caligula's horse
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Incitatus. It was made a priest and consul, had a manger of ivory, and drank wine from a golden goblet.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “caligula's horse” mean?
Incitatus. It was made a priest and consul, had a manger of ivory, and drank wine from a golden goblet.
Is “caligula's horse” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.