Caligula: Insane or Arrogant?

[Prince Cobra]

Personally, I liked the standard way in which Calligula was depicted in I.Caludius by Robert Graves. Btw, that's a nice read, though, of course, there is some fiction in it.

About whether he was mad or not, I simply think that kidnapping his married sister, his strange orders concerning her death, his repressions... I doubt everything was manufactured by the Roman historians after his death. You know, there should be at least a grain truth in it. I admit, I am not an expert on Roman history but as far as I know the Senate power eroded a lot and the actual power came into the Emperors. The fact that the senators and his own Praetorian guard killed him means that he had stepped out the line.


P.S. I am growing increasingly sceptic about this revisionist wave, though I hope that it will lead to a debate that will work for the sake of history. Basically, I am for evolution, not revolution.

P.S.2 Lead poisoning or intermarriage between the old families, maybe both. Who knows...