Pagan Rome, 37 A.D. With the reign of the frail, syphilis-ridden, half-mad Emperor Tiberius coming to an end, Prince Gaius Augustus Germanicus, aka Caligula, is summoned to the demented ruler's palace of sin on the island of Capri. After the murder of bedridden Tiberius, Caligula is proclaimed the new emperor, who, in turn, proclaims his beloved sister and lover, Julia Drusilla, as his equal, much to the disgust of the Roman Senate. Now, as a four-year reign of depravity and terror commences, allegiances turn into betrayal, virginities are destroyed, torture and execution weed out the competition, and dangerously megalomaniac Caligula declares himself a god. Can the Roman Empire tolerate the uncontrollable mania of the insane tyrant?