Incitatus was a horse. Not an ordinary horse. Aside that he belonged to Caligula, or Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, the Emperor of Rome from 37 AD to 41 AD, he also was appointed to the Roman senate.
Caligula known for his eccentricities treated his horse in many extraordinary ways. It was said that the horse’s stable was made of marble, his manger of ivory, his collar made of precious jewels, and he was fed with oats mixed with gold flake by servants specially hired for the purpose.
Incitatus, which means swift in Latin, had also a special place in the emperor’s nocturnal bacchanalia together with Rome’s power circle until one day his owner, the emperor, decided that he is fit to be consul and deserved a seat in the senate.
According to Suetonius and other Roman chroniclers, Caligula was out of his wits and it was maybe because of his mental state that had led him to appoint his dear horse to the Roman senate to accompany the distinguished men in the Roman chamber.
Later historians, also called historical revisionists like Anthony Barret, disagreed. They opine that those Roman chroniclers were influenced by their times when discrediting the Caesars was the fad and spicing their accounts with the salacious and scandalous assured them of more readership. Who knows they may have been paid hacks.
Others said that the story of Incitatus’s favored status and ultimate appointment to the senate was Caligula’s direct poke to make fun of the Roman senate which he despised as a bunch of nincompoops and was of the opinion that his horse was much better than them
No matter what the truth was the story stuck. The horse Incitatus had been ensconced as one who was appointed to the senate. If Caligula were alive today, I wonder who he would appoint?
Speaking of the senate, the Philippines is now gearing toward the May 2013 elections where twelve senate seats are up for grabs. The Philippine senate has 24 senators mandated to legislate laws of national impact. When we say national impact we mean laws that affect the lives of about 90 million people. Imagine 24 senators with almost a hundred million constituents? Compare that to Canada’s 105 senators with a total population of only over 30 million? Yes, but that’s another story.
The May 2013 elections from where I am I could see it to be hotly contested by political titans, or others would say by trapos (short for traditional politicians). Among the fiercest electoral battles in the country will be in Manila, the national capital. To run against the incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim is Erap Estrada, former Philippine president who was ousted and replaced by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Lim’s running mate is Manila councilman Lou Veloso because Lim’s current vice mayor Isko Moreno has walked out on him in favor of Erap. Both Veloso and Moreno are from tinsel town. Manila will be in a political blood bath with Dirty Harry (Lim’s moniker) and Asiong Salonga, an Erap blockbuster movie with the same title, as protagonists.
The Manila electoral scenario as far as I see it will be a precursor of the 2016 presidential elections. Why? Because in Manila Lim will be heavily supported by the Liberal Party the party of president Aquino as well as of DILG secretary Mar Roxas who no doubt will be the LP’s standard bearer as president in 2016. Erap, on the other hand, will be backed by the forces of vice president Jejomar Binay who is also eyeing the 2016 presidency.
It is highly probable that the battle in Manila would be replicated in each city, province, and town all over the archipelago. Filipinos in Toronto, although far from home, could also participate by casting their ballots at the Philippine Consulate General’s office. The Absentee Voting law allows them to do so.
Having the right to vote for someone to represent you in government is way better than having Caligula given a free hand to appoint your representative even to the senate.
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