Emperor Caligula: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"Caligula [[Understatement|was no boy scout]], <br />
He did [[Never Say "Die"|things that we can't even talk about]]. <br />
The Romans knew he'd lost his head, <br />
When he [[Caligula's Horse|filled a vacant senate seat with Mr Ed]].''|''[[Pinky and The Brain]]'', [http://youtu.be/Yjs7NL-YnfU A Meticulous Analysis of History]}}
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{{quote| ''Ita feri ut se mori sentiat.'' ([[Death of a Thousand Cuts|"Strike so that he feels he is dying."]])}}
 
The infamous [[The Roman Empire|Roman emperor]], reigned between AD 37 and AD 41. His actual name was Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus; Caligula is a [[Only Known Byby Their Nickname|nickname]], meaning "little boot", that he got in his childhood, because he liked to dress up as a soldier. The popular image about him is of an insane tyrant. It's hard to find out how much of this is true, since hardly any contemporary sources survived about him. The outrageous tales about him committing incest with his sisters, sending his army against the sea and having them collect shells as booty, and wanting to make his favorite horse a consul come from Suetonius, who wrote a biography about him 80 years after his death (and was in the employ of an another dynasty of Emperors who had interest in demonizing their predecessors). It's certain that he wanted to increase his authority, which made him unpopular with the Senate. There were several conspiracies against him, and he was eventually stabbed to death by [[Praetorian Guard|his own bodyguards]].
 
Is the [[Trope Namers]] for [[The Caligula]] and [[Caligula's Horse]]. His life was the source material for the infamously controversial film ''[[Caligula]]'' starring [[Malcolm McDowell]] in the title role.
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* [[Daddy's Little Villain]] and [[Enfante Terrible]]: According to Suetonius, when he heard that his daughter, Julia attacked her playmates and tried to scratch their eyes out, he bragged that there was no dispute of who her father was. This portrayal of Julia may have been exaggerated to justify her murder after Caligula's assassination.
* [[Death of a Thousand Cuts]]: A favored execution method.
* [[Defiant to Thethe End]]: As he was being murdered by his own soldiers, Caligula reportedly exclaimed: ''Vivo!'' (I live!)
* [[Depraved Bisexual]], [[Casanova]], and [[Villainous Crossdresser]]: More or less standard Roman invective, but [[Throw It In]].
* [[Dirty Coward]]: His conduct during his only military campaign is best described as this trope mixed with sheer insanity.
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* [[My Sister Is Off-Limits]]: Terribly averted. He was more than happy to let his friends see his sisters... when he wasn't with them.
* [[Nightmare Fuel]]: Exaggerated or not, this was one guy you did not want to meet in a back alley.
* [[Only Known Byby Their Nickname]]: As mentioned in the page summary, he was officially named Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. The use of his nickname wasn't so widespread in the Ancient Roman era; Suetonius and Tacitus both refer to him as "Emperor Gaius".
* [[Prince Charming]]: Based on his father Germanicus' reputation, the Romans ''thought'' he would be one after Tiberius' purges. And he almost was, for a little while.
* [[The Purge]], by means of [[Kangaroo Court|Kangaroo Courts]]: Coupled with his utter contempt for the senatorial order, a big part of why he got such a horrendous write-up from Roman historians.
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* [[Traumatic Haircut]]: He started losing his hair at a young age, which the Romans culturally regarded as a deformity, but most balding Romans went with wigs (his own great-uncle [[Gaius Julius Caesar|Gaius]] was notable for mostly leaving it alone). Caligula, on the other hand, would go around having men with the audacity to have thick heads of hair in his presence arrested and shaven bald in public.
* [[Villainous Glutton]] and [[The Alcoholic]]: Again, standard Roman invective, but there's probably something to it.
* [[Written Byby the Winners]]
 
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=== In fiction: ===
 
* Robert Graves in his novel, ''[[I, Claudius]]'' (closely following Suetonius) portrays him as evil and completely insane. In the TV [[I, Claudius|adaptation]] he's played by [[John Hurt]]. [[Large Ham|Awesomely]].
* He's the subject of the infamous [[Gorn]] movie ''[[Caligula]]'', where he's played by [[Malcolm McDowell]].
* He's portrayed by Jay Robinson (in [[Large Ham]] style) in the 1953 film ''[[The Robe (Film)|The Robe]]'' and its sequel, ''[[Demetrius and The Gladiators]]''.
* Albert Camus wrote a play about him entitled ''Caligula''.
* John Simm played him in a TV miniseries about Nero, and his performance is pretty much a first draft for his portrayal of [[The Master]] in ''[[Doctor Who]]''.
* He's mentioned in ''[[America the(The Book)]]'', in the section "The 5 Greatest Moments in Negative Advertising", where it's said that he was nearly undone by a smear campaign that depicted him as a "pretty nice guy". He went into "damage control" by publicly sodomizing a puppy.
* In ''[[Assassin's Creed II (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed II]]'', it's stated that it was a member of the Assassins that finally put down Caligula.
* Is the star of the [[Adult Swim]] online game Viva Caligula! and its sequel, Viva Caligula! in Hell. The goal? [[Kill'Em All]], using various weapons.
* Appears in "Escape to the House of Mummies Part Two!", an [[The Venture Brothers (Animation)|The Venture Brothers]] episode involving time travel. He appears to be attracted to [[The Pollyanna|Hank]].
* The 2011 [[Avatar Press]] miniseries ''Caligula'' begins with Emperor Caligula and his cronies raping the protagonist's family to death as part of their drunken revelry, then follows the protagonist's infiltration of the Emperor's inner circle in a plot to assassinate him.
 
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