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Notes Do not display Latin text | Caligula, Chapter 52: His clothing. | Next chapter Return to index Previous chapter |
In his clothing, his shoes, and the rest of his attire he[Note 1] did not follow the usage of his country and his fellow-citizens; not always even that of his sex; or in fact, that of an ordinary mortal. He often appeared in public in embroidered cloaks covered with precious stones with a long-sleeved tunic and bracelets; sometimes in silk a and in a woman's robe; now in slippers or buskins; again in boots, such as the emperor's body-guard wear, and at times in the low shoes which are used by females. But oftentimes he exhibited himself with a golden beard holding in his hand a thunderbolt, a trident, or a caduceus, emblems of the gods, and even in the garb of Venus. He frequently wore the dress of a triumphing general, even before his campaign, and sometimes the breastplate of Alexander the Great, which he had taken from his sarcophagus. Note 1: he = Caligula | Vestitu calciatuque et cetero habitu neque patrio neque ciuili, ac ne uirili quidem ac denique humano semper usus est. Saepe depictas gemmatasque indutus paenulas, manuleatus et armillatus in publicum processit; aliquando sericatus et cycladatus; ac modo in crepidis uel coturnis, modo in speculatoria caliga, nonnumquam socco muliebri; plerumque uero aurea barba, fulmen tenens aut fuscinam aut caduceum deorum insignia, atque etiam Veneris cultu conspectus est. triumphalem quidem ornatum etiam ante expeditionem assidue gestauit, interdum et Magni Alexandri thoracem repetitum e conditorio eius. |