this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2026
66 points (100.0% liked)
History Memes
2090 readers
1429 users here now
A place to share history memes!
Rules:
-
No sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, assorted bigotry, etc.
-
No fascism (including tankies/red fash), atrocity denial or apologia, etc.
-
Tag NSFW pics as NSFW.
-
Follow all Piefed.social rules.
-
History referenced must be 20+ years old.
Banner courtesy of @setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world
OTHER COMMS IN THE HISTORYVERSE:
- !historymusic@quokk.au
- !historygallery@quokk.au
- !historyruins@piefed.social
- !historyart@piefed.social
- !historyartifacts@piefed.social
- !historyphotos@piefed.social
founded 9 months ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Explanation: The tyrannical Roman Emperor Caligula was not known as Caligula during his reign. 'Caligula' means 'Little boots' or 'Little sandals', from the military footwear of Roman legionaries - when Caligula was a young boy, his father, Germanicus, took him with him on campaigns, dressed up in a miniature soldier's outfit. The troops loved him, and took to calling him Caligula - a nickname which he did not appreciate when he was older!
I like how you avoided saying his actual name
Honestly, anyone anymore knows him only as Caligula, and his actual name doesn't have any distinguishing features (Gaius is extremely common, Caesar and Augustus are borderline titles even at this early point, and Germanicus is more associated with his father).
Oh so is name was wholly unoriginal and forgettable. Unlike Tiberius Claudius Nero
Tiberius is my kid's middle name. He's fully lived up to it