Caligula: most notorious of the Roman Emperors, who seduced his own sister, installed a horse in the Roman Senate, turned his palace into a brothel, married a prostitute, tortured and killed hundreds of innocent citizens on a whim, and committed countless other acts of madness, cruelty and deviancy. Award-winning writer Stephen Barber documents in full the atrocities of Caligula, and also the other mad Emperors, notably the deranged Commodus. Also included is a bloody history of Gladiators and the Roman Arena, the depraved circus where Christians, freaks and criminals were butchered by the thousand. DIVINE CARNAGE is a shocking catalogue of incest, transvestism, torture, slaughter and perversity brought to life by Barber’s superb authorial skill, making it an essential and eloquent document of murderous decadence. This special ebook edition also includes the bonus of Suetonius’ “Life Of Nero”, highlighting the outrages of yet another sadistic Emperor, whose greatest pleasure lay in the crucifixion and burning of Christian martyrs.

Of all Roman emperors none, with the possible exception of Nero, surpasses Caligula's reputation for infamy. But was Caligula really the mad despot and depraved monster of popular legend or the victim of hostile ancient historians? In this study of Caligula's life, reign and violent death, Anthony A. Barrett draws on the archaeological and numismatic evidence to supplement the later written record. In Professor Barrett's view, the mystery of Caligula's reign is not why he descended into autocracy, but how any intelligent Roman could have expected a different outcome - to grant total power to an inexperienced and arrogant young man was a recipe for disaster. This book, scholarly and accessible, offers a careful reconstruction of Caligula's life and times, and a shrewd assessment of his historical importance.

Of all Roman emperors none, with the possible exception of Nero, surpasses Caligula's reputation for infamy. But was Caligula really the mad despot and depraved monster of popular legend or the victim of hostile ancient historians? In this study of Caligula's life, reign and violent death, Anthony A. Barrett draws on the archaeological and numismatic evidence to supplement the later written record. In Professor Barrett's view, the mystery of Caligula's reign is not why he descended into autocracy, but how any intelligent Roman could have expected a different outcome - to grant total power to an inexperienced and arrogant young man was a recipe for disaster. This book, scholarly and accessible, offers a careful reconstruction of Caligula's life and times, and a shrewd assessment of his historical importance.

Edition statement inferred from Epilogue.

Explore all of the murder, madness and mayhem in Ancient Rome during the reign of the mad emperor, Caligula. In this book about Rome’s most infamous emperor, expert author, Stephen Dando-Collins’ chronicles all the palace intrigues and murders that led to Caligula becoming emperor, and details the horrors of his manic reign and the murderous consequences brought about at the hand of his sister Agrippina the Younger, his uncle Claudius and his nephew Nero. Skillfully researched, Dando-Collins puts the jigsaw pieces together to form an accurate picture of Caligula’s life and influences. Dando-Collins’ precise and thorough examination of the emperor’s life puts Caligula’s paranoid reign into perspective, examining the betrayals and deaths he experienced prior to his time in power and the onset of a near-fatal illness believed to have affected his mental-health.

The Roman Empire has always exercised a considerable fascination. Among its numerous colourful personalities, no emperor, with the possible exception of Nero, has attracted more popular attention than Caligula, who has a reputation, whether deserved or not, as the quintessential mad and dangerous ruler. The first edition of this book established itself as the standard study of Caligula. It remains the only full length and detailed scholarly analysis in English of this emperor’s reign, and has been translated into a number of languages. But the study of Classical antiquity is not a static phenomenon, and scholars are engaged in a persistent quest to upgrade our knowledge and thinking about the ancient past. In the thirty years since publication of the original Caligula there have been considerable scholarly advances in what we know about this emperor specifically, and also about the general period in which he functioned, while newly discovered inscriptions and major archaeological projects have necessitated a rethinking of many of our earlier conclusions about early imperial history. This new edition constitutes a major revision and, in places, a major rewriting, of the original text. Maintaining the reader-friendly structure and organisation of its predecessor, it embodies the latest discoveries and the latest thinking, seeking to make more lucid and comprehensible those aspects of the reign that are particularly daunting to the non-specialist. Like the original, this revised Caligula is intended to satisfy the requirements of the scholarly community while appealing to a broad and general readership.

'Because of his baldness and hairiness, he announced it was a capital offence for anyone either to look down on him as he passed or to mention goats in any context.' The biography of the brutal, crazed and incestuous Roman Emperor Caligula, who tried to appoint his own horse consul. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (c.70-130 CE). Suetonius's The Twelve Caesars is also available in Penguin Classics.

Incest, explicit violence, homosexual rape--all presented in graphic clarity for general movie audiences. The fight for artistic freedom in Hollywood movies reached a boiling point when Bob Guccione combined traditional and adult filmmaking values in 1979's controversial Caligula. Guccione, the publisher of Penthouse, was passionate about taking his First Amendment battles out of the bedroom and into the courtroom. Through his determination and four-year legal battle, the film was distributed worldwide and now celebrates its 40th anniversary while achieving cult status. This is the story of the making of the film, its distribution, and its social and cultural impact.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned. As catchy as that aphorism is, it’s sadly untrue, even if it has a nice ring to it. The one thing Nero is well-known for is the one thing he actually didn’t do. But fear not, the truth of his life, his rule and what he did with unrestrained power, is plenty weird, salacious and horrifying. And he is not alone. Roman history, from the very foundation of the city, is replete with people and stories that shock our modern sensibilities. Evil Roman Emperors puts the worst of Rome’s rulers in one place and offers a review of their lives and a historical context for what made them into what they became. It concludes by ranking them, counting down to the worst ruler in Rome’s long history. Lucius Tarquinius Suburbus called peace conferences with warring states, only to slaughter foreign leaders; Commodus sold offices of the empire to the highest bidder; Caligula demanded to be worshipped as a god, and marched troops all the way to the ocean simply to collect seashells as “proof” of their conquest; even the Roman Senate itself was made up of oppressors, exploiters, and murderers of all stripes. Author Phillip Barlag profiles a host of evil Roman rulers across the history of their empire, along with the faceless governing bodies that condoned and even carried out heinous acts. Roman history, deviant or otherwise, is a subject of endless fascination. What’s never been done before is to look at the worst of the worst at the same time, comparing them side by side, and ranking them against one another. Until now.