While Caligula’s reign was embarrassingly aw-
ful, it ended with a smooth transition period,
suggesting that his reign had not been so ex-
treme as to be irreversible. On the other hand,
the aftermath of Nero’s death was filled with
violence and chaos, and marked the end of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty.
And then we must take into account the legacy
of Nero. Tacitus, Suetonius, and Cassius Dio all
paint him in an unfavorable light. Tacitus bold-
ly claims that Nero planned the Great Fire of
Rome, and used the Christians as scapegoats.
While Caligula certainly was a bad ruler, Nero
was a brutal tyrant whose reputation today still
reveals how evil an emperor he truly was.
Anonymous, ii
NERO
A bratty, entitled kid named Nero and the nutty lead-
poisoned psychopath Caligula. As emperor, who do
you think would be worse? Well, to put it in the per-
spective of an average Roman: Nero, who had his
own family killed (not my problem) or Caligula, who
“had fun” with the wives of his dinner party guests.
There is, of course, more to Nero than just killing his
family, for example the Great Fire of Rome. In the Ro-
man citizens’ eyes, this was his chance to grab the
land he needed for his extravagant palace. In the mod-
ern perspective, however, there is no palpable evidence
that he truly caused it. Nevertheless, another angle of
Nero’s bad behavior was persecuting the Christians.
He conveniently blamed the fire on this widely-hat-
ed group and because of their “destruction of swaths
of the eternal city of Rome,” had them killed, enslaved,
and imprisoned, for something they very well did not do.
Caligula, though, was a far more irascible and “interesting”
person than Nero ever was. After recovering from his dis-
ease, he was said to have killed many of his friends, and to
have rudely broken up even the most peaceful and perfect
marriages (with friends like Caligula, who needs enemies?).
Keeping his disgusting affairs, brutal killings of people he
once cherished, and his marriage policies, in mind, I think
that, without doubt, Caligula is the greater of the two evils.
NicHolas Weiske, V
CALIGULA
Hercules desired the Stympha-
lian birds, which Eurystheus
had ordered him to kill. There-
fore Athena gave him bronze
castanets, which Hephaestus
had made.
After Hercules had climbed a
mountain, he clashed the cas-
tanets loudly. With the birds
having been scared, they flew
from the trees. He shot them to
their deaths with arrows.
A
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IA NE
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C WIL BUR (III)
While it’s only rumor that Nero “fiddled while
Rome burned,” Nero still can be considered
a terrible emperor, perhaps even the worst.
While Caligula was known for his insanity and
volatile behavior, Nero’s temper tantrums and
ruthlessness were far worse. Nero ruthlessly
killed his own mother before age twenty, and
consolidated power by murdering several of the
Pisonian conspirators in outrageous manners.
us
Herculēs avēs Stymphaliās,
quās Eurystheus eum necare
iusserat, cupivit. Itaque Athena
eī aenea crotala, quāe Hepha-
estus fecerat, dedit.
Cum Herculēs montem as-
cendisset, crotala valdē con-
crepuit. Avibus territīs, ex abori-
bus volaverunt. Eās ad suās
mortēs sagittīs contendit.
Great Fire
of Rome
itat
Inc
SYMPHALIAE
WHO
WAS
WORSE?
AVES