Was Caligula insane?
Caligula was assassinated on January 24th, AD 41. He reputedly slept with his sisters and wanted to appoint his horse a consul. But was Tiberius' successor really insane or did he simply struggle to deal with the unlimited power that he received at such a young age?
Gaius Caesar (r. AD 37-41), often known as Caligula ('little boots'), was assassinated on January 24th, AD 41. His reign is remembered, on the whole, as disastrous and many believe that Caligula was insane. He blew his predecessor Tiberius’s fortunes in just over a year, which led to a debt crisis in AD 39. Caligula was murdered, aged 28, just four years into his reign, in an underground corridor in the imperial palace in a conspiracy that is believed to have involved the army, the court and the senate.
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