Abstract:
Emperor Caligula, described by Suetonius as a monster, still arouses much curiosity nowadays. Among the accusations that hovered over him, that helped to build his memory of monstrosity, was that of committing incest with his sisters. Thus, we intend here to draw a brief overview of Roman morality concerning this illicit sexual relation and its judicialization, relating both instances to the main discourses found in Latin sources on the allegations of Caligula's incest. Special emphasis will be given to the passage by Suetonius, which deals with the position of Caligula's sisters at banquets, generally neglected by modern authors, since his analysis reveals important symbolic aspects in the context of accusations of incest. Finally, we will make a survey of the way in which the main biographers of Caligula today consider the accusation of incest.
Keywords:
Caligula; incest; sexuality; banquets; memory