Doug Stanhope

So it's an accusation that is just kind of waiting to be served up. I mean, you might still say, well, I mean, that doesn't prove that it didn't happen in this case, but it kind of does. And I'll quote you a German scholar, Alois Winteling, who's written brilliantly about Caligula. He points out not only that Suetonius is the first to mention it.

So it's an accusation that is just kind of waiting to be served up. I mean, you might still say, well, I mean, that doesn't prove that it didn't happen in this case, but it kind of does. And I'll quote you a German scholar, Alois Winteling, who's written brilliantly about Caligula. He points out not only that Suetonius is the first to mention it.

but also that there were contemporaries of Caligula who were familiar with aristocratic circles in Rome and well-informed and who heap invective on the emperor, they would hardly have failed to mention such a charge had it been in circulation then. So they would have mentioned it.

but also that there were contemporaries of Caligula who were familiar with aristocratic circles in Rome and well-informed and who heap invective on the emperor, they would hardly have failed to mention such a charge had it been in circulation then. So they would have mentioned it.

but also that there were contemporaries of Caligula who were familiar with aristocratic circles in Rome and well-informed and who heap invective on the emperor, they would hardly have failed to mention such a charge had it been in circulation then. So they would have mentioned it.

Suetonius is the first person to mention it. Therefore, we can be fairly confident that that accusation isn't true. But that explanation doesn't wash with everything that is told about him. because there are substantiating reports that suggest that some at least of these stories are true. So how do we explain them?

Suetonius is the first person to mention it. Therefore, we can be fairly confident that that accusation isn't true. But that explanation doesn't wash with everything that is told about him. because there are substantiating reports that suggest that some at least of these stories are true. So how do we explain them?

Suetonius is the first person to mention it. Therefore, we can be fairly confident that that accusation isn't true. But that explanation doesn't wash with everything that is told about him. because there are substantiating reports that suggest that some at least of these stories are true. So how do we explain them?

And another possibility, which again, Suetonius is the first to suggest, is that Caligula was mad. So Suetonius writes, it is my theory, and I have no doubt it is the correct one, very modestly, that his mental infirmity was due to the coexistence within his personality of twin but directly contradictory flaws, extreme self-confidence and abject timidity.

And another possibility, which again, Suetonius is the first to suggest, is that Caligula was mad. So Suetonius writes, it is my theory, and I have no doubt it is the correct one, very modestly, that his mental infirmity was due to the coexistence within his personality of twin but directly contradictory flaws, extreme self-confidence and abject timidity.

And another possibility, which again, Suetonius is the first to suggest, is that Caligula was mad. So Suetonius writes, it is my theory, and I have no doubt it is the correct one, very modestly, that his mental infirmity was due to the coexistence within his personality of twin but directly contradictory flaws, extreme self-confidence and abject timidity.

but again if he'd been mad contemporaries would have pointed it out they don't Is there not a claim when he fell ill? Yes, it's a popular theory. I don't think there's any evidence for that at all.

but again if he'd been mad contemporaries would have pointed it out they don't Is there not a claim when he fell ill? Yes, it's a popular theory. I don't think there's any evidence for that at all.

but again if he'd been mad contemporaries would have pointed it out they don't Is there not a claim when he fell ill? Yes, it's a popular theory. I don't think there's any evidence for that at all.

Right, so that's why Suetonius mentions that he's both extremely self-confident and abjectly timid. I mean, I think that's exactly the kind of... example that suggests it. But I mean, that could be true, but it doesn't mean he's mad. And in fact, Caligula seems to have had considerable political acumen. I mean, what he does to the Senate is very, very brutal, but pretty effective.

Right, so that's why Suetonius mentions that he's both extremely self-confident and abjectly timid. I mean, I think that's exactly the kind of... example that suggests it. But I mean, that could be true, but it doesn't mean he's mad. And in fact, Caligula seems to have had considerable political acumen. I mean, what he does to the Senate is very, very brutal, but pretty effective.

Right, so that's why Suetonius mentions that he's both extremely self-confident and abjectly timid. I mean, I think that's exactly the kind of... example that suggests it. But I mean, that could be true, but it doesn't mean he's mad. And in fact, Caligula seems to have had considerable political acumen. I mean, what he does to the Senate is very, very brutal, but pretty effective.

And when there is that military uprising against him, I mean, he outsmarts a seasoned military commander. So, you know, he may be malevolent, he may be pitiless, he may even be sadistic, but

And when there is that military uprising against him, I mean, he outsmarts a seasoned military commander. So, you know, he may be malevolent, he may be pitiless, he may even be sadistic, but

And when there is that military uprising against him, I mean, he outsmarts a seasoned military commander. So, you know, he may be malevolent, he may be pitiless, he may even be sadistic, but