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Loeb Suetonius prints the Caligula vita as a catalogue of imperial cruelty

In 1913–14 J. C. Rolfe’s Loeb Suetonius issued the Caligula life, a completed Latin-English instrument that catalogues executions, humiliations, and arbitrary killings. In the causal graph this event weakens Protection of Minority Rights, a driver that strengthens Having a say in government — a worsening welfare path.

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

In 1913–14 J. C. Rolfe’s Loeb Suetonius issued the Caligula life, a completed Latin-English instrument that catalogues executions, humiliations, and arbitrary killings. The dated carrier is the Loeb, not a palace daybook. Suetonius wrote under later dynasties with reason to blacken Gaius.

Context

Anecdote-lives mix documentable deaths (Gemellus, Macro) with theatrical set-pieces. Confidence on any single joke-killing stays medium. The pattern of unprotected persons around the princeps is the rights path.

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 0.44 · 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 Suetonius prints the Caligula vita as a catalogue of imperial cruelty
    2. weakensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Having a say in government
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.55 · Effect from 1 January 1913 · verified

    • Having a say in government

      via Protection of Minority Rights

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × 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 Protection of Minority Rights

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.25 (weight 0.55 × 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.Suetonius, Loeb vol. 1 (Rolfe) scanInternet Archive / Loeb Classical Library · High credibility · verified

Causal path

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

  1. ActorCaligula
  2. contributed toFactLoeb Suetonius prints the Caligula vita as a catalogue of imperial cruelty
  3. weakensDriverProtection of Minority Rights
  4. strengthensIndicatorHaving a say in government

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Loeb Suetonius prints the Caligula vita as a catalogue of imperial cruelty. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/cal-suetonius-loeb-cruelty

https://factrail.ai/facts/cal-suetonius-loeb-cruelty

Accessed 16 October 2026.

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

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