Caligula: Divine Carnage: Atrocities of the Roman Emperors [Paperback]

Stephen Barber (Author), Jeremy Reed (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2006

This work is a new edition of a recent classic. Caligula was the 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 innocent citizens on a whim, and committed countless other acts of madness, cruelty and deviancy. Award-winning writers, Stephen Barber and Jeremy Reed document in full the atrocities of Caligula and also the other mad Emperors, particularly the deranged Commodus and Heliogabalus, the teenage ambisexual "sun-god" whose arch-decadent proclivities would inspire Antonin Artaud to eulogise him in prose centuries later. 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. "Caligula: Divine Carnage" is a shocking catalogue of incest, transvestism, torture, slaughter and perversity brought to life by Barber and Reed's superb authorial skill, making it an essential and eloquent document of murderous decadence. First published in 2001, "Caligua: Divine Carnage" sold over 10,000 copies in its first year of publication alone and has remained a steady seller.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The greatest history of Caesaral carnage ever written" - Bizarre Magazine"

About the Author

Stephen Barber is a noted cultural historian and the leading authority on Antonin Artaud. He is the author of many acclaimed books, including: Burning World, the biography of Edmund White; Tokyo Vertigo; and Artaud: Blows And Bombs. Born in the UK, he now lives in LA working on a project for the Getty. He was once described by the UK’s Independent newspaper as "the most dangerous man in Britain" .

Jeremy Reed has won all the major poetry prizes in Europe and his Collected Poems were published by Penguin Books. He now writes novels and critical studies, having written over fifty books. He has been called The British Rimbaud by Edmund White, and "England’s greatest visionary" by J G Ballard.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 153 pages
• Publisher: Solar Books; Revised edition (August 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971457816
• ISBN-13: 978-0971457812
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,031,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Cynical Man Might Accuse The Author of Lying, April 3, 2011

By 

Stuart McCunn (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caligula: Divine Carnage: Atrocities of the Roman Emperors (Paperback)

The other reviewers have the right of it, this book is complete garbage. Having read the original moralizing historians and their heady descriptions of sex and violence I am astonished to find that they were topped in this book! Considering how extreme Romans could be when writing of their political enemies that takes some work. A lot of these stories are made up and have no basis even in contemporary slander. The dotting the i with blood is particularly neat. As a previous reviewer has pointed out the Romans didn't even HAVE a lowercase letter i. Were I a more cynical man I might question the author's devotion to truth. As it is I can only recommend that you read this book. Surprise! My God it's amusing! But for any sort of historical purposes it's best to remember that this book is nothing but a work of fiction.

5.0 out of 5 stars A ROMAN EMPEROR AND ENTERTAINER ! ! !, January 10, 2012

By 

Mister BILL - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Caligula: Divine Carnage: Atrocities of the Roman Emperors (Paperback)

This book tells the story that most will not believe.From buggery and incest to
to bird heads for diner. This book was hard to close.Now I can't find enough books
on CALIGULA.........This book will leave you wanting more and more on the subject
from 200 BC to 100 AD.. E N J O Y

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Like watching a Hollywood movie, July 12, 2007

By 

Alec Karry "luvparade" (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caligula: Divine Carnage: Atrocities of the Roman Emperors (Paperback)

This is worth reading for entertainment. It is not boring by any stretch and you may find that you finish this book far sooner than you would have thought.

The authors do not offer any real proof of any claim within. The stories of the excessive emperors are too fantastical to be true.

The book has all the charm of a Hollywood movie. It is exciting, grotesque, shocking, and sinfully enjoyable.

I did not purchase this book for its historical accuracy. That being said, it is as enjoyable as watching a gladiator movie.