Flamingos and Perverted Sacrifices in Suetonius’ Life of Caligula

Abstract

Suetonius’ biography of Caligula contains two mentions of the sacrifice of exotic birds: at Cal. 22.3 a range of them are sacrificed to the emperor and at Cal. 57.4 Caligula sacrifices a flamingo. By setting these references within the larger context of Roman sacrifice, this article argues that these sacrifices should be considered perverted acts. They form part of Suetonius’ strategy of depicting Caligula’s religious activities as an aberration. Looking beyond Suetonius’ text, the bird sacrifices prompt wider questions about the nature of the Cult of Caligula and about what constitutes an appropriate sacrifice in the Roman world.