Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
IMPERIAL INSANITY
Bribes? Bunga bunga parties? Spare a thought for the ancient Romans, who suffered their fair share of eccentric
leaders. We salute some of the empire's wackiest, most ruthless and downright kinkiest rulers.
Tiberius (ruled AD 14-37) With a steady governing hand but prone to depression, Tiberius had a difficult rela-
tionship with the Senate and withdrew in his later years to Capri, where, they say, he devoted himself to drinking,
orgies and fits of paranoia.
Gaius (Caligula; ruled AD 37-41) 'Little Shoes' made grand-uncle Tiberius look tame. Sex - including with his
sisters - and gratuitous, cruel violence were high on his agenda. He emptied the state's coffers and suggested
making a horse consul before being assassinated.
Nero (ruled AD 54-68) Augustus' last descendant, Nero had his pushy stage mother murdered, his first wife's
veins slashed, his second wife kicked to death, and his third wife's ex-husband killed. The people accused him of
playing the fiddle while Rome burned to the ground in AD 64.
Diocletian (ruled AD 284-305) Dalmatian-born Diocletian had little time for the growing cult of Christianity. He
ordered the burning of churches and sacred scriptures, and had Christians thrown to wild beasts in a grisly public
spectacle. One of them was Naples' patron saint, San Gennaro, slaughtered in Pozzuoli's Anfiteatro Flavio.
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