Blooper, Carrier!

Blooper, Carrier! · Carrier's Entire List

So What About Caligula? How Do You Know HE Existed!?
by Richard Carrier /on May 31, 2018/
https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/14117

Pliny the Elder, an eyewitness to Caligula, supplies us a great deal of information directly from his own observations, and from government records and other eyewitness and contemporary sources. Do we have anything like that for Jesus? No.

Did Carrier say "a great deal"? Richard Carrier links to a Perseus Tuft's search on the word Caligula in author Pliny.

Here are the hits to Naturalis Historia:

• book 4, chapter 5: ... Asia. , Cæsar the Dictator, the prince Caius Caius Caligula, the Emperor. , and Domitius Nero The Emperor Nero
  
  
• book 5, chapter 1: ... which, until the time of Caius Cæsar The Emperor Caligula, who, in the year 41 A.D., reduced the ... to Rome in the year A.D. 40 , by Caligula, and shortly after put to death by him, his
  
  
• book 5, chapter 44: ... , Domitius Corbulo Brother of Cæsonia, the wife of Caligula, and father of Domitia Longina, the wife of Domitian.
  
  
• book 7, chapter 4: ... , who became the wife of the Emperor Caius. Caius Caligula. The name of this woman, who was first his ... was Milonia Cesonia. She was neither handsome nor young when Caligula first admired her: but was noted for her extreme ... and at the time when she first became intimate with Caligula, had already had three children. She and her daughter,
  
  
• book 7, chapter 6: ... of Agrippa and Julia, was the mother of the Emperor Caligula; and of a second Agrippina, who became the mother
  
  
• book 7, chapter 11: ... in the Life of Augustus, c. 63; and that of Caligula, c. 7.—B. Certain individuals, again, both men
  
  
• book 7, chapter 18: ... of Germanicus Cæsar, and the grandmother of the emperor Caligula, whom she lived to see on the throne, and
  
  
• book 7, chapter 44: ... same meaning as our expression, "from the ranks." The Emperor Caligula received that surname when a boy, in consequence of
  
  
• book 8, chapter 64: ... The nephew of Tiberius and the father of the Emperor Caligula.—B. wrote a poem, which still exists. There
  
  
• book 8, chapter 84: ... known. He probably flourished in the reign of Tiberius or Caligula. Cato the Censor, See end of B. iii
  
  
• book 9, chapter 31: ... the reign of Caius, The reign of the Emperor Caligula. at the price of eight thousand sesterces. Juvenal
  
  
• book 9, chapter 33: ... centurions, were distinguished by the name of "caligati." The Emperor Caligula received that cognomen when a boy, in consequence of
  
  
• book 9, chapter 56: ... ii. c. 12, and Pliny, B. xxxvii. c. 6, that Caligula wore gold and pearls upon his socculi. it
  
  
• book 9, chapter 58: ... but was divorced from him, and married to the Emperor Caligula, who, however, soon divorced her. At the instigation of ... the Emperor Nero. the wife of the Emperor Caius Caligula. —it was not at any public festival, or
  
  
• book 9, chapter 81: ... vii. c. 18, and B. xxxv. c. 36. Her grandson, Caligula, is supposed to have hastened her death. the
  
  
• book 12, chapter 5: ... that afforded in the reign of the Emperor Caius. Caligula. That prince was so struck with admiration on ... that he here alludes sarcastically to the extreme corpulence of Caligula. very materially to the shade it threw-the
  
  
• book 16, chapter 76: ... brought from Egypt, by order of the Emperor Caius, Caligula. the obelisk B. xxxvi. c. 14. that
  
  
• book 16, chapter 95: ... but is conjectured to have lived in the reign of Caligula or Tiberius. Cremutius, See end of B. vii
  
  
• book 26, chapter 3: ... say whether Tiberius, the predecessor, or Claudius, the successor of Caligula, is meant; most probably the latter, as the former
  
  
• book 32, chapter 1: ... one of these fish arrested the ship of the Emperor Caligula. Caius in its course, when he was returning ... a trick was played for the purpose of imposing upon Caligula's superstitious credulity, and that the rowers as well
  
  
• book 33, chapter 6: ... and demanded his signet-ring, which his son-in-law, Caligula, had removed from his finger, under the supposition that
  
  
• book 33, chapter 16: ... storeys, which were raised or depressed, to all appearance, spontaneously. Caligula is the emperor meant. introduced into the Circus,
  
  
• book 33, chapter 22: ... substance greatly excited the hopes of the Emperor Caius, Caligula. a prince who was most greedy for gold.
  
  
• book 33, chapter 27: ... 5. From Suetonius, c. 18, we learn that the Emperor Caligula, also, had the Circus sanded with minium and chrysocolla.
  
  
• book 33, chapter 47: ... 63 . Callistus, C. Julius Callistus, the freedman of Caligula, in whose assassination he was an accomplice. The physician
  
  
• book 34, chapter 9: ... is employed by Suetonius, in speaking of a statue of Caligula, c. 22.—B. I do not know whether
  
  
• book 35, chapter 6: ... , though the temple is in ruins. The Emperor Caius, Caligula. inflamed with lustfulness, attempted to have them removed,
  
  
• book 35, chapter 59: ... works were at first proscribed, but were afterwards permitted by Caligula to be read. Fabius Vestalis, See end of
  
  
• book 36, chapter 14: ... one in which, by order of the Emperor Caius, Caligula. the other obelisk had been transported to Rome,
  
  
• book 36, chapter 15: ... is mentioned above as having been removed from Alexandria by Caligula. obelisk This obelisk was transferred by Pope Sextus ... Vaticanus. Circus, which was constructed by the Emperors Caius Caligula. and Nero; this being the only one of
  
  
• book 36, chapter 24: ... City environed by the palaces of the Emperors Caius Caligula. The Palace of Caligula was situate on the Palatine Hill: that of Nero ... which was more recently commenced by the Emperor Caius, Caligula. and completed by Claudius. Under these princes, the
  
  
• book 37, chapter 6: ... . He has rendered, however, comparatively excusable the Emperor Caius, Caligula. who, in addition to other femmine luxuries, used

It looks a bit as if some of theme were from footnotes. Second hit mentions AD dating - not one known to Pliny. Third hit mentions Domitian who started ruling in AD 81 - two years after Pliny died.

The search engine took in hits not only to text by Pliny himself in English translation, but also to annotations made much more recently - by people who have read historians writing after Domitian died, inter alia.

Let's see, I'm checking hit after hit, showing in each case the words of Pliny (or editor other than in footnotes for 5:44?) and saying which of the hits showed words in a footnote:

• book 4, chapter 5: The Peloponnesus, which was formerly called Apia1 and Pelasgia, is a peninsula, inferior in fame to no land upon the face of the earth. ... For this reason it is that both King Demetrius6, Cæsar the Dictator, the prince Caius7, and Domitius Nero8, have at different times made the attempt to cut through this neck by forming a navigable canal; a profane design, as may be clearly seen by the result9 in every one of these instances. - the hit was to footnote 7.
  
  
• book 5, chapter 1: On our entrance into Africa, we find the two Mauritanias, which, until the time of Caius Cæsar3, the son of Germanicus, were kingdoms; but, suffering under his cruelty, they were divided into two provinces. - The hit was to footnote 3. It explained Caligula is our name for Caius Caesar.
  
  
• book 5, chapter 44: Domitius Corbulo - cited as one cited author. Caligula is mentioned in a footnote to his name.
  
