Synopsis for
Caligola (1979)

Pagan Rome, 37 A.D. Prince Gaius Germanicus "Caligula" (Latin term for 'Little Boots') (Malcolm McDowell) is summoned to Capri by the syphilis-stricken 77-year-old Roman Emperor Tiberius (Peter O'Toole), his adopted grandfather. His escort is Macro (Guido Mannari), commander of the Praetorian Guard. Macro seeks to curry favor with Caligula, who will be the next Emperor, by tempting him with the promise of sleeping with his wife Ennia (Adriana Asti).

Frightened, but sycophantically eager to fall in with any mood of the mercurial Tiberius, Caligula has his first glimpse of absolute power as the aged Emperor leads him from his cavernous swimming pool through his grotto of pleasures and freaks. There, the two become voyeurs as youths and maidens act out Tiberius' fantasies. Accompanying them is the noble, elderly Senator Nerva (John Gielgud), the only contemporary intimate of Tiberius who has survived the execution of several Senators, despite the fact, or perhaps because, he is the only one who dares openly to criticize and condemn Tiberius political actions.

A short while later, when Nerva chooses suicide over a natural death by slashing his wrists in a bath, Tiberius' seemingly ordered life is shaken, and his own death, hastened.

Caligula and Macro come to witness the end. They find the old Emperor partially paralyzed, lying alone in the state bedroom. Prematurely, Caligula tears off the signet ring, symbol of power. Tiberius rallies. When Caligula suddenly enters an epileptic trance, Macro insures Tiberius' death by smothering him. A frightened Gemellus (Bruno Brive), Tiberius' grandson by birth, witnesses the murder.

Caligula, the new Emperor, gains instant popularity by announcing a general amnesty. He accepts the highest office of the Republic, the Consulship, naming his half-witted uncle Claudius (Giancarlo Badessi), his fellow Consul and Gemellus as his son and heir.

For a time, Caligula is splendidly good-humored, eager to be loved by the people. There is scarcely a hint of the tyrant he will become. One of his first questionable acts is to rid himself of Macro. By promising the Guards a huge pay bonus, he orders them to arrest their commander. Macro is then executed in Caligula's public courtyard by a large 'decapitation-machine' which Macro and other convicts are buried up to their necks in the earth ground, and the blade-slashing machine, standing over 100-feet tall and wide as a city block, runs over him. Macro is replaced by Chaerea (Paolo Bonacelli). Caligula is free to marry Ennia, now a widow, but Drusilla (Teresa Ann Savoy), his sister and paramour, counsels him to marry a respectable Roman and father an heir.

Disguised as a woman, Caligula comes to choose a candidate from among the shapely priestesses in the Temple of Isis. He is attracted... despite Drusilla's protests that she is promiscuous... to Caesonia (Helen Mirren), an eloquent, sensual divorcee, who becomes his mistress, then wife.

The darker side of Caligula begins to show itself as he comes to realize that no one will challenge his absolute power. His terror during a thunder and lightning rainstorm is the first sign of a mental breakdown. Over the next few months, Caligula's actions become more and more senseless. His only confidant is his Arab stallion, Incitatus, which he rides into a banquet where Gemellus is one of the guests. In a macabre mood, he accuses Gemellus publicly of treason and has him arrested. As Caesonia's child is being born, Caligula marries her and names the babe his heir. He is enraged to learn the child is a girl and insists on calling her "my son."

Drusilla's death from a plague soon afterwards leaves Caligula in despair. He proclaims a month of mourning and, distraught, mingles anonymously with his Roman citizens on the dirty streets of Rome. When Caligula is dragged drunk and dirty into a prison, his signet ring is spotted by a giant (Osiride Pevarello) and his true identity becomes known. Caligula is released and has the Giant become his companion and 'flunky'.

Back in the Senate, Caligula officially proclaims himself a god and awards free games and food to every citizen. When Longinus (John Steiner), his treasurer, protests, Caligula shows him how easy it is to replenish the Imperial purse. He builds a ship in the palace that is to be used as a brothel. Forcing the wives and daughters of his Senators into prostitution, Caligula himself collects the fees from citizens eager to sample their betters. With the money, Caligula embarks on a fruitless invasion of Britain and afterwards, gleefully orders the arrest and execution of many senators he blames for his troubles.

His final public act of madness is to proclaim his horse, Incitatus, a Senator. Having overruled every branch of the government, mocked the Roman gods, humiliated and killed all of the most loyal and trusted members of the Senate, destiny/karma finally catches up with Caligula; Chaerea, Longinus and the Imperial physician Charicles (Leopoldo Trieste) have quietly organized his assassination. After a rule of three years, ten months and eight days, the 28-year-old Caligua is, unknowingly to him, marked for death.

On a cold January morning in 41 A.D., Caligula, Caesonia, along with their daughter Julia, and the Giant, attend a theater show. On their way back to the Imperial Palace, a vengeful Chaerea is there in the front corridor. It it Chaerea whose sword brings down the Emperor. Caligula is stabbed and bashed in the head. To insure that none of Caligula's line will follow him to power, Caesonia is also stabbed, and the child Julia has her head bashed in, and the Giant is also decapitaed by Chaerea. The mortally wounded Caligula is finished off when 30 or more of his own guards, seeing their now-hated Emperor dying, impail him with their spears while the horrified Claudius watches. Begging to spare his life, Claudius is given Caligula's robe and ring by Longinus and the servants who hail him as the new Emperor of Rome, proclaiming a new era for the Roman Empire. As the unwilling and dull-witted Claudius is carried way, Chaerea, Longinus, and the other conspirators flee the scene of the crime. The mutilated and lifeless bodies of Caligula, Caesonia, and their daughter are thrown down the steps of the Palace for display for all those in Rome.