Hail Who? story
Rome, AD 40–41. Claudius is living with the ex-prostitute Calpurnia in meager circumstances. Caligula has turned the palace into a brothel where he sells the wives of high-ranking Senate members to the highest bidder during sexual orgies and forces Claudius to take money at the door. As a joke, he arranges for Claudius to marry the much younger, extremely beautiful Messalina. Totally insane, Caligula makes his horse Incitatus a senator, and takes his legions on a campaign to Germany to put down an alleged rebellion and then to the English Channel where he attempts to do battle with Neptune, bringing back seashells as booty. Returning to Rome, he decides to execute the entire Senate for not awarding him a Triumph for his 'victory,' but his wife Caesonia and Claudius persuade him not to. Cassius Chaerea, a leading Praetorian officer whom the Emperor continuously mocks, forms a plan with several others to assassinate Caligula. They strike during the games held to celebrate Augustus, luring him away from his German Guards and killing him. Cassius proceeds to murder Caligula's wife Caesonia, and their infant daughter Julia Drusilla, attempting to wipe out the Imperial family once and for all. While the suddenly- leaderless Praetorian Guard are looting the palace, they come upon Claudius, hiding behind a curtain, and proclaim him Emperor over his own protestations.
29 total · 2 choice · 8 major · 19 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| courtly intrigues | choice | The plot turns on people of influence jockeying for power in the imperial court of Caligula. Notably, the story follows a conspiracy to assassinate Caligula. |
| life in Ancient Rome | choice | The drama is set in 40-41 AD within the imperial court of Caligula in Rome. |
| delusion of grandeur | major | Caligula thought he was the god Zeus. |
| democracy vs. autocracy | major | Cassius and his fellow conspirators plotted to assassinate Caligula and restore the Republic. |
| descent into madness | major | Caligula thought he was the god Zeus. |
| narcissism | major | Caligula was self-obsessed to the n:th degree. |
| political assassination | major | Cassius and his fellow conspirators successfully carried out a plan to assassinate Caligula. |
| regicide | major | Caligula was finally put down like the mad dog his assassins thought he was. |
| uncle and nephew | major | Claudius was the closest thing that his mad nephew, Caligula, had to a confident. |
| what if I was at the mercy of a mad person | major | The story centers around the anxieties of various Roman aristocrats as they realized that their emperor was both mad, vindictive and homicidal. Claudius, in particular, worked hard to ameliorate the damage the emperor caused and several times escaped by a hair from being killed for some whimsy or other. |