Review by Choice Review
Winterling (Univ. of Basel, Switzerland) attempts to completely revise the prevailing view of the Emperor Gaius, better known as Caligula. Coming to the throne in 37 CE when only 25, Caligula chose at first to rule in a modest and limited manner, respecting the privileges and powers of the senatorial aristocracy. But then in 39 he was confronted with a powerful conspiracy of leaders of the aristocracy, including his closest advisers and his own sisters. Thereafter, he suspected plots everywhere, executed many leading senators, and threatened more, and this led to his assassination in the palace in early 41. What lay behind these plots and murders was the inner tension in the system created by Augustus, an unstable union (dyarchy) of the military princeps and the aristocratic senate, well described by Winterling as "an emperor in a republic." Only with Constantine's introduction of the dynastic principle 300 years later was the problem finally resolved. The book is clear and well organized, written in an accessible and graceful style, and has a helpful genealogical chart, good notes, and a well-selected bibliography. Altogether, a valuable introduction for undergraduates to early Roman Empire politics and historiography. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All undergraduate libraries and up. R. I. Frank emeritus, University of California, Irvine
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
A Swiss professor of ancient history presents Roman emperor Caligula in a new light in this revisionist but concise portrait geared to the general reader. Caligula assumed the imperial mantle at age 24, upon the death of Tiberius, his adopted grandfather. Throughout Roman history, the path to the throne proved a risky business, and on the other side of the slippery slope, removal from the seat of power could happen at any moment and with varying degrees of violence. That usual pattern of rough play was certainly the rule in Caligula's advent to and topple from the throne. Plus, a major element of Caligula's imperial story is the issue of insanity. His uncontrolled nature was extreme even for those immoderate times, and Caligula has borne, from his day onward, the reputation of lunatic despot. Winterling seeks balance and accuracy in his personality assessment. As he explains it, the insanity charge evolved from Caligula's humiliation of the Roman aristocracy in his drive to set aside the myth that the office of emperor did not actually indicate absolute monarchy.--Hooper, Bra. Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this lively biography of Rome's infamous third emperor, readers will not find the wild-eyed dictator the public has, for nearly two millennia, come to expect. Offering not an apology for the "mad" emperor but a thoughtful argument for his sanity, Winterling, ancient history professor at the University of Basel, Switzerland (Aula Caesaris), debunks Caligula's most grotesque and oft repeated crimes. Accounts of his incestuous relationship with his sisters and his creation of a brothel on palace grounds (with senators' wives as prostitutes) were slander by biased historical sources such as Suetonius. Caligula's supposed plan to appoint his favorite race horse as consul (the highest ranking position below emperor) and his claim to be in direct contact with various gods, says Winterling, were cruel jokes misinterpreted over time. The emperor's crossing of the Bay of Baiae on a bridge of ships was not an expensive folly but an unprecedented display of power to the Germanic tribes he was targeting. Like a police interrogator, Winterling plays his ancient sources off each other, identifying holes in their accounts, "blatant contradictions," and conflicts of interest. In this brisk and well-measured biography, Caligula emerges a troubled and cruel man, but not a crazy one. Photos. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In popular imagination Caligula (12 C.E.-41 C.E.) is the mad young emperor who acted out of some combination of insanity, cruelty, or lead poisoning. In a revisionist take on the man, Winterling (ancient history, Univ. of Basel; Politics, Society, and Aristocratic Communication in Imperial Rome) argues that Caligula was cruel but that his actions were explicable in the light of the political situation of the time and considering the changing role of the emperor. While Augustus had managed to fit into the old aristocratic structures, Caligula needed to wield monarchical powers to control the senate. His reinvention of the status of the emperor required extraordinary acts to subjugate the aristocracy; likewise, the aristocracy took extraordinary measures to remove Caligula, who remained popular with the common people. In this reading, the more egregious acts attributed to Caligula-such as incest and making his horse a consul-were inventions of later writers. Verdict This is an important perspective, but Winterling's interpretation of Caligula often feels overly exculpatory and one-sided. Accessible to the general reader, but most likely to appeal to serious Roman history readers or students.-Margaret Heller, Dominican Univ. Lib., River Forest, IL (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
