Explanation: The Roman Emperor Caligula, sometimes said to be mad, once ordered the Legions to ‘make war’ on Neptune, god of the sea, stabbing at the tides, and collecting seashells as war booty.

This may have been Caligula legitimately being unhinged. However, it may have been a punishment/humiliation for a failure to follow Caligula’s orders appropriately, or simply the time-honored practice of autocrats making people do stupid shit not (only) for entertainment, but to showcase how absolute their power is. “Remember that I can make you do anything. And be afraid of what I can make others do to you if you forget that” sort of energy.

Of course, the TRUTH is that Caligula DROVE BACK that coward Neptune, and bought us almost 2000 years of uneasy peace with the ocean

I still think about the floatilla for the cavalry.