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Loeb and Dio English prints record a living-emperor cult and temple towards Gaius

Loeb Suetonius and LacusCurtius Dio Book 59 print the received programme of divine honours, a temple, and identification with gods while Gaius lived. In the causal graph this event strengthens Political Polarization, a driver that weakens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

Loeb Suetonius and LacusCurtius Dio Book 59 print the received programme of divine honours, a temple, and identification with gods while Gaius lived. The dated carriers are those English-Latin pages. A living cult polarises elites who still remembered Augustus’s caution.

Context

Imperial cult already existed for the dead and for Rome-and-Augustus in the provinces. Making the living man a god in the city is the escalation in the received account.

Caligula is not the sole author of every later object, law, or museum label that uses the name. Shared work with courts, excavators, printers, spouses, officials, and later states does not erase a documented role, and it does not make an ancient person the signer of a twentieth-century statute.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Caligula

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.36 · verified

    Princeps as named in later editions and objects. Historians, museums, and later states publish the instrument.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactLoeb and Dio English prints record a living-emperor cult and temple towards Gaius
    2. strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
    3. weakensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.45 · Effect from 1 January 1914 · verified

    • Having a say in government

      via Political Polarization

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.2 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      Two readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).

      20212023

      Above normal = better

    • Rule of Law Gap from the Highest Governance Score

      via Political Polarization

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.2 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.45)

      Observed

      43.9 Score · 43.9 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      26 readings, 1996–2024: rose from 43 Score to 43.9 Score.

      Normal is zero · any amount = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Britannica — CaligulaEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Cassius Dio Book 59 — LacusCurtiusLacusCurtius / University of Chicago · High credibility · verified

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorCaligula
  2. contributed toFactLoeb and Dio English prints record a living-emperor cult and temple towards Gaius
  3. strengthensDriverPolitical Polarization
  4. weakensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Loeb and Dio English prints record a living-emperor cult and temple towards Gaius. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/cal-self-cult-temple

https://factrail.ai/facts/cal-self-cult-temple

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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