorce her first husband and marry his friend and lover Marcus...
How does a 24 year old kid, who’s never even been on a battlefield, let alone lead an army to victory, get declared “imperator”? How would you handle it if you were granted ius arbitriumque omnium rerum (‘power and authority over all things’) and...
One of the other first things Caligula did when he took power was to release Herod Agrippa from jail – King Herod from the New Testament. The grandson of Herod the Great. Which all gives me an excuse to talk about The Maccabean Revolt and a short history on...
By all accounts, Caligula was extremely popular with the people, as his father, Germanicus, had been. Suetonius reports that Caligula was “the emperor most earnestly desired”. When he entered Rome, the celebrations are said to have gone on for almost three months, and...
