Caligula has generally gone down in history as a mad megalomaniac: so mad that he gave his favorite horse a palace, lavish purple clothing, a retinue of servants, and even had plans to appoint it to the consulship, the highest political office below the emperor himself. In fact his extravagant treatment of the animal was a pointed joke. Caligula was satirizing the aims and ambitions of the Roman aristocracy: in their pursuit of luxury and empty honors, they appeared no less silly than the horse.
