Didn't Caligula also have a thing about sea shells?

[thucythucy]

8. I do know something about the ambiguity of this history

and how Tacitus and Suetonius both need to be taken with a grain of salt, and so I appreciate your reply. In truth, I was being rather snarky with this post, all in fun. Centuries from now who knows what the popular imagination will say about Trumpelthinskin?

Are you familiar with the podcast/Youtube channel "The Rest is History"? They go into this history--and the most recent scholarship around all things Roman--in quite a bit of detail. Tom Holland, one of the co-presenters, has translated both Herodotus and Suetonius into English, which I suppose means he's fluent in both ancient Greek and classical Latin, which I for one think is quite an achievement.

Even so, Thucydides remains my favorite classical historian--hence my DU moniker.

Then again, to paraphrase Hunter Thompson, it's hard to tell the real history from the hired bullshit.

Best wishes.