Episode 32: Caligula attempts to install his statue in the Jerusalem Temple; A foiled assassination attempt

Gaius (Caligula) heard that Jews were causing trouble in Jamnia and in Alexandria, Egypt. He raised the stakes by ordering that his statue be installed in the Jerusalem Temple. For that task he sent Petronius as the new governor of Syria. Vitellius, who was marked for execution, saved his own life with sycophancy, and began to worship Gaius as a god. In a demonstration of the princeps' love of chariot racing, he set up a new track near the Vatican Hill and to adorn it, he brought an obelisk from Egypt. To find some refreshment Gaius went on a trip to Northern Italy only to discover that his two sisters and his friend Lepidus were plotting to kill him.    SHOWNOTES  Delegation from Alexandria (Philo, Embassy to Gaius, 28; Josephus, Antiquities, 18.8.1) Machaon and his dog on the couch of Jupiter (Dio 59.9.3) Vitellius' sycophancy (Dio 59.27.2-5) Vespasian appearing indifferent before Gaius' spectacles (Suetonius, Vespasian, 2). Obelisk brought from Egypt to the Vatican (Pliny, Natural History, 16.76) [This obelisk is believed to be the one still standing in Saint Peter's square today]. Gaius as a fan of the greens (Dio, 59.14.5-6) Gaius' vengeance against Flaccus (Philo, Against Flaccus, 21)