Was it madness? Or was it the ultimate troll move? By elevating a horse to a position of power, Caligula wasn't just being silly; he was mocking the Senate. He was saying, "You are all so useless, a horse could do your job better." That is the genius of the "loco" emperor—sometimes the madness is just performance art with a body count. If Caligula was the troll, Elagabalus was the avant-garde performance artist. This teenage emperor from Syria brought his weird religion to Rome, and the conservatives lost their minds.
The real question is:
From a modern perspective, his gender fluidity is a point of empathy. But to the Roman historians (who hated him), this was the height of "Eastern decadence and madness." The lesson here? One era’s mental breakdown is another era’s identity exploration. Let’s jump forward to the Spanish Habsburgs. Charles II was the physical manifestation of inbreeding (the infamous "Habsburg Jaw" was so severe he couldn't chew his food). He was frail, epileptic, and widely considered "bewitched." la locuras del emperador
Charles II’s madness was a sad one. He believed his body was made of glass. Yes, you read that right. He suffered from "Glass Delusion," a psychiatric condition where the patient believes they are made of fragile crystal. Was it madness
Legend has it that Caligula didn’t just love his horse, Incitatus. He worshipped him. We aren't talking about a nice stable with a golden water trough. We are talking about a marble stall, ivory manger, and a house full of servants dedicated solely to the horse’s comfort. He was saying, "You are all so useless,
He tried to replace Jupiter (the king of the Roman gods) with his own god, Elagabal (a black meteorite). He threw parties where guests were smothered in rose petals until they suffocated (allegedly). He dressed in makeup and wigs, referred to himself as a "lady," and reportedly offered half of the Roman Empire to any doctor who could surgically give him female anatomy.
These stories also serve a political purpose. Almost every tale of a "mad emperor" was written by his assassins. After a bad emperor was killed, the Senate would declare a Damnatio memoriae —the erasure of his memory. They would then write histories painting him as a monster or a lunatic to justify the stabbing.