Caligula incest with his sisters, Agrippina the Younger, Drusilla, and Livilla, and say he prostituted them to other men. They state he sent troops on illogical military exercises, turned the palace into a brothel, and, most famously, planned or promised to make his horse, Incitatus, a consul, and actually appointed him a priest. The validity of these accounts is debatable. In Roman political culture, insanity and sexual perversity were often presented hand-in-hand with poor government. Caligula's actions as emperor were described as being especially harsh to the senate, to the nobility and to the equestrian order. According to Josephus, these actions
Roman emperor but only with Vespasian did "imperator" (emperor) become the official title by which the ruler of the Roman Empire was known. The word "princeps" (plural "principes"), meaning "first", was a republican term used to denote the leading citizen(s) of the state. It was a purely honorific title with no attached duties or powers. It was the title most preferred by Caesar Augustus as its use implies only primacy, as opposed to another of his titles, "imperator", which implies dominance. "Princeps", because of its republican connotation, was most commonly used to refer to the emperor in Latin (although the emperor's actual