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erin's avatar

Was Caligula insane? I thought he was evil.

A psychopath out of control.

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Iuval Clejan's avatar

He was sadistic, but his mental illnesses are not clear: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caligula#Mental_condition. Perhaps he was not insane according to the "congruence with the world" definition, though many people thought he was.

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erin's avatar
Mar 8Edited

So wow... I went and read the wiki bio. Talk about sanitizing the story! Yish.

Roman law did not hold the insane responsible for their actions. It does not appear that they thought he was insane. The story appears congruent with what happens when a susceptible person is given unlimited power.

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