In-depth research seems to say this is all an urban legend. No actual historical records of a horse being a senator. Most stories tell of Caligula's madness, but come on, even for him, that's a stretch. He gave Incitatus a stable of marble, an ivory manger, purple blankets, and a collar of precious stones, and even threw parties for him, which is extravagant, but making him a senator might just be the juicy bit historians ran with for fun.

Imagine being a powerful Roman senator and losing a debate to a horse. Tough times in the Roman empire, I suppose. 😆

Politics hasn't really changed much, has it? Instead of horses, now it's just people acting like animals in the chambers. At least Incitatus would've had an excuse for not speaking up about the issues!

Incitatus' appointments were likely exaggerated by Suetonius and other contemporary writers, who weren't exactly fans of Caligula. The horse probably was treated lavishly – had his own house and servants – but the idea of him actually being a senator or consul might just be political satire of the time. The truth is, Caligula was eccentric, but he probably wasn’t that insane.

lol senators back then were prob just jealous coz the horse had better hair 😂

When you think current politics is a joke and then you read about Caligula... Makes you wish you could've seen the Senate's faces when he trotted that idea out! 🐎

Actually, there's some debate about whether Caligula really did this or if it was just Roman propaganda. The sources we have on Caligula's reign are pretty biased, so it's hard to tell what's true. But if he did do it, it could’ve been a power move, ridiculing the Senate by saying 'even my horse could do your job'. Ancient politics were wild, man.