The Suetonius Series: Caesar IV

Gaius (Caligula)

• He erected a shrine to himself, with a golden image that priests dressed every day in clothes identical to the ones he was wearing.
• He complained that there no were disasters. He feared the prosperity of his reign would lead to it being totally forgotten. He often prayed for a "great military catastrophe, or some famine, plague, or earthquake."
• He generally kept "an expert headsman" on hand for on-the-spot decapitations.
• He thought about abolishing the legal profession.
• He invited King Ptolemy to Rome. The king wore a nice cloak to the games that "attracted universal attention." So Caligula ordered his execution.
• Any good-looking man with a fine head of hair whom he ran across had the back of his scalp brutally shaved. (Caligula was bald.)
• He had a himbo known as "Giant Cupid" executed.
• He drank pearls dissolved in vinegar.
• He liked to walk barefoot on heaps of gold coins.
• "Physical characteristics of Gaius. Height: tall. Complexion: pallid. Body: hairy and badly built. Neck: thin. Legs: Spindling. Eyes and temples: hollow. Forehead: broad and forbidding. Scalp: almost hairless."
• Due to his hairiness, he made it a capital offense to mention goats in his presence.
• He gave his favorite horse a house, a team of salves, and furniture.