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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Gavin Richardson, post: 2971604, member: 83956&quot;]Here&#039;s a write-up I did for my Caligula a while back:</p><p><br /></p><p>Everyone loves a mad Emperor. And according to Suetonius, no one was madder than Gaius Caesar, son of Germanicus, better known to history by his nickname “Caligula,” or “Little Boot.” Gaius grew up with his heroic father while the latter prosecuted his military campaigns, and Germanicus’s soliders named the boy after the “manly footwear” worn by Roman infantrymen. Caligula was adopted by the Emperor Tiberius, and it is said that the debauched old man introduced a teenaged Caligula to the perversities of absolute power, though Suetonius must be taken with a mica salis.</p><p><br /></p><p>Caligula assumed the purple in 37 A.D. In four years he would be dead, killed by his own Praetorian Guard. Although the ancient sources stress his cruelty and sexual debauchery, Caligula’s coinage was remarkably devoted to family members such as his biological mother and father, and one famous sestertius depicts Caligula&#039;s three sisters, Agrippina, Drusilla and Julia Livilla, as representations of Security, Harmony, and Fortune. But even here some ancient critics were scandalized by these familial indulgences; it was as if Donald Trump started striking U.S. silver dollars depicting Ivanka and Jared Cushner. Some Roman critics even went so far as to suggest that Caligula’s devotion to his sisters hinted at an incestuous relationship, but again, such an assertion is more gossip than history. But the gossip seems to have won the day, and today Caligula is a by-word for gratuitous violence and perversity, as the infamous 1979 film makes clear.</p><p><br /></p><p>A more charitable reading of Caligula’s familial coinage may be that it simply reflects the mind of a man who was routinely assailed by courtiers, flatterers, and potential assassins at every turn, and who simply looked to images of family for reassurance and comfort. We all want to be loved–is that so wrong?</p><p><br /></p><p>Pictured here is my only Caligula; I like to think that in the obverse portrait we see at least a mischievous figure, if not the monster of Roman history. The reverse features not a family member but Vesta. Even here, though, a familial theme abides, since Vesta was goddess of hearth and home. The coin is in worn condition, but the same coin in the highest grades can approach $1000, so this modest example is the best I could afford. (Rare sestertii of Caligula can command hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction.) Caligula bronze coinage is not especially rare. So why the high prices? The answer is simple: Infamy. Everyone knows Caligula. And every collector wants to own a piece of the twisted action.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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