ED's Review: ★★★☆☆
My low-ish rating is tempered by the end. Doubtless the gist of it and many of the events of it are true. But Caligula was ridiculous, and his litany of appalling stupidities began to grate with me. The fact that it took that long to assassinate him is perhaps the most ridiculous thing of all. It turns out making a horse a senator is the least stupid thing he did.
But, in large part, this 'personal diary' was interesting and moving in a classy soap opera kind of way, and revealing of potential contemporary attitudes of the powerful as well.
It was a shame that Claudius, or should I call him Clavdivs, essentially sold out and stopped caring by the time the reign of Caligula began. He waxes about the tyrannicisms of Caligula's predecessors, but seems content to laugh about the monstrousness of the 'god emperor'. As I said, the end really spoiled the book for me. It's only a 'three' because I'm trying desperately to judge the book on the bit before.