  
• book 7, chapter 4: There are great variations in this respect, which occur in numerous ways. Vestilia, for instance, who was the wife of C. Herdicius, and was afterwards married, first, to Pomponius,4 and then to Orfitus, very eminent citizens, after having brought forth four children, always at the seventh month, had Suillius Rufus at the eleventh month, and then Corbulo at the seventh, both of whom became consuls; after which, at the eighth month, she had Cæsonia, who became the wife of the Emperor Caius.5 As for children who are born at the eighth month, the greatest difficulty with them is to get them over the first forty days. - We learn this emperor Caius was Caligula in footnote 5.
  
  
• book 7, chapter 6: It is contrary to nature for children to come into the world with the feet first, for which reason such children are called Agrippæ, meaning that they are born with difficulty.1 In this manner, M. Agrippa2 is said to have been born; the only instance, almost, of good fortune, out of the number of all those who have come into the world under these circumstances. And yet, even he may be considered to have paid the penalty of the unfavourable omen produced by the unnatural mode of his birth, in the unfortunate weakness of his legs, the misfortunes of his youth, a life spent in the very midst of arms and slaughter, and ever exposed to the approaches of death; in his children, too, who have all proved a very curse to the earth, and more especially, the two Agrippinas, who were the mothers respectively of Caius and of Domitius Nero,3 so many firebrands hurled among the human race. - Obviously book 7 is on pregnancy and childbirth, and that Agrippa was born feet first totally explains how the children of his two daughters tunned out as first class monsters, like Caligula and Nero. Note in passing that Pliny was superstitious, since he believed this, and yet Carrier is willing to cite him as a source on history ...
  
  
• book 7, chapter 11: There exists a kind of peculiar antipathy between the bodies of certain persons, which, though barren with respect to each other, are not so when united to others;1 such, for instance, was the case with Augustus and Livia.2 - the footnote 2 tells us from Suetonius that Caligula is alluded to.
  
  
• book 7, chapter 18: Less important peculiarities of nature, again, are to be observed in many persons; Antonia,6 for instance, the wife of Drusus, was never known to expectorate; and Pomponius, the poet, a man of consular rank, was never troubled with eructation. - Footnote 6 tells us, Antonia was granny to Caligula.
  
  
• book 7, chapter 44: Fortune has determined that P. Ventidius alone should enjoy the honour of a triumph over the Parthians, and yet the same individual, when he was a child, she led in the triumphal procession of Cneius Pompeius, the conqueror of Asculum.1 Indeed, Masurius says, that he had been twice led in triumph; and according to Cicero, he used to let out mules for the bakers of the camp.2 Most writers, indeed, admit that his younger days were passed in the greatest poverty, and that he wore the hob-nailed shoes3 of the common soldier. - Pliny is providing info on Ventidius and mentions caligae, and footnote 2 says those gave Caligula his nickname.
  
  
• book 8, chapter 64: The late Emperor Augustus also erected a tomb to his horse; on which occasion Germanicus Cæsar5 wrote a poem, which still exists. - footnote 5 says who Germanicus Caesar was, but Pliny himself doesn't tell us he was father to Caligula
  
  
• book 8, chapter 84: Cornelius Valerianus cited as author, and footnote guesses he flourished under Tiberius or Caligula.
  
  
• book 9, chapter 31: ENORMOUS PRICES OF SOME FISH. Asinius Celer,1 a man of consular rank, and remarkable for his prodigal expenditure on this fish, bought one at Rome, during the reign of Caius,2 at the price of eight thousand sesterces.3 - while footnote 2 explains Caius as Caligula, the actual text of Pliny says more of fish market or of Asinius Celer (perhaps wellnamed) than of Caligula.
  
  
• book 9, chapter 33: Some fishes have numerous gills, others again single1 ones, others double; it is by means of these that they discharge the water that has entered the mouth. A sign of old age2 is the hardness of the scales, which are not alike in all. There are two lakes3 of Italy at the foot of the Alps, called Larius and Verbanus, in which there are to be seen every year, at the rising of the Vergiliæ,4 fish remarkable for the number of their scales, and the exceeding sharpness5 of them, strongly resembling hob-nails6 in appearance; these fish, however, are only to be seen during that month,7 and no longer. - Pliny tells us of fish scales, the annotator explains hob-nails as translation of Clavorum caligarium"—"nails for the caliga." and then goes off a tangent on the etymology of Caligula.
  
