Historical story

That Caligula transvestite ...

Caligula. According to Suetonius, once the emperor presented himself to three of him ex consuls disguised as a woman

The following story, a passage from Suetonius, gives an idea of ​​the bizarre personality of the emperor Caligula (12-41 AD).

The historian writes: “One night he summoned three former consuls to the palace and when they arrived full of the most terrible apprehensions, he made them go up on a platform; suddenly, he jumped out dressed as a woman, with a cloak and a long tunic, performed a dance accompanied by the sound of flutes and castanets, and then disappeared " .

We cannot even imagine the terror that certainly assailed these three men, as it was not at all uncommon for Caligula, notoriously unstable and cruel, to call someone at his pleasure to subject them to torture and punishment for no reason whatsoever.

In this case, the three former consuls went well.


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