1. How did a horse become an esteemed Senator?!
Malcolm McDowell as Caligula (Caligula, 1979)
2000 years ago, the most powerful man in the world was the Roman Emperor Caligula and his favorite horse was Incitatus.
Caligula used to invite Incitatus to official dinners and treat him with great respect. He ordered that Incitatus be fed only with gold flakes and watered him with luxurious wine from gold poppers. Naturally, he also provided Incitatus with a fully furnished house and slaves to serve him.
Convinced that Incitatus would make a great politician, Caligula nominated him a full-fledged Roman Senator.
The Emperor also put Incitatus on the list to become consul – the highest elected political office of ancient Rome – but, unfortunately, Caligula was assassinated before this came to fruition.
Bonus fact: Caligula was born to a prominent Roman family. Things took a wrong turn when he was seven years old in 19 AD, when his father died of a disease, probably due to poisoning in the command of Emperor Tiberius. After his mother accused the Emperor of murdering her husband, she was exiled to a remote island, where she died of starvation.
Emperor Tiberius adopted Caligula’s older brothers and even declared them as his heirs. But, when he noticed they are getting too popular, he accused them of betrayal and sentenced him to death.
Poor Caligula lived in constant fear and it was only due to his natural cunning that he managed to survive. He was a born actor and naturally understood how to act in danger while his immediate family members were murdered.
While some say it was his harsh childhood that drove him insane, modern research suggests he suffered from meningitis.