  
• book 9, chapter 56: Long pearls also have their peculiar value; those are called "elenchi," which are of a long tapering shape, resembling our alabaster6 boxes in form, and ending in a full bulb.7 Our ladies quite glory in having these suspended from their fingers, or two or three of them dangling from their ears. For the purpose of ministering to these luxurious tastes, there are various names and wearisome refinements which have been devised by profuseness and prodigality; for after inventing these ear-rings, they have given them the name of "crotalia,"8 or castanet pendants, as though quite delighted even with the rattling of the pearls as they knock against each other; and now, at the present day, the poorer classes are even affecting them, as people are in the habit of saying, that "a pearl worn by a woman in public, is as good as a lictor9 walking before her." Nay, even more than this, they put them on their feet, and that, not only on the laces of their sandals, but all over the shoes;10 it is not enough to wear pearls, but they must tread upon them, and walk with them under foot as well. - Annotator at note 10 tells of Caligula. Of his doing much like these ladies. Sources are given as We find from Seneca, De Ben. B. ii. c. 12, and Pliny, B. xxxvii. c. 6. Well, at book 37 we may indeed find sth on Caligula by Pliny ...
  
  
• book 9, chapter 58: I once saw Lollia Paulina,1 the wife of the Emperor Caius2 —it was not at any public festival, or any solemn ceremonial, but only at an ordinary wedding entertainment3—covered with emeralds and pearls, which shone in alternate layers upon her head, in her hair, in her wreaths, in her ears, upon her neck, in her bracelets, and on her fingers, and the value of which amounted in all to forty millions 4 of sesterces; indeed5 she was prepared at once to prove the fact, by showing the receipts and acquittances. - Footnotes 1 and 2 explain the relation between Lollia and her husband Caligula. The rest of the chapter explains a bit on why Lollia had that apparel.
  
  
• book 9, chapter 81: It was at the same villa that Antonia,5 the wife of Drusus, placed earrings upon a murena which she had become fond of; the report of which singular circumstance attracted many visitors to the place. - Footnote 5 explains Antonia was granny of Caligula.
  
  
• book 12, chapter 5: Another curious instance, again, was that afforded in the reign of the Emperor Caius.2 That prince was so struck with admiration on seeing a plane in the territory of Veliternum, which presented floor after floor, like those of the several stories of a house, by means of broad benches loosely laid from branch to branch, that he held a banquet in it-himself adding3 very materially to the shade it threw-the triclinium being formed for the reception of fifteen guests and the necessary attendants: to this singular dining-room he gave the name of his "nest." - Footnote 2 explains Caius was Caligula and 3 that "adding to the shadow substantially" means he was fat. But yes, Pliny does say that Caligula held a banquet in a plane tree (which is what the chapter is about). Carrier, if you think miraculous reports arise quickly after non-miraculous facts, do you think Caligula was, at the time, lean, and not holding a banquet? Excess reports on people not too excessive arise even quicker.
  
  
• book 16, chapter 76: There was a fir, too, that was particularly admired, when it formed the mast of the ship, which brought from Egypt, by order of the Emperor Caius,17 the obelisk18 that was erected in the Vaticanian Circus, with the four blocks of stone intended for its base. It is beyond all doubt that there has been seen nothing on the sea more wonderful than this ship: one hundred and twenty thousand modii of lentils formed its ballast; and the length of it took up the greater part of the left side of the harbour at Ostia. It was sunk at that spot by order of the Emperor Claudius, three moles, each as high as a tower, being built upon it; they were constructed with cement19 which the same vessel had conveyed from Puteoli. It took the arms of four men to span the girth of this tree, and we not unfrequently hear of the price of masts for such purposes, as being eighty thousand sesterces or more: rafts, too, of this wood are sometimes put together, the value of which is forty thousand. - Pliny say Caligula imported sth ... you obviously think all imports by King Solomon prove he existed too? Footnote, as so often, explains Caius means the guy we call Caligula.
  
