What a relief. New finds by archaeologists appear to prove that Caligula, the most infamous of ancient Rome's emperors, was as evil as he was painted.
The reputation of Caligula, who reigned from 37 A.D. to 41 A.D., rests on misconduct that makes today's politicians look dull.When not being eccentric (about to invade Britain, he made the legionnaires pick up seashells at Boulogne before returning them to barracks), he could be gratuitously offensive, affronting Jews by trying to install a statue of himself in the Temple of Jerusalem.
His sexual deviance was on a grand scale - he is said to have committed incest with his sister and to have made her into a god.
But the Romans forgave these foibles. What upset them was when he converted a temple of the gods into the vestibule of his new palace.
Until now, this tale - told by the second-century biographer Suetonius, imperial Rome's Kitty Kelley - has been dismissed by scholars.
But archaeologist Henry Hirst of Cambridge University, England, believes his excavations in the Forum in Rome prove that Suetonius was right.
Yards behind the three remaining columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, named by Suetonius, Hirst uncovered the foundations of some massive walls, which he believes are the remains of Caligula's new palace.
The structure was carefully aligned with the back wall of the nearby temple. The floor of the temple was at the same level as the lost first floor of Caligula's palace, and Hirst believes they were connected, allowing the temple to function as the palace's entrance. Subjects approaching Caligula found themselves entering the incense-filled home of a god.
But Caligula miscalculated the public mood and was overthrown after four years in power.