Aloys winterling caligula a biography on martin

In a deft account written for a general audience, Aloys Winterling opens a new perspective on the man and his times. Basing Caligula on a thorough new assessment of the ancient sources, he sets the emperor's story into the context of the political system and the changing relations between the senate and the emperor during Caligula's time and finds a new rationality explaining his notorious brutality.

Childhood and Youth 2. Two Years as Princeps 3. The Conflicts Escalate 4. Physical description vii, p. Series Joan Palevsky imprint in classical literature. Online Available online. Report a connection problem. Green Library. W Unknown. More options. Find it at other libraries via WorldCat Limited preview. Contributor University of California Press.

Bibliography Includes bibliographical references p. Childhood and Youth 2.

Aloys winterling caligula a biography on martin

Two Years as Princeps 3. Torture and executions were the order of the day. Both modern and ancient interpretations have concluded from this alleged evidence that Caligula was insane. But was he? This biography tells a different story of the well-known emperor. In a deft account written for a general audience, Aloys Winterling opens a new perspective on the man and his times.

Steps were also taken to reinforce the discipline of the legions in Germany. It demonstrated his real position as a monarch far beyond the power and sensibilities of the Senate. One of the most notorious rumours is that the emperor opened a brothel on the Palatine Hill, staffed by the wives of senators. Winterling masterfully deconstructs this story and demonstrates convincingly that Caligula had, in fact, moved the wives and children of leading senators into rooms within the palace complex.

Taking senatorial declarations of friendship and loyalty at face value, he had rewarded them by bringing their families into close proximity with him. Reserved seating for senators and equestrians at the theatre was abolished. Those with distinguished names were prevented from laying claim to the fame of their ancestors. Winterling argues that the purpose of these measures was to humiliate the Senate.

Traditional aristocratic methods of winning honour, status and political office challenged the authority of the emperor. Likewise, those who flattered the emperor risked descending to absurd depths in their quest to win imperial favour. The suspicions of an already paranoid emperor were exacerbated by the lack of clear and genuine communication between him and the Senate.

It is written in an accessible style and would be particularly useful as reading material for undergraduate courses. Balsdon, John P.