Episode 28: Caligula's dinner parties and his love for the theater

Caligula's behavior at dinner parties was questionable at best and downright abbhorent at worst. His uncle Claudius was the butt of jokes whereas the wives of senators became paramours for the princeps. His affection for the actor Mnester was unbridled. Quintilia's outstanding reputation as an actor was matched only by her beauty. Her virtuous character meant she was an apt target for her lover's jealous enemy.    SHOWNOTES: Claudius as the butt of jokes (Suetonius, Claudius, 8) Gaius taking Asiaticus' wife (Seneca, On Constantia, 18.2) Regulus and Paulina (Suetonius, Caligula, 25) Pliny's dinner with Lollia Paulina (Pliny, Natural History, 9.117-118)  Milonia Caesonia (Suetonius, Caligula, 25) Passienus' quip about "no better slave and no worse master" (Tacitus, Annals, 6.20). Mnester (Suetonius, Caligula, 55.1) Quintilia, Timidius, and Pompedius (Josephus, Antiquities, 19.5).