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19. Kicking Off the Weirdness Early
The years of repressed living left their mark on Caligula. Once freed of the ever-present threat of execution by his paranoid uncle, he cut loose in an orgy of lavish spending and hedonistic living, as the combination of sudden freedom and sudden unlimited power went to his head. He kicked off the weirdness early.
To demonstrate his contempt for a soothsayer’s prediction that he had no more chance of becoming emperor than riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae, Caligula ordered a two-mile bridge built across the bay. He then rode his horse across it while wearing the breastplate and armor of Alexander the Great. On another occasion, he started cackling uncontrollably at a party. When asked what was so funny, Caligula replied that he found it hilarious that with a mere gesture of his finger, he could have anybody present beheaded right then and there.