Christopher Hart
Horribly Sane
CALIGULA SLEPT WITH one sister and prostituted the others. He made his horse, Incitatus, a consul, and he marched an entire Roman legion to the beach at Boulogne just to pick up sea-shells. He made it a capital offence for anyone to mention goats in his presence, because he was so self-conscious about his hairiness.
It's an appealing myth, but, of course, not true. If it were. he would have been dispatched much sooner. In fact, he lasted four years, a lot longer than some of Rome's rulers, and then there was public uproar and grief at his murder. Caligula has nevertheless become the most
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'Heaven for him was being caressed by duchesses in gilded salons and entertaining royalty in his palatial mansion ... where he showed off his gemmed gewgaws and laced the cocktails with Benzedrine.'
Piers Brendon on the diaries of Chips Channon (£).
https://literaryreview.co.uk/he-played-sardines-with-the-aga-khan
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