Caligula
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Caligula. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A Roman emperor, was son of Germanicus by Agrippina . He was proud, wanton, and cruel. He was pleased when disasters befell his subjects, and often expressed a wish that the Romans had but one head that he might have the pleasure of striking it off. He had a favorite horse made consul and adorned it with the most valuable trappings and ornaments. The tyrant was murdered, A. D. 41, in his twenty-ninth year, after a reign of three years and ten months. 2026 Editor's Note: Caligula ruled from AD 37 until his assassination in AD 41, a span of approximately four years rather than the three years and ten months stated on this page. Born in AD 12, he would have been 28 at death, not in his twenty-ninth year. The famous anecdote about making his horse a consul appears in ancient sources, but modern historians note that many allegations against Caligula may reflect "misunderstandings, exaggeration, mockery or malicious fantasy" rather than reliable historical record. (Ed: BR 2026-07-01)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
CAIUS CÆSAR AUGUS- TUS GERMANICUS (ka-lig'ū-lä), a Roman emperor, son of Germanicus and Agrippina; born A. D. 12, in the camp at Antium. He received from the soldiers the surname of Caligula, on account of his wearing the caligæ, a kind of boots in use among them. He succeeded Tiberius, 37 A. D., and made himself very popular by his mildness and ostentatious generosity; but at the end of eight CALIGULA months he was seized with a disorder, caused by his irregular mode of living, which appears to have permanently deranged his intellect. After his recovery, he suddenly showed himself the most cruel and unnatural of tyrants. He was assassinated by a band of conspirators 41 A. D.