Known by his nickname “Caligula,” the notorious Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus was the third emperor of the Roman Empire. He was the great-grandson of Julius Caesar. If you ask any Game of Thrones fan, the actor who plays Joffrey Baratheon, a cruel and violent child king in the books and TV series, looks just like him, and his character’s actions don’t fall far from the Caligula trope tree.

Although Caligula's father was the best candidate, Tiberius was jealous of him and kept Germanicus away from Rome for several years. Germanicus died under mysterious circumstances. His death was mourned throughout the empire, because he was, by all accounts, an honorable and courageous man. Caligula was adopted by Tiberius, his father’s supposed killer, and the young man was forced to hide his hatred from his adopted parent. Soon, Caligula and his cousin Gemellus were made equal heirs to the throne. However, upon Tiberius’ death in 37 AD, Caligula’s ally Marco arranged for Caligula to be named the sole emperor.

Despite Caligula’s atrocious reputation, he was extremely well loved by the Roman people during the first six months of his reign, but the tide began to turn when he fell seriously ill. After Caligula recovered, his mental health drastically changed, and he would be remembered by history in his remaining three and a half years as a ruthless, sadistic and sexually perverse tyrant.

Allegedly, Caligula turned the palace into a brothel, took sexual liberties with his three younger sisters and talked to the moon. He also executed or exiled the people closest to him and anyone he perceived as a threat. Sometimes Caligula killed for fun and made a habit out of sleeping with other men’s wives and bragging about it.

Caligula Death Scenes

Scholars suspect that his mental instability was induced by an illness, such as temporal lobe epilepsy, hyperthyroidism or Wilson’s disease. Others think the deaths of his parents and brothers unhinged him as a child. Another theory speculates that he was being poisoned. Regardless of the root cause, Caligula did some seriously looney things during his short, four year reign.

Before he was assassinated by officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators and courtiers at the age of 28, Caligula’s five craziest moments were:

1. Making his cherished horse, Incitatus, a senator and putting him on the list to become consul.

2. Ordering his guards to throw a section of the crowd at the Colosseum into the arena between gladiatorial games. Apparently watching people get eaten by wild animals alleviates boredom.

3. Declaring war on Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. He had his soldiers whip the waves and gather seashells to bring home as “spoils.” This ludicrous behavior arose after an unsuccessful campaign abroad in Britain. Caligula didn’t want to return to Rome without a victory.

4. Believing he was a living, breathing, tangible god and forcing the people of Rome worship him as such. He had the heads of deities on statues removed and replaced with his own. He also wanted a statue of himself constructed in the Temple of Jerusalem.

5. Hitting a priest over the head with a hammer when he supposed to do that to a bull in a sacrifice to the gods instead.

To learn more about Caligula’s special brand of crazy, check out episode nine of Remarkable Lives. Tragic Deaths, a Parcast Network podcast series.

Remarkable Lives. Tragic Deaths examines the lives and tragic deaths of people who changed history and influenced pop culture.

The “Pets”

Franco Rossellini’s original idea was to have the selling point be PAUL MORRISSEY. Instead of writing his own script, Paul Morrissey brought his friend Gore Vidal on board and then the selling point became GORE VIDAL. When Paul Morrissey was booted out and the lead actor was hired, the selling point became MALCOLM McDOWELL. When Gore Vidal resigned, the selling point became PENTHOUSE MAGAZINE. And indeed, AFTER filming was well underway, Bob Guccione flew three Penthouse models to Rome to be added to the movie. The problem, of course, was that the casting was complete and there would be nothing for any newcomers to do, but they were added anyway. Then Guccione flew a dozen or so more models to Rome to be added, telling them that they were on their way to be used as background decorations in The Spy Who Loved Me. They were in for a rude awakening. There was even less for the remaining gals to do. From what I have been able to gather from my own observations and from chatting with folks who went to see it, the Penthouse “Pets” were indeed the principal selling point, without which this mutilated and orphaned film would have flopped miserably. So here we go. Here are some images of the selling points.

