Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Benky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is
Speaker 1: full of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Nepotism is often frowned upon, especially when the
Speaker 1: person doling out jobs is in a position of great power.
Speaker 1: Politicians and celebrities often give friends and family members cushy
Speaker 1: roles within their organizations as a favor, but not only
Speaker 1: can it be unethical and immoral, it can also lead
Speaker 1: to some bizarre situations for everyone involved. By a d
Speaker 1: Rome had finally gotten rid of its hate Emperor Tiberius
Speaker 1: Caesar Augustus. Installed in his palace was his grand nephew,
Speaker 1: Guius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. However, history would come to know
Speaker 1: him by his nickname Caligula. Though Caligula had been seen
Speaker 1: as a savior to the people of Rome following Tiberius's reign,
Speaker 1: their hopes were quickly dashed. Their new emperor was impetuous
Speaker 1: and power hungry. When he saw something or some one
Speaker 1: that he wanted. He took it, and he killed without question.
Speaker 1: After he was poisoned and nearly killed during his first year,
Speaker 1: Caligula purged his inner circle of any one he suspected
Speaker 1: who might have played a part in his case. That
Speaker 1: was almost everyone. Those who were murdered were exiled, and
Speaker 1: he dispatched anyone he considered a threat to his position,
Speaker 1: and that included family members such as his cousin, his
Speaker 1: father in law, and his brother in law. Aside from
Speaker 1: his general paranoia, Caligula also thought highly of himself, more
Speaker 1: so than other of his predecessors. After a few years
Speaker 1: as emperor, he made his feelings quite known regarding his
Speaker 1: place in the universe. He considered himself a god and
Speaker 1: began addressing the public, dressing clothing reminiscent of Hercules and Apollo,
Speaker 1: among others. Even official documents had him listed as Jupiter
Speaker 1: Latieris rather than his own name. Temples were constructed in
Speaker 1: his honor, as were statues of gold to be worshiped
Speaker 1: by his adoring subjects. Although he was a bit flexible
Speaker 1: in his divine identity, he often shrugged off one persona
Speaker 1: like Jupiter to take on another. Such as Neptune. One
Speaker 1: minute he would be parading around with a trident, and
Speaker 1: the next he was trading it in for Venus's gowns.
Speaker 1: One thing was consistent, though Caligula tolerated no other gods
Speaker 1: in Rome. Any statues of Mercury, Juno, or Diana were decapitated,
Speaker 1: leaving only the statues modeled after himself with their heads intact.
Speaker 1: He believed himself so far above the people he had
Speaker 1: a bridge built to take him from his palace to
Speaker 1: the temple of Jupiter, so that he didn't have to
Speaker 1: walk through the public square of the Roman Forum. Although
Speaker 1: he only reigned for four years, Caligula managed to squeeze
Speaker 1: a lot of other strange behaviors into that short time,
Speaker 1: like when he and his army waged war on the sea.
Speaker 1: He marched his soldiers to the coast of northern France,
Speaker 1: ready to do battle against an unbeatable enemy, only to
Speaker 1: have them fill their tunics and helmets with seashells. Caligula
Speaker 1: called them the spoils of the sea. After they collected enough,
Speaker 1: he and his men returned to Rome and through a
Speaker 1: parade for themselves to commemorate their um victory. It's no
Speaker 1: wonder that many people, from those closest to him to
Speaker 1: modern day historians, believed the emperor to be unwell. Those
Speaker 1: who knew him used to see him wide awake at
Speaker 1: night talking to the moon. It was clear that he
Speaker 1: needed a friend, someone he could trust without worrying they
Speaker 1: were going to try and take his place, and he
Speaker 1: found that confidant in in Catatas. In Tatas had been
Speaker 1: there for Caligula when he needed him most, and so
Speaker 1: he treated him much better than almost anyone else in
Speaker 1: the emperor's circle. He lived in a house made of
Speaker 1: ivory and slept beneath lush, purple blankets. He wore expensive
Speaker 1: jewels when he went out in public, and attended dinner
Speaker 1: parties thrown in his honor, all of which were paid
Speaker 1: for by his rich and powerful comrade Caligula. In return,
Speaker 1: Incatatas would perform magnificent feats of athleticism for his friend's amusements. Eventually, however,
Speaker 1: it got to the point where Caligula wanted to do
Speaker 1: more for his pal and to have someone he could
Speaker 1: trust in charge. So he drafted a plan to make
Speaker 1: Incantatas a console. Unfortunately, for both of them, there were
Speaker 1: two big hurdles preventing such a thing from happening. First,
Speaker 1: the emperor was assassinated before Incatatas could be appointed, and second,
Speaker 1: Inca Tatas was a pretty unorthodox choice for the Roman Senate.
Speaker 1: It's because he wasn't even human. He was a horse.
Speaker 1: Aaron was born into a pretty poor family, although that's
Speaker 1: not an extraordinary beginning. In fact, it's far too common
Speaker 1: even today, but in in Mississippi that meant living with
Speaker 1: some pretty rough conditions. His father really did try to
Speaker 1: provide for the family, but he was just a day laborer,
Speaker 1: and oftentimes the work would dry up. When that happened,
Speaker 1: word would spread and the community around them would step
Speaker 1: up and help out. A cooked meal, a warm coat,
Speaker 1: things that mattered from people who cared for someone in need.
Speaker 1: When Aaron was fairly young, the family went through another
Speaker 1: of those rough patches. As a result, they had to
Speaker 1: move around a bit by They were in Tennessee in
Speaker 1: a rough neighborhood, which meant that he was quickly known
Speaