Incitatus
Incitatus was a successful racehorse from the racing stable of the “Green Circus Party” in the Roman Empire and the favorite horse of the Roman Emperor Caligula (37–41 AD).
Caligula was very interested in gladiator fights and chariot races and used large sums of his wealth to finance them, which served as a popular measure to appease the capital city masses during the imperial era. The day before races, he had soldiers cordon off the streets to the circus and ordered silence so that Incitatus would not be disturbed in his concentration.
The emperor is said to have presented his horse with a marble trough, a bridle made of ivory, a saddle dyed with purple, and a collar made of precious stones and pearls . Furthermore, Incitatus is said to have lived in his own palace, with his own servants and valuable furniture. Caligula is said to have issued invitations to the highest dignitaries of the empire, often on behalf of Incitatus; the horse therefore needed suitable representation rooms. At these costly feasts Incitatus allegedly received gold-colored barley as fodder and drank wine from gold goblets on the emperor's health. The emperor is said to have modified a common oath formula "on the welfare and fortune of Incitatus" in state acts. Caligula was so taken with the merits of the horse that he is said to have planned to appoint Incitatus with the consulship and permanent seat in the Senate for the year 42 AD .
Suetonius and Cassius Dio describe the relationship between Caligula and Incitatus in connection with the emperor's numerous extravagant passions. It can be assumed that they used one of the many contemporary senatorial pamphlets as a source. Historiographers use it to support the assumption that Caligula became megalomaniac and mentally ill (see also Caesar Madness ).
Today the anecdote is often interpreted as costly arrogance and cynicism of the emperor: the horse maintains the rituals of an oriental court ceremony, which Caligula was forbidden in this form out of consideration for the senate. As the most valuable inhabitant of the empire, it participates in the imperial cult (in the 1st century AD mainly the solemn evocation of the emperor's health).
With the allegedly planned appointment of the horse to the consul, Caligula insults the Senate: It demonstratively undermines the Roman understanding of collegiality, which in addition to the emperor in the consular office provided for an equal and impartial senator, which was already disregarded by his predecessors (e.g. Augustus and Agrippa ). She disqualifies the Senate as Caligula expresses that no Senator can match Incitatus' merits. It demonstrates to the Senate the legally regulated right of the emperor to award offices and at the same time plays with the interpretation of applicable law, which on the one hand explicitly provided for the emperor to exert influence, and on the other hand did not exclude horses from political careers in the same detail.
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- Suetonius : Caligula . Most detailed ancient biography of the emperor from the collection of the emperor's biographies from Caesar to Domitian . Numerous editions, German translation for example: Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus: All preserved works . Magnus, Essen 2004, ISBN 3-88400-071-3 ( Latin text , English translation ).