caldrail Posted March 3, 2006 Report Share Posted March 3, 2006 As to whether Caligula actually did it with his sister, I'm not sure. It seems unlikely yet his closeness to Druscilla was a little over the top. At the end of the day its the victors who write history, so Suetonius and Tacitus etc simply recorded what the witnesses had told them. They may have been mistaken or lying out of their backsides. They may also have been telling the truth as they saw it - again - we'll never actually know. I think he did have physical relations with his sister, though this more due to the fact that growing up he was not close to anyone except her and they were all they had and so it kinda developed... one could blame Tiberius and all of his actions against Caligula and his family by his uncle that caused this and helped shape Caligula into a candidate for a future monster once in power. I understand your reasoning. The trouble is, christian dogma holds that romans were all decadent orgiastic madmen and has done since the dark ages. This colours our attitudes with a little help from Hollywood. Don't forget that Romes had a plethora of laws and taboo's concerning moral behaviour - they were there for a reason. Ok, they did go a little OTT sometimes which can happen when there's tons of wealth lying about, and given the stuff some emperors got up to maybe you have a point Thing is, emperors attracted the sort of comment we see modern day celebrities get from the tabloid press. Rumour mongering was even stronger then since they had no tv set to be hypnotised by. It might not actually have been true. Did Nero And mum get together? Again, I doubt they actually did. Personally I think he had fantasies along these lines and Agrippina knew it. That woman was manipulating him shamelessly, later desperately, by dubious immoral suggestions. How did she know? Acte. But thats just a theory of mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neos Dionysos Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 I understand your reasoning. The trouble is, christian dogma holds that romans were all decadent orgiastic madmen and has done since the dark ages. This colours our attitudes with a little help from Hollywood. Don't forget that Romes had a plethora of laws and taboo's concerning moral behaviour - they were there for a reason. Ok, they did go a little OTT sometimes which can happen when there's tons of wealth lying about, and given the stuff some emperors got up to maybe you have a point Thing is, emperors attracted the sort of comment we see modern day celebrities get from the tabloid press. Rumour mongering was even stronger then since they had no tv set to be hypnotised by. It might not actually have been true. Did Nero And mum get together? Again, I doubt they actually did. Personally I think he had fantasies along these lines and Agrippina knew it. That woman was manipulating him shamelessly, later desperately, by dubious immoral suggestions. How did she know? Acte. But thats just a theory of mine. Nice theory... ... and I agree that Christian dogma has colored many visions of the Romans, though I like to think some of us see past it. Also, the stories we have on these Emperor's, 'Suestonius', I wonder just how much was truth and how many of his 'truths' were BS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted March 5, 2006 Report Share Posted March 5, 2006 I'm sure Suetonius wanted to tell the truth, but many of his eye-witness accounts were either wrong, misinterpreted, or complete untruths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.