In this second part of our Caligula series, Rome’s young emperor stops pretending to be merciful. We follow the purge of rivals and family members, the humiliation of the Senate, the money drain of spectacles and forced taxes, the horse-consul insult, the Jerusalem crisis, and the escalating paranoia that turned the palace into a death trap.

This episode covers Caligula at his most volatile: the sisters, the treasury, the Bay of Baiae, the failed northern campaign, the execution of Ptolemy of Mauretania, and the final conspiracy inside the Praetorian Guard that ended his reign in blood. It’s the back half of one of Rome’s darkest imperial stories, where absolute power finally pushes too far.

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Links:

Website: timeandtalespodcast.com

Email: timeandtalespodcast@gmail.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LMRiviere

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Sources:

Suetonius. “The Life of Caligula.” The Twelve Caesars.

Cassius Dio. Roman History, Book 59.

Philo of Alexandria. On the Embassy to Gaius.

Josephus. Antiquities of the Jews, Book 19.

“Caligula.” Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Barrett, Anthony A. Caligula: The Abuse of Power. Routledge, 2015.

Winterling, Aloys. Caligula: A Biography. University of California Press, 2011.

Katz, Robert S. “The Illness of Caligula.” The Classical World, 1972.

Charry-Sánchez, Jorge D., et al. “Caligula: A Neuropsychiatric Explanation of His Madness.” Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria, 2021.

Shotter, David. Caligula. Routledge, 2004.