19. A Decadent Start to Caligula’s Rule
When his paranoid uncle died and Caligula succeeded him ruler of the Roman Empire, he was not only freed of the constant threat of execution, but suddenly found himself the world’s most powerful man. He cut loose and dove head first into an orgy of lavish spending and hedonistic living, as the combination of sudden freedom and unlimited power went to his head. He kicked off the crazy early on, with a demonstration of his contempt for a soothsayer’s prediction that he had no more chance to become emperor than of riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae. Caligula ordered a two mile bridge built across the bay, then rode his horse across it while clad in the breastplate and armor of Alexander the Great.