  
• book 16, chapter 95: Calpurnius Bassus - cited as an author, and note : 17 He is wholly unknown: but is conjectured to have lived in the reign of Caligula or Tiberius.
  
  
• book 26, chapter 3: CHAP. 3.—AT WHAT PERIOD LICHEN FIRST MADE ITS APPEARANCE IN ITALY. This curse was unknown to the ancients,1 and in the times of our fathers even, having first entered Italy in the middle of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius2 Claudius Cæsar; where it was introduced from Asia,3 in which country it had lately made4 its appearance, by a member of the equestrian order at Rome, a native of Perusiun, secretary to the quæstor. The disease, however, did not attack either females or slaves,5 nor yet the lower orders, or, indeed, the middle classes, but only the nobles, being communicated even by the momentary contact requisite for the act of salutation.6 Many of those who persevered in undergoing a course of remedial treatment, though cured of the disease, retained scars upon the body more hideous even than the malady itself; it being treated with cauteries, as it was certain to break out afresh, unless means were adopted for burning it out of the body by cauterizing to the very bone. - Footnote 2 hesitates whether Tiberius Claudius Cæsar means Tiberius or Caligula. See above for probable resolution it being Tiberius. (Footnote 6 is not likely to be taken in a friendly manner in Balkan or Italy ...or France)
  
  
• book 32, chapter 1: In our own time, too, one of these fish [an echenëis] arrested the ship of the Emperor5 Caius in its course, when he was returning from Astura to Antium:6 and thus, as the result proved, did an insignificant fish give presage of great events; for no sooner had the emperor returned to Rome than he was pierced by the weapons of his own soldiers. Nor did this sudden stoppage of the ship long remain a mystery, the cause being perceived upon finding that, out of the whole fleet, the emperor's five-banked galley was the only one that was making no way. The moment this was discovered, some of the sailors plunged into the sea, and, on making search about the ship's sides, they found an echeneïs adhering to the rudder. Upon its being shown to the emperor, he strongly expressed his indignation that such an obstacle as this should have impeded his progress, and have rendered powerless the hearty endeavours of some four hundred men. One thing, too, it is well known, more particularly surprised7 him, how it was possible that the fish, while adhering to the ship, should arrest its progress, and yet should have no such power when brought on board. - Footnote 5 explains it is Caligula who is called Caius and 7 adds a note of scepticism:
  
  

  And well it might surprise him. If there was any foundation at all for the story, there can be little doubt that a trick was played for the purpose of imposing upon Caligula's superstitious credulity, and that the rowers as well as the diving sailors were privy to it.

  
  
  But that is not Pliny's words and yet Pliny did mention Caligula here.
  
  
• book 33, chapter 6: But at the present day, we not only procure dainties which are sure to be pilfered, but hands to pilfer them as well; and so far is it from being sufficient to have the very keys sealed, that the signet-ring is often taken from off the owner's finger while he is overpowered with sleep or lying on his death-bed. - Footnote 39 presumes, by adding a reference to Suetonius, that Pliny alluded to Caligula's and Tiberius' relations.
  
  
• book 33, chapter 16: deserves to be quoted in full:
  
  

  CHAP. 16.—AT WHAT PERIOD SILVER FIRST MADE ITS APPEARANCE UPON THE ARENA AND UPON THE STAGE.
  
  We, too, have done things that posterity may probably look upon as fabulous. Cæsar, who was afterwards dictator, but at that time ædile, was the first person, on the occasion of the funeral games in honour of his father, to employ all the apparatus of the arena1 in silver; and it was on the same occasion that for the first time criminals encountered wild beasts with implements of silver, a practice imitated at the present day in our municipal towns even.
  
