PICK OF THE DAY

CALIGULA WITH MARY BEARD, 9PM, BBC2

‘Let them hate me, so long as they fear me.’ One of history’s most notorious figures, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus — AKA Caligula — has become a ‘template for tyranny’. Assassinated at the age of just 28, after fewer than four years in power, Rome’s third emperor has come to stand for

the ‘corruption, horror and excess’ of imperial Rome. But, asks Mary Beard in this illuminating documentary, how much of the story is true? To get behind the myths, Beard (pictured) embarks on a journey that brings her face to face with the man behind the reputation. Who was Caligula, and why has he gone down in history as such a monstrous villain?