Product Description

Was Caligula really the mad despot and depraved monster of popular legend or the victim of hostile ancient historians? This scholarly and accessible book offers a careful reconstruction of Caligula's life and times.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #152094 in Books
• Published on: 1993-05-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

From the Back Cover
No other Roman emperor, with the possible exception of Nero, surpassed Caligulas reputation for infamy. But was his reputation as a mad despot and depraved monster justified? Or was Caligula the victim or hostile ancient historians?
This study of Caligulas life, reign and violent death draws on the archaeological and numismatic evidence to supplement the later written record. Anthony A. Barrett shows that the mystery is not why Caligula descended into autocracy, but how any intelligent Roman could have expected a different outcome - for to grant total power to an inexperienced and arrogant young man was a recipe for disaster.
This scholarly and accessible book offers a careful reconstruction of the fascinating life and times of this controversial emperor, and provides a shrewd assessment of his historical importance.

Customer Reviews

Highly readable and informative
This is a very accessible book for the general reader. It strips away the myths that have grown up about the life and character of Caligula to reveal a recognisable human being in a recognisable setting of power politics. The author makes use of all ancient sources, sets them alongside each other, explains the context in which they were written, then tells the story *behind* them in a way which is both effective and informative. The result is an excellent insight into the way the early imperial Roman political world really worked and how Caligula fell victim to it. Recommended.

AWESOME! A must for any lover of Roman History!
WOW! Congratulations are in order to Mr. Barrett for writing such a fantastic biography (as far as possible considering it is ancient history). Barrett has succeeded in his wish to stay un-biased and brings home to the reader a mass of information from both sides of the stream. For every 'for' reason, Barrett puts forth an 'against' but with no conclusions, leaving that completely up to the reader. I can not say enough for this book, it truly is a credit to both Mr. Barrett and the historical genre!

turgid rubbish
I was very disappointed with this after reading the wonderful 'divine carnage'. it's just academic nonsense with lots of useless speculation.