Anthony A. Barrett's "Caligula: The Corruption of Power" challenges the traditional depiction of Caligula's madness, reinterpreting his reign as a deliberate, yet disastrous, attempt to shift the Roman Principate toward an absolute, Hellenistic-style autocracy. The biography emphasizes that Caligula's actions, often viewed as insanity, were largely political blunders and systemic humiliations of the Senate that ultimately caused his downfall.