Caligula: A Biography [Hardcover]

Aloys Winterling (Author), Deborah Lucas Schneider (Translator), Glenn W. Most (Translator), Paul Psoinos (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520248953 | ISBN-13: 978-0520248953 | Publication Date: September 1, 2011 | Edition: 1

The infamous emperor Caligula ruled Rome from A.D. 37 to 41 as a tyrant who ultimately became a monster. An exceptionally smart and cruelly witty man, Caligula made his contemporaries worship him as a god. He drank pearls dissolved in vinegar and ate food covered in gold leaf. He forced men and women of high rank to have sex with him, turned part of his palace into a brothel, and committed incest with his sisters. He wanted to make his horse a consul. 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. 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Seeks to rehabilitate one of the most infamous Roman emperors, commonly believed to have been deranged."--New Yorker

"A persuasive new Caligula emerges from this elegant revision: not mad at all, but just as bad and dangerous to know."--Maclean's

"In this lively biography of Rome's infamous third emperor, readers will not find the wild-eyed dictator . . . but a thoughtful argument for his sanity."--Publishers Weekly

"Accessible and graceful. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice

"Presents Roman emperor Caligula in a new light."--Booklist

From the Inside Flap

"Caligula enjoys a reputation as one of the most brutal and tyrannical Roman emperors. In this accessible narrative of Caligula's life, Winterling uses his deep knowledge of Roman society and the imperial court to investigate why contemporaries chose to assassinate Caligula's reputation as well as his person. Caligula emerges here as rather less insane, if no less loathsome, than his posthumous reputation made him out to be."

--Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, author of Rome's Cultural Revolution

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520248953
• ISBN-13: 978-0520248953
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #81 in Books > History > Ancient > Rome

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a fascinating new look at a possibly not-so-mad emperor, January 21, 2012

By 

Condo Griller (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caligula: A Biography (Hardcover)

A scholarly but interestingly new approach to a fascinating topic, this accessibly written book is thought-provoking and paradigm-changing. The author's unique theory, that Caligula was not insane but painted that way by historians and others who were burnt by his disregard for established aristocratic niceties, is convincingly argued and ultimately intriguing. Highly recommended!