Sapa: The Cause of Caligula's Madness?

Today, scholars have been searching for a neuropsychiatric explanation for Caligula’s madness. Some present the case for a widely used Roman sweetener as contributing to his degeneracy. Without the variety of grapes we have now, the Romans used sapa to sweeten their often bitter wines. Some scholars attribute Caligula’s madness to the lead poisoning that resulted from his inordinate consumption of sapa-sweetened wine.

During the production of sapa, the grape juice was boiled down in lead or lead-lined pots. The acidic nature of the grape juice could leach lead into the syrup, resulting in a sweetener that was inadvertently contaminated with toxic levels of lead acetate. Moreover, the lead acetate added to the sweetness of the syrup. Several ancient historians, including Pliny the Elder, mention this “lead sugar” in their writings.

On the other hand, Caligula also experienced epileptic seizures that began in his childhood. Those seizures may have triggered psychotic episodes of hallucinations and paranoid delusions that led to the madness noted by historians. In support of this argument, historians claim that Caligula also suffered from severe insomnia. He could not sleep more than three hours per night. Excessive alcohol intake and lead poisoning could have exacerbated these psychotic episodes.

Doing historical research—albeit as a fiction writer—provides me with surprising opportunities to learn about the real world. I hope you experience that pleasure as you read my stories. To choose one, just click here.