  At the games celebrated by C. Antonius the stage was made of2 silver; and the same was the case at those celebrated by L. Muræna. The Emperor Caius had a scaffold3 introduced into the Circus, upon which there were one hundred and twenty-four thousand pounds' weight of silver. His successor Claudius, on the occasion of his triumph over Britain, announced by the inscriptions that among the coronets of gold, there was one weighing seven thousand4 pounds' weight, contributed by Nearer Spain, and another of nine thousand pounds, presented by Gallia Comata.5 Nero, who succeeded him, covered the Theatre of Pompeius with gold for one day,6 the occasion on which he displayed it to Tiridates, king of Armenia. And yet how small was this theatre in comparison with that Golden Palace7 of his, with which he environed our city.

  
  
  Pliny actually gives us Caius being succeeded by Claudius who was succeeded by Nero. And Caius vaguely being preceded (there were two emperors between) by Julius Caesar who had a more modest taste. The context is worthy of the Yellow Press, but I did not think we could get this much history on Caligula from Pliny! Who, by the way, is exspecting the scepticism of the future, not on the list of emperors Caligula, Claudius and Nero, or on Nero being contemporary with Tiridates, but simply on the luxury he was reporting.
  
  
• book 33, chapter 22: Orpiment: There is also one other method of procuring gold; by making it from orpiment,1 a mineral dug from the surface of the earth in Syria, and much used by painters. It is just the colour of gold, but brittle, like mirror-stone,2 in fact. This substance greatly excited the hopes of the Emperor Caius,3 a prince who was most greedy for gold. He accordingly had a large quantity of it melted, and really did obtain some excellent gold;4 but then the proportion was so extremely small, that he found himself a loser thereby. Such was the result of an experiment prompted solely by avarice: and this too, although the price of the orpiment itself was no more than four denarii per pound. Since his time, the experiment has never been repeated.
  
  And a chemist today, knowing from note one that orpiment is Yellow sulphuret of arsenic, will conclude that being greedy for gold is not the same as being wise on detecting it. My greatgrandfather who was journeyman to a goldsmith would not have been such a sucker, nor was he that greedy.
  
  Caligula as alchemist, as Nicolas Flamel "avant le mot" ... is this info or intox? Fact or urban rumour? Well, to get a more overall picture on Caligula we go to Sueton and Tacitus, and so we find it is at least believable. B u t these authors come later than Pliny.
  
  
• book 33, chapter 27: Before now, we have seen, at the spectacles exhibited by the Emperor Nero, the arena of the Circus entirely sanded with chrysocolla, when the prince himself, clad in a dress of the same colour, was about to exhibit as a charioteer.7 - Footnote 7 tells us Caligula had done a similar thing, and we know this from Sueton. In other words, Pliny was not writing on Caligula but on Nero.
  
  
• book 33, chapter 47: And yet, although he was the first to become memorable for his opulence—so pleasant is the task of stigmatizing this insatiate cupidity—we have known of many manumitted slaves, since his time, much more wealthy than he ever was; three for example, all at the same time, in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, Pallas,8 Callistus,9 and Narcissus.10 - In footnote 9, we get to know Callistus was both freedman of Caius and implicated in his assassination. But we do not get this from Pliny.
  
  
• book 34, chapter 9: It was not the custom in former times to give the likeness of individuals, except of such as deserved to be held in lasting remembrance on account of some illustrious deed; in the first instance, for a victory at the sacred games, and more particularly the Olympic Games, where it was the usage for the victors always to have their statues consecrated. And if any one was so fortunate as to obtain the prize there three times, his statue was made with the exact resemblance of every individual limb; from which circumstance they were called "iconicæ."2 I do not know whether the first public statues were not erected by the Athenians, and in honour of Harmodius and Aristogiton, who slew the tyrant;3 an event which took place in the same year in which the kings were expelled from Rome.
  
