Tacitus can often be counted on to give rational balance to the more bizarre rumors repeated by Suetonius and Dio, but unfortunately the part of Tacitus’s Annals dealing with Caligula’s reign is lost and there are only scattered references to him in the extant works. The two sources that seem to be the prime basis of the film, Suetonius ( Lives of the Caesars) and Dio ( Roman History), lived long after Caligula’s death, and their works were not published until about 80 and 190 years after his reign, respectively.
Tacitus ( Annals and Histories) and Josephus ( Antiquities of the Jews) were born a bit too late to know him, but they knew many people who had known him. Seneca the Younger (various writings) and Philo of Alexandria ( On the Embassy to Gaius) knew the emperor personally. Most of what we know of Caligula’s life and reign comes from six ancient writers. Most modern historians believe that all the ancient sources about Caligula need to be taken cum grano salis. That doesn’t necessarily make it good history, though. I was surprised how many incidents in the film were based on ancient sources. But its history isn’t quite as bad as you might suspect, considering that your average pellicula cinematographica obscena is not known for adherence to historical fact.
A CRAZY THING CALLED LOVE ACITUS MOVIE
In is book I Hated, Hated, Hated This Movie (2000), Roger Ebert writes, “Caligula is not good art, it is not good cinema, it is not good porn.” I couldn’t agree more, and can only add that it isn’t such great history either. Nothing personal, Kyle, but now I wish you had never asked this question. Sometimes, though, this attitude takes us above and beyond the call of duty. Watching porn so you don’t have to is just part of our commitment to customer service. I was wondering what is true about Gaius Caligula, and where these nutty stories came from.įor years I’ve been hearing bizarre stories about the 1979 movie Caligula starring Malcolm McDowell, so when this question came in, I finally let curiosity get the best of me. Anyway, recently I heard that, for the most part, this is all nonsense.
I haven't seen the movie, unfortunately, but the stories circulate pretty well just by word of mouth. I have heard some of the crazy stories about the Roman emperor Caligula, his horse, and everything.
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