Caligula declared war on the god Neptune. [View all]

[Aristus]

According to Suetonius in his The Lives Of The Caesars.

Caligula was angry with Neptune, for reasons I won't go into but are suitably unhinged.

Caligula marched his legions to the shore at the English Channel, and told them to charge. He ordered them to cast their spears into the waves, and slash at the breakers with their swords.

Once he decided Neptune had been punished enough, he ordered his legionaries to plunder and loot King Neptune. The plunder was seashells the Roman soldiers collected in their helmets.

Suetonius wrote sadly about how the proud Roman legions had been reduced to clowning for a madman.

Modern historians have asserted that this story was an exaggeration, or an outright fabrication on the part of Suetonius.

But I believe there may be a great deal of truth to it...