After an absence of several years I’m returning to the Roman world. On July 30, Turner Publishing will release my biography of Rome’s third emperor, CALIGULA,The Mad Emperor of Rome, in the US.
So much misinformation about Caligula has entered the popular imagination over the years, especially via the 1979 movie Caligula, I decided it was time to strive to set the record straight.
Was the young ruler sex-crazed, having sex with his sisters and engaging in drunken orgies at the drop of a hat? Was he mad? Did he make his horse a senator? Did he set out to invade Britain, only to crazily order his army to collect seashells on a French beach? Did he have his troops build a massive floating bridge across an Italian bay to prove he was as powerful as a clasical Persian king? Did he consign biblical figures Pontius Pilate and Herod Antipas to unpleasant fates? Did he prove to be, as his predecessor Tiberius predicted, a viper set loose on the Roman people?
Caligula’s true story is a fascinating one, as I’m sure you will agree once you have a chance to read the book. It’s coming soon, in print, e-book and audiobook formats to all major bookstores and online retailers. I’ll tell you more about it as publication draws nearer.
