Caligula, Midas, and the Failure to Make Gold
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21303809 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Serena Connolly (Rutgers Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 119 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 140-145 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Classical Philology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0009-837X • E-ISSN: 1546-072X |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/727862 |
| OpenAlex | W4390576833 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
Suetonius reports that the emperor Caligula was fond of saying that a man ought to choose between being frugal (frugi) and being a Caesar. While generally understood as a self-referential declaration of Caligula’s excess, it has also been interpreted as a pun on the name of M. Licinius Crassus Frugi, whose son was an enemy of the emperor. This paper identifies an additional pun that contrasts the Phrygian king Midas, famed for his golden touch, with Caligula, whose attempt to turn arsenic sulfide into gold had failed. This newly identified pun reveals Caligula’s witticism to be self-aware and self-deprecating
Ancient history · Art · Declaration · Emperor · Literature · Political science · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical and Literary Studies · History · Law · Philosophy
| Highly cited | No |
|---|