  Since Harmodius and Aristogeiton and the prize winners at Olympic games were not given honours as in and of themselves gods or demigods, we can safely conclude that icons of saints are not idolatry. However, the footnoter also tells us Sueton tells is that Caligula had an icon made of him self. Selfie-maniacs, take note!
  
  
• book 35, chapter 6: At Lanuvium, too, it is the same, where we see an Atalanta and a Helena, without drapery, close together, and painted by the same artist. They are both of the greatest beauty, the former being evidently the figure of a virgin, and they still remain uninjured, though the temple is in ruins. The Emperor Caius,3 inflamed with lustfulness, attempted to have them removed, but the nature of the plaster would not admit of it.
  
  While the context is an immodest painting, the outcome shows why flat murals may have been preferred over statues in icons of saints at times : less risk for removal and sacrilege - or even destruction, barring that of the whole building. And yes, Pliny says Caligula was a porn junkie and a clumsy one ...
  
  
• book 35, chapter 59: Severus Longulanus - cited author, footnote 13 says he used to be "on the index" (proscribed) but Caligula allowed his works to be read. Same footnote also says a man he accused of poisoning is found in chapter 46 of same book, but I didn't find him.
  
  I did however find this:
  
  

  It has been already12 stated by us, when on the subject of birds, that a single dish cost the tragic actor Æsopus one hundred thousand sesterces; much to the reader's indignation, no doubt; but, by Hercules! Vitellius, when emperor, ordered a dish to be made, which was to cost a million of sesterces, and for the preparation of which a furnace had to be erected out in the fields! luxury having thus arrived at such a pitch of excess as to make earthenware even sell at higher prices than murrhine13 vessels.

  
  
  And then I did find Asprenas, whom Longulanus had apparently accused:
  
  

  It was in reference to this circumstance, that Mucianus, in his second consulship, when pronouncing one of his perorations, reproached the memory of Vitellius with his dishes as broad as the Pomptine Marsh; not less deserving to be execrated than the poisoned dish of Asprenas, which, according to the accusation brought against him by Cassius Severus, caused the death of one hundred and thirty guests.14

  
  
  OK, did you catch the phrase "Vitellius, when emperor,"? Whatever Pliny says of Caligula is at a safe distance, several subsequent emperors have agreed that Caligula is a baddy. But do we know this from Pliny? No, we know it from authors after Domitian died (and possibly from Josephus too a bit earlier).
  
  
• book 36, chapter 14: There are two other obelisks, which were in Cæsar's Temple at Alexandria, near the harbour there, forty-two cubits in height, and originally hewn by order of King Mesphres. But the most difficult enterprise of all, was the carriage of these obelisks by sea to Rome, in vessels which excited the greatest admiration. Indeed, the late Emperor Augustus consecrated the one which brought over the first obelisk, as a lasting memorial of this marvellous undertaking, in the docks at Puteoli; but it was destroyed by fire. As to the one in which, by order of the Emperor Caius,17 the other obelisk had been transported to Rome, after having been preserved for some years and looked upon as the most wonderful construction ever beheld upon the seas, it was brought to Ostia, by order of the late Emperor Claudius; and towers of Puteolan18 earth being first erected upon it, it was sunk for the construction of the harbour which he was making there. And then, besides, there was the necessity of constructing other vessels to carry these obelisks up the Tiber; by which it became practically ascer- tained, that the depth of water in that river is not less than that of the river Nilus.
  
  Obelisk and big tree, here it is told again under obelisk, see above under big tree.
  
  
• book 36, chapter 15: The third4 obelisk5 at Rome is in the Vaticanian6 Circus, which was constructed by the Emperors Caius7 and Nero; this being the only one of them all that has been broken in the carriage.
  
  Same story, now on how the obelisk was used.
  
  
• book 36, chapter 24: But there are still two other mansions by which all these edifices have been eclipsed. Twice have we seen the whole City environed by the palaces of the Emperors Caius9 and Nero; that of the last, that nothing might be wanting to its magnificence, being coated with gold.10 Surely such palaces as these must have been intended for the abode of those who created this mighty empire, and who left the plough or their native hearth to go forth to conquer nations, and to return laden with triumphs! men, in fact, whose very fields even occupied less space than the audience-chambers11 of these palaces.
  
