Emperor Caligula: When Rome's Emperor Lost His Mind

Caligula started as Rome's most beloved ruler and ended as its most feared madman. In just four years, he went from promising young emperor to a tyrant who declared himself a living god, had conversations with statues, and committed acts so bizarre that Romans wondered if he was possessed by demons.

He allegedly made his favorite horse Incitatus a senator and planned to make him consul, built the horse a marble stable with an ivory manger, and invited it to dinner parties where it drank wine from golden goblets. He declared war on Neptune and ordered his soldiers to stab the ocean and collect seashells as "spoils of war" from his victory over the sea god. He built a two-mile floating bridge across the Bay of Naples just so he could ride across it wearing Alexander the Great's breastplate, purely to prove a fortune teller wrong.

But Caligula's madness turned deadly. He had senators executed on a whim, forced fathers to watch their sons die, committed incest with all three of his sisters, and demanded to be worshipped as a god in temples across the empire. He emptied Rome's treasury on extravagant parties and projects, once spending an entire province's tax revenue on a single banquet. After four years of terror, his own Praetorian Guard assassinated him in a palace tunnel.

This episode explores what turned Rome's golden boy into a monster - brain fever, absolute power, or genuine insanity?

Keywords: weird history, Caligula, Roman emperors, ancient Rome, Roman history, mad emperors, Imperial Rome, Roman scandals, insane rulers, ancient history

Perfect for listeners who love: Roman history, tales of madness and power, imperial scandals, and rulers who went completely off the rails.

Another unbelievable episode from Weird History - where power and insanity collide.

Emperor Elagabalus: When Rome's Wildest Teenager Became Emperor

Elagabalus became Roman Emperor at age 14 and spent the next four years shocking Rome with behavior so outrageous that historians still debate whether the accounts are real or exaggerated propaganda. He married and divorced five times in four years, allegedly worked as a prostitute in the palace, and may have been one of history's first transgender rulers.

The teenage emperor brought his Syrian sun god to Rome - literally a black stone he worshipped - and forced the Senate to watch him perform exotic religious rituals. He threw lavish parties where guests could suffocate under tons of rose petals dropped from the ceiling. He allegedly offered huge rewards to any physician who could give him female genitalia, married a male athlete in a public ceremony, and insisted on being called "empress" rather than emperor.

His grandmother and the Praetorian Guard grew increasingly alarmed as Elagabalus elevated former slaves and charioteers to high positions based purely on their physical attributes. When he tried to make his lover co-emperor, it was the final straw. At 18, he was assassinated along with his mother, their bodies dragged through Rome and thrown into the Tiber River.

This episode explores whether Elagabalus was truly Rome's most scandalous ruler or the victim of hostile historians who wanted to destroy his reputation. Either way, his four-year reign remains one of the most bizarre periods in Roman history.

Keywords: weird history, Elagabalus, Roman emperors, ancient Rome, Roman history, transgender history, LGBTQ history, Roman scandals, teenage emperors, ancient history

Perfect for listeners who love: Roman history, royal scandals, LGBTQ history, ancient mysteries, and rulers who defied all expectations.

Gilles de Rais: From Noble War Hero to Monster

Gilles de Rais was one of France's greatest military heroes, fighting alongside Joan of Arc and becoming one of the wealthiest noblemen in Europe. Then he became one of history's first documented serial killers, allegedly murdering hundreds of children in occult rituals at his castle.

After Joan of Arc's execution, Gilles retreated to his estates and his behavior grew increasingly bizarre. He squandered his massive fortune on lavish theatrical productions and began dabbling in alchemy and black magic, desperately trying to restore his wealth through demonic pacts. But his quest for occult power led to something far darker - the systematic abduction, torture, and murder of peasant children from surrounding villages.

When authorities finally investigated in 1440, the testimonies were horrifying. Servants described rooms filled with dismembered bodies, rituals involving children's blood, and Gilles's confession detailed acts so depraved that parts of his trial transcript were destroyed. He confessed to murdering between 80 and 200 children, though some estimates go much higher. He was executed by hanging and burning, but debates still rage about whether he was truly guilty or the victim of a political conspiracy to seize his lands.

This episode explores one of history's most disturbing transformations and asks whether Gilles de Rais was a genuine monster or a wealthy nobleman destroyed by enemies who wanted his fortune.

Keywords: weird history, Gilles de Rais, Joan of Arc, serial killers in history, medieval France, French history, occult history, medieval crimes, historical murders, dark history

Perfect for listeners who love: true crime history, medieval mysteries, dark history, Joan of Arc stories, and the psychology of evil.

Warning: This episode contains discussion of violence against children. Listener discretion is advised.