Caligula Movie Watch

Lori Wagner, Jane Hargrave, Anneka di Lorenzo	USUALLY DELETED: Lori Wagner, Anneka di Lorenzo, Jane Hargrave, Unidentified Shepherd, Unidentified Imperial Guards in background	Lori Wagner, Jane Hargrave, Anneka di Lorenzo	USUALLY DELETED: The full panorama
Unidentified	Lori Wagner	Lori Wagner, Jane Hargrave, Anneka di Lorenzo	Anneka di Lorenzo and Lori Wagner
Between takes: Unidentified with confused expression sitting on statue of Isis; trio: Anneka di Lorenzo, Lori Wagner, Jane Hargrave	Lori Wagner (standing beside Eduardo Bergara Leumann who is dressed in feminine veils)	Anneka di Lorenzo	Jane Hargrave, Lori Wagner, Anneka di Lorenzo
Lori Wagner and Anneka di Lorenzo in one of the notorious “additional scenes” added after production had finished.	Bonnie Dee Wilson on far left, Carolyn Patsis in background	Anneka di Lorenzo	Anneka di Lorenzo and Lori Wagner on the right
Lori Wagner	Anneka di Lorenzo, Lori Wagner	Anneka di Lorenzo, Lori Wagner	Lori Wagner, Anneka di Lorenzo
Jane Hargrave in blue on the very left, Unidentified in white on the right	Jane Hargrave	Anneka di Lorenzo	DELETED MOMENT: Anneka di Lorenzo, Lori Wagner
Carolyn Patsis on very left, Jane Hargrave, Anneka di Lorenzo	Bonnie Dee Wilson, Carolyn Patsis, Jane Hargrave, Anneka di Lorenzo, Lori Wagner	Unidentified, Bonnie Dee Wilson, Carolyn Patsis, Jane Hargrave, Anneka di Lorenzo, Lori Wagner	Bonnie Dee Wilson, Carolyn Patsis, Jane Hargrave
Lori Wagner, Unidentified, Unidentified	Unidentified, Anneka di Lorenzo, Lori Wagner, Unidentified, Unidentified	Lori Wagner	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Juliet Morris, Carolyn Patsis
“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Susanne Saxon, Unidentified	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Jane Hargrave	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Valerie Rae Clark, Jane Hargrave	Anneka di Lorenzo
“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: That’s Jane Hargrave in the upper left, Anneka di Lorenzo in foreground, and no idea about the others	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Signe Berger	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Carolyn Patsis	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Susanne Saxon
“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Signe Berger, Henrietta Kelogg	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Susanne Saxon, Carolyn Patsis	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Valerie Rae Clark, Carolyn Patsis	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Lori Wagner
“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Valerie Rae Clark	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Valerie Rae Clark	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Bonnie Dee Wilson	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Unidentified with one of the two recurring midgets in the background, lazily waving Caligula’s caduceus back and forth (contrast that with the vigorous dance moves in the authentic portions of the Bordello scene)
“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Lori Wagner	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Valerie Rae Clark foreground at bottom of frame	“ADDITIONAL SCENE”: Anneka di Lorenzo	Anneka di Lorenzo
Lori Wagner in foreground, Bonnie Dee Wilson in background	Unidentified on left, Lori Wagner back to camera in foreground, Bonnie Dee Wilson in background	Bonnie Dee Wilson, Anneka di Lorenzo, Lori Wagner	Carolyn Patsis in background on left, Bonnie Dee Wilson in foreground
Anneka di Lorenzo, Unidentified	Executive Producer Jack Silverman, Unidentified, Carolyn Patsis (in black), Bonnie Dee Wilson (back to camera), Unidentified (in black jacket), Unidentified (back to camera, with scarf, maybe Alfred W Crown???). Jack was a walking disaster area, who left in his wake endless trails of broken lives. I don’t feel sorry that he died at the age of 52.	Executive Producer Jack Silverman, Unidentified (maybe Alfred W Crown???), Unidentified	Bonnie Dee Wilson, Unidentified. My heavens, don’t these Penthouse execs look so mild-mannered, reassuring, warm, friendly, laid-back, yes? They’d put you at ease in an instant, wouldn’t they?
Unidentified, Carolyn Patsis, Executive Producer Jack Silverman, Unidentified, Presenter Bob Guccione	Executive Producer Jack Silverman, Carolyn Patsis, Unidentified, Presenter Bob Guccione

Caligula Death Cause