A BRITISH-LED team of archaeologists has identified the legendary palace of the Emperor Caligula in the Forum, proving that the debauched and demented Emperor went so far as to incorporate one of Ancient Rome’s most sacred temples for his private use as a “living deity”.

Andrew Wilson, Lecturer in Roman archaeology at Oxford University, who led the dig, said the historical reputation of Caligula “may have to be reassessed. He was clearly even madder than we thought”.

Some revisionist scholars have suggested that Caligula was not an insane megalomaniac but the victim of “biased” reporting by Roman historians “prone to exaggeration”, such as Suetonius, and that the Emperor’s boast that he was so powerful he could make his horse a consul was a misunderstood joke.

The excavations, jointly conducted by Oxford University, Stanford University and the American Institute for Roman Culture (IRC), support the contention of classical writers that Caligula extended an imperial palace to include the Temple of Castor and Pollux, on the grounds that he himself was one of the gods and should be worshipped by his subjects.

“Suetonius tells us Caligula made the temple into his ‘vestibule’ and placed himself between the figures of Castor and Pollux to be worshipped, a claim later repeated by other writers such as Dio Cassius,” Dr Wilson said. “Many discount this, since it would have been an act of massive impiety for even Caligula to incorporate the temple into his own home. But he really did. This is a marvellous example of archaeology supporting ancient texts.”

Caligula — real name Gaius Caesar — ruled for only four years, from AD37 to AD41, in succession to Tiberius. His short reign, however, became a byword for despotism, caprice, reckless spending and sexual excess. He was given the nickname Caligula, meaning Little Boots, for his precocious behaviour as a boy when bossing about the troops commanded by his father, Germanicus Caesar, the adopted son of Tiberus.

After becoming Emperor, Caligula instituted “treason trials” and indulged in an incestous affair with his sister, Drusilla, whom he had made a goddess after her death. He considered himself “divine” as well, despite his incompetent rule and growing unpopularity. To the relief of many, he was murdered by one of his own guards and was succeeded by the gentler Claudius.

Many of Caligula’s wild orgies were held at Lake Nemi, south of Rome, where the ornate ships he used both for cult worship and his parties — possibly simultaneously — are being reconstructed from the remains of Roman-era vessels found in the lake in the 1930s and later destroyed by fire. But Dr Wilson said Caligula would have used his palace in Rome for a similar combination of the sacred and profane, since “he thought he could do what he liked”.

The archaeological team, which began work last month exploring “the links between religious, commercial and political activities in the Forum” in the area of the Domitianic Hall, discovered by chance that Caligula had extended an existing imperial palace to the Temple of Castor and Pollux, built in the 4th century BC under republican Rome to honour the mythical twin sons of Zeus (Jupiter).

Dr Wilson said scholars had been misled because a road divided what is now known as the Palace of Domitian from the temple, indicating that they could not have been joined, except perhaps by a bridge. However, the dig proved that Caligula had obliterated the road, using its uprooted paving blocks for the foundations of walls and drains linking the palace and temple. The road was later restored by Claudius to restore the distinction, thus dismantling Caligula’s “blasphemous” legacy.

Darius Arya, of the IRC, said many people did not realise that the Forum was still yielding discoveries. “But there is layer upon layer of history and we are still discovering things that previous generations overlooked or misinterpreted.” Dr Wilson said the discovery of the palace was “a tribute to the 24 students from Oxford and Stanford who have toiled under the sun in ferocious temperatures”.