Emperor Caligula, infamous for his erratic and cruel behavior, once took pleasure in entertaining himself at the cost of innocent lives. During one of his notorious shows at the Coliseum, Caligula grew bored and ordered an entire section of the audience to be thrown into the arena to be killed by wild animals. This barbaric action was a testament to the extent of Caligula’s sadistic personality, which almost always found solace in inflicting pain and suffering on others.
Emperor Nero, renowned for his cruelty, took pleasure in using innocent people as human torches for his lavish garden parties. Nero’s twisted sense of entertainment involved setting Christians on fire to light up the night for his guests. Nero’s parties were indeed lit in more ways than one, lit by the horrific screams of innocent people who were meticulously tormented and killed in front of his guests.
Another Emperor who acquired infamy for his cruel tendencies was Emperor Domitian. Domitian’s obsession with the number 13 took a twisted turn as he would often order executions in groups of 13. Some historians believe that this was an attempt to placate the superstitions of pop culture in ancient Rome, while others believe it to be a part of Domitian’s sadistic confidence in the number’s alleged dark powers.
Emperor Vespasian’s legacy is marked by a somewhat comical event that spoke volumes for the tenor of Roman society at the time. Vespasian, the emperor who introduced the modern Roman economy, famously taxed public urinals, which earned him the audacious nickname “the piss taxer”. When his son Titus expressed his disgust for the new tax, Vespasian held the collected money to Titus’s nose and asked, “Does it smell?” When Titus answered that it did not, Vespasian snorted, “Yet it comes from urine. You think that is a distasteful way to make a living?” It underscores that amidst the grandeur of Rome’s opulence, the most mundane aspects of life were not spared from the taxman’s reach.
In concluding this thrilling and often macabre portrayal of some lesser-known facts about ancient Rome’s seniors, I’d like to highlight the paradoxical reality of those days. Beyond the aura of unprecedented luxury and wealth, the gruesome extremes to which these emperors went illustrate the troubling undercurrents of Roman society that were apparently camouflaged by fleeting prosperity. Some believe that these incidents highlight the decadence, while others contend that they signify the original Roman confidence in raw power and might that still inspire some today. Whatever your personal take, one can’t deny that these scandalous sides to the Roman emperors serve as intriguing finding clues about ancient Rome, its people and its values which sometimes inspire horror, but at other times repel even as they investigate with obsessive fascination.