  OK, Pliny says Caligula had a great palace, as had Nero (presumably after him).
  
  
• book 37, chapter 6: But it was this conquest by Pompeius Magnus that first introduced so general a taste for pearls and precious stones; just as the victories, gained by L. Scipio1 and Cneius Manlius,2 had first turned the public attention to chased silver, Attalic tissues, and banquetting-couches decorated with bronze; and the conquests of L. Mummius had brought Corinthian bronzes and pictures into notice. ... But in other respects, how truly befitting the hero was this triumph! To the state, he presented two thousand millions of sesterces; to the legati and quæstors who had exerted themselves in defence of the sea coast, he gave one thousand millions of sesterces; and to each individual soldier, six thousand sesterces. He has rendered, however, comparatively excusable the Emperor Caius,13 who, in addition to other femmine luxuries, used to wear shoes adorned with pearls; as also the Emperor Nero, who used to adorn his sceptres with masks worked in pearls, and had the couches, destined for his pleasures, made of the same costly materials. Nay, we have no longer any right, it would seem, to censure the employment of drinking-cups adorned with precious stones, of various other articles in daily use that are similarly enriched, and of rings that sparkle with gems: for what species of luxury can there be thought of, that was not more innocent in its results than this on the part of Pompeius?
  
  Story of Caligula's shoes adorned in pearls ... again.

I spotted so many "references to" Narnia and Lord of the Rings, I am much convinced of one thing, both Tolkien and C. S. Lewis had read Pliny the Elder while reading Latin. Gollum grasping for a ring (and taking it from the hand of a dying relative) - and finding fish preciousssssssss. Bilbo throwing the shade of a somewhat fat person. Caspian being a seafarer and amazed at some phenomenon. Tarkheenas and Tisrocs in Tashbaan. Elves holding feasts in trees (perhaps also Digory and Polly holding some on the attic), as well as the party tree. Jadis grand father killed his guests, if by burning, we deal with a reference to Ingjald (an Yngling, see Snorre), but if by poison, the inspiration could as well be Pliny. Since C. S. Lewis did not quite show which it was, he could have thought of both. And Tirian grieving for a horselike friend. And Miraz murdering a competent official ... (or two or three) ...

As to education, this again leaves me jealous of that enjoyed by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien : as they had it not just before World War II, but even before World War I, in which they fought, they had so much more Classics and so much more time to learn languages (for young Jack Lewis : at least after he was given private tutoring as opposed to boarding school), while myself having grown up some decades after World War II have had to deal with so much more Political Correctness about World War II, Italian Fascism, Spanish Fascism, French Revolution in history, less Latin and more conversation skills in modern languages (the latter is a boon, though), several other lessons impregnated by Politically Correct attitudes, precisely as I have also had less time to learn music and composition than had Haydn and Mozart (they learned more on composition and an instrument or two, while I only learned some on composition).

But when it comes to literary references for the existence of Caligula by a contemporary, unless we pick and chose the non-traditional Gospel dates, this is inferior to what Gospels say of Jesus, in substance. Much inferior. If I had the scepticism of Carrier, I could pretend that Pliny is really too late to be a contemporary of Caligula and his wife and incorporated a myth on Caligula, a parody of how an emperor is not supposed to be. (Coins could have some other source and so. Or, just ignore the coins when dealing with Pliny, he is supposed to be an independent witness beside the coins, right?)

This brings us to the references outside Pliny which Carrier enumerates, and I will deal with them next time. Meanwhile, Pliny the Elder, as I have said, is not an historian writing on contemporary current history. Just as I said earlier there was a gap between Velleius Paterculus writing in AD 30 and Tacitus writing again in c. 98 AD.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Nanterre UL
First Friday of June
1.VI.2018