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WarGamer

(18,829 posts)

7. FWIW, he never actually did it...

Wed Apr 29, 2026, 01:00 PM

Apr 29

the only source for this fairy tale is Suetonius, the "TMZ" of the 2nd century

"...it is even said that he intended to make him [Incitatus] consul." (...consulatum quoque destinasse)

Gaius Caesar Germanicus, aka Caligula... has been tarred and feathered for 2000 years, most of the accusations are probably false. His reputation was ruined by decree, the Damnatio Memoriae... where the Senate, after his death ordered his name and likeness to be stripped from public view. And his reputation sullied.

Modern writing about GCG points to more of a "troll" than an insane person. Violent and cruel, sure... as most of them were, but insane is mostly fiction.

Example:

He actually may have said once "You Senators are sooo useless, feckless fools that my horse, Incitatus could serve as Consul"

And that morphs into "Caligula was so crazy he made his horse a consul"

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In ancient Rome, it was said that emperor Caligula was insane because he named his horse a consul [View all] DFW Apr 29 OP

He named the horse's ass Jerry2144 Apr 29 #1

He's *part* of a horse, though. Ocelot II Apr 29 #2

Caligula means little boots SocialDemocrat61 Apr 29 #3

We would certainly be better off with the horse! CaliforniaPeggy Apr 29 #4

And karma caught up with Caligula dalton99a Apr 29 #5

Looks more like Zuckerberg than Trump. LudwigPastorius Apr 29 #21

Incitatus leftstreet Apr 29 #6

Whinny. erronis Apr 29 #12

FWIW, he never actually did it... WarGamer Apr 29 #7

That makes perfect sense DFW Apr 29 #11

That's why musk bought twitter - to control the slander (and inject his own.) erronis Apr 29 #13

SIMILARLY, "He was so crazy he named his horse a Consul" Became Whitewashed... ColoringFool Apr 29 #18

I read Winterlings book on Caligula... WarGamer Apr 29 #22

One of my favorites. Emperor Caligula and his horse Incitatus, the horse he rode in on. usonian Apr 29 #8

LOL leftstreet Apr 29 #10

Damn - those are great! erronis Apr 29 #14

I grabbed the first two from image search. usonian Apr 29 #19

I think all Trump appointees are equivalent to Caligula's horse.. ananda Apr 29 #9

He sure loves to grandstand. Obviously that weekend couch at Fox wasn't..... OGBuzz Apr 29 #15

Well, with Kegbreath...... lastlib Apr 29 #16

They said "horse", not "horse's ass". Initech Apr 29 #17

Trump's cabinet is nothing but horse. LudwigPastorius Apr 29 #20