Incitatus the treatment of Incitatus by Caligula was an elaborate prank, intended to ridicule and provoke the senate, rather than a sign of insanity, or perhaps a form of satire, with the implication that a horse could perform a senator's duties. Barrett notes that "Many stories were spread about Incitatus, originating most likely from Caligula's own humorous quips." "Possibly out of perverted sense of humor Caligula would pour libations to Incitatus' "salus" [health and well-being], and claimed that he intended to co-opt him as his priest." Ancient sources are clear that the horse was never actually made a consul. Incitatus Incitatus
Holy Roman Emperor (1530). The final Holy Roman Emperor-elect, Francis II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empire's final dissolution. The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was "August Emperor of the Romans" ("Romanorum Imperator Augustus"). When Charlemagne was crowned in 800, he was styled as "most serene Augustus, crowned by God, great and pacific emperor, governing the Roman Empire," thus constituting the elements of "Holy" and "Roman" in the imperial title. The word "Roman" was a reflection of the principle of "translatio imperii" (or in this case "restauratio imperii") that regarded the (Germanic) Holy Roman Emperors as