this post was submitted on 07 Jan 2024
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We're 2000 years from Caligula. I think we can still agree that he was a lunatic whose contributions don't outweigh the monstrous things he did.
Funnily enough, the image most of us have of Caligula is likely very exaggerated.
Most modern commentaries seek to explain Caligula's position, personality and historical context. Many of the outrageous allegations against him are dismissed as misunderstandings, exaggeration, propaganda or malicious fantasy.
Careful, plenty of insane revisionists who go deep into the "Actually Caligula was just hated by the Senatorial elite in a way that none of his claimed actions explain and that isn't repeated with any other Emperor, including the much-hated Nero and Domitian, both of whom retained significant and influential loyalists after their deaths, unlike Caligula"
Yes, but do we feel as strongly about him as we feel about more recent mass murdering leaders?
No? Because some of Stalin's victims are still alive. That doesn't mean you can't have a strong opinion about Caligula.