Caligula’s Pleasure Palaces
What happened inside Caligula’s pleasure palaces?
4.1 (17)
43 mins
Explore the lavish villas and floating pleasure barges associated with Caligula and the stories of extravagance surrounding Rome’s controversial emperor. Uncover how these remarkable structures were built, what they were used for, and how their remains were eventually rediscovered.
Ep 1:
Little Boot's Bloody Road to Power
From a childhood steeped in murder and exile to Rome's wildly beloved new ruler, young Caligula's golden start curdles fast after a mysterious illness unleashes paranoia and divine delusion.
Ep 2:
Pleasure Palaces and Poisoned Legends
Step inside Caligula's jewel-encrusted gardens and legendary floating ships on Lake Nemi, where myths of incest and a consul horse collide with the real machinery of imperial terror.
Ep 3:
Sunk, Salvaged, and Set Ablaze
Caligula's colossal pleasure ships vanish into a volcanic lake for centuries, inspiring daring dives, failed salvage schemes, and Mussolini's audacious bid to drain the lake itself.
Ep 4:
Ashes, Artifacts, and an Unmasked Emperor
A museum fire erases ancient wonders overnight, a looted mosaic resurfaces as a Manhattan coffee table, and historians finally confront whether Caligula was truly mad—or just dangerously human.
Discussions (5)
Adam
Level 7 · 10 hours agoSo Caligula's mosaic sat as a Park Avenue coffee table for 40 years and nobody knew... that's wild Roman history right there
Mathew
Level 9 · 10 hours agoSuetonius wrote 100 years after Caligula. That checks out
Jack
Level 3 · 10 hours agoThe 'mad not bad' argument falls apart when you consider Caligula's calculated moves never stopped. Paranoia and political genius aren't mutually exclusive, they clearly coexisted.
