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Name: Alexis Arquette
Birth Place: Los Angeles, USA

Biography

A member of the famous acting family, his siblings are Rosanna, Patricia and David, Alexis Arquette has appeared in a number of films and tv roles. His best known role is probably as the Boy George lookalike, George in The Wedding Singer(1998). He also appeared is movies like Last Exit to Brooklyn and Pulp Fiction. He gained some infamy by posing dressed as the god Krishna on the cover of Gay Magazine GENRE. Xena fans know all about controversy and Krishna!

Check out Alexis` list of credits on the Internet Movie batabase


Episodes

The God You Know
You Are There

Character Description
Caligula (37-41)
was the son of the murdered Germanicus. Since opposition to Tiberius had gathered around Agrippina, her son was immediately popoular. He was also well-liked by the army. He had travelled with his father in northern campaigns. He liked to go around the camp wearing his father`s boots, which earned him his nickname of Little Boots -- Caligula.

He was known to be amiable, spirited, and clever. Later historians would aver dark rumors about even his youngest days, but there is no real evidence.

He started well. Raised to the purple by the Praetorian Prefect, the Senate had no choice but to accept him. Caligula moved quickly to win friends. He abolished the sales tax, recalled those exiled in the reign of Tiberius, and suppressed the use of paid informers. He gave splendid public games and shows, winning the adoration of the common people of Rome.

There is nothing in his early months to hint at what was coming. Then, in 38, he fell ill of fever and was near death for weeks. When he recovered he was a monster. Again, later historians told of endless foul acts committed before his illness, but they were all private and secret (e.g., he allegedly poisoned his own father, at the age of 10!). The public record shows to trace of this personality.

After his illness, however, his excesses were public indeed. Caligula recovered and quickly showed an new and terrible face. He began to encourage treason trials and paid informers, allowing the most outrageous accusations. He also encouraged deification of himself, though he never actually achieved it.

He began to exhibit bizarre behavior, much of which was calculated to show his contempt for the established order. Within the palace he established silly passwords, like "kiss me, sweetie". These passwords had to be repeated by the palace guards, who were grizzled old centurions given guard duty as a kind of honorable semi-retirement.He set up a brothel using senators` wives, then required attendance. He made his horse a Roman senator, complete with golden stall and senatorial robes. He had his aged uncle Claudius tossed into a river in February because, he said, he wanted to see if the old fellow could swim.

All of these could be counted amusing or merely bizarre, but Caligula cause many people to be executed. Suetonius and others speak of terrible atrocities. Politically worse than any of these things, however, was his relation with the army. He began to pursue an erratic foreign policy. He alienated Judea for no good reason. He authorized a wild dash into German that availed nothing. He prepared a major invasion of Britain then inexplicably called it off at the last minute. These things did not endear him to the army. And when he alienated the Praetorian Guard itself, his days were numbered.

By the year 41, Caligula had made too many enemies, and when the Praetorian Guard, angry over issues of back pay, determined to kill the emperor, no one revealed the plot. Caligula was murdered by his own guard while exiting from the stadium of some public games.

The Praetorian Guard had not made ambitious political plans. Their purpose was to kill Caligula and loot the palace, which they did. As hours passed, they began to realize the political implications oftheir act. They murdered all the members of Caligula`s family, so there should be no one in whose name retribution might be exacted. And, slowly, it dawned on them that with no emperor there was no longer need for a Guard.

In the course of looting the imperial palace, the Guard found an old man hiding behind some curtains. It was Claudius, uncle to Caligula. Claudius was aged, terrified, and generally regarded as an idiot.The Guard hailed him as emperor, perhaps seriously, perhaps only in jest. But when they paraded the old man through the streets and the crowds likewise hailed him as imperator, the die was cast.Poor old uncle Claudius, the family embarassment, was now emperor.
From History of Western Civilisation Web Site

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