Caligula

Gaius Julius Ceasar Augustus Germanicus, often refered to simply as Caligula, was one of Rome's most infamous tyrants and is widely believed to have been insane - historical records of his rule are scarce but those that survive hint at him having enjoyed a relatively properious reign for his first two years as Emperor but after this period the focus rapidly changed to his cruelty, sexual perversion and extragavence - although few (if any) of these claims can be stated as fact the name Caligula has become a symbol of decay and madness in the public eye ever since.

Amongst the least of Caligula's supposed crimes was increasingly draconian ruling style, the beheading of one of his nephew's to "cure" him of his cough and electing his favorite horse to the rank of a senior senator, Caligula was also a controversial leader due to his supposed tendency to dress up as varied gods from the Greek pantheon and went as far as declaring himself an actual god - there were even accounts of Caligula forcing people to make temples by which to worship him: this was very abnormal behavior for Roman Emperors, who in general shied away from being viewed as living gods (unlike the Pharoahs) - though previous Emperors had on occassion attempted similiar acts, however Caligula took the process to the extreme and wanted his people to worship him as a physical embodiment of divine power.

According to other sources Caligula would kill on a whim, slept with other men's wives and bragged about it frequently, purposely wasting money on trivial things and causing starvation amongst the masses - how much was truth and how much was slander is lost in antiquity but there was no question that Caligula was a ruler who sought absolute power.

In the end Caligula was assassinated by his own Senate, who had either had enough of his insane rule or (more likely) had some kind of political aim - regardless of cause Caligula died and was replaced by Claudius (who was himself the uncle of Caligula).

Caligula was also insane enough to order the Roman army to go to war with Posieden - god of the sea: he believed the best way to achieve this was by having the Roman navy form a line across a stretch of ocean with their ships and have his soldiers hurl spears into the sea, amazingly the Roman army reportedly did just this (perhaps because defying a ruling emperor (even an insane one) was punishable by death).

Caligula also reportedly enjoyed dining while watching people being sawed - this brutal method of execution was quite rare in Ancient Rome but was said to be the favored method of execution by Caligula, who found the suffering of its victims to be appetising.