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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2021; 79(04): 343-345
DOI: 10.1590/0004-282X-ANP-2020-0358
HISTORICAL NOTE

Caligula: a neuropsychiatric explanation of his madness

Calígula: una explicación neuropsiquiátrica de su locura
Jesús David CHARRY-SÁNCHEZ 
1   Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Grupo de investigación en Neurociencia NeURoS, Centro Neurovitae, Bogotá, Colombia.
,
Alberto VELEZ-VAN-MEERBEKE 
1   Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Grupo de investigación en Neurociencia NeURoS, Centro Neurovitae, Bogotá, Colombia.
,
Leonardo PALACIOS-SÁNCHEZ 
1   Universidad del Rosario, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Grupo de investigación en Neurociencia NeURoS, Centro Neurovitae, Bogotá, Colombia.
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ABSTRACT

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known as Caligula, (12 CE to 41 CE) was the third Roman emperor and ruled only four years. Throughout his life he experienced several traumatic events, and, in addition, historians mention some premorbid conditions that could cause him to become the monster that most historians know today. When Caligula was 25 years old, he suffered a near-fatal illness that turned his story around. One possible cause was lead poisoning due to the high consumption of wine, which contained lead, by Roman patricians. On the other hand, it is plausible that Caligula experienced epilepsy that began in childhood, later experienced status epilepticus in 37 CE, which triggered an epileptic psychosis with the consequent psychopathic and paranoid changes that led him to the madness noted by historians.

RESUMEN

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, mejor conocido como Calígula, (12 C.E. - 41 C.E.), fue el tercer emperador romano y gobernó durante apenas cuatro años. A lo largo de su vida, experimentó diferentes eventos traumáticos y, adicionalmente, algunos historiadores mencionan condiciones premórbidas que pudieron causar que se convirtiera en el monstruo que los historiadores conocen hoy. Cuando Calígula tenía 25 años, sufrió una enfermedad casi fatal que le dio un giro considerable a su historia. Una posible causa es intoxicación por plomo, debido al excesivo consumo de vino, el cual contenía considerables niveles de este metal. Por otro lado, es posible que Calígula cursara con crisis epilépticas de inicio en la infancia. Posteriormente, en el año 37 C.E. experimentara un estado epiléptico, el cual desencadenaría una psicosis epiléptica, dejando secuelas que iban a desencadenar la locura de la que muchos historiadores hablan.

Keywords:

Lead Poisoning - Psychotic Disorders - Status Epilepticus

Palabras clave:

Intoxicación por Plomo - Trastornos Psicóticos - Estado Epiléptico

Authors’ contributions:

All the authors participated in the conception, design of the study, and writing the manuscript.




Publication History

Received: 24 July 2020

Accepted: 17 September 2020

Article published online:
01 June 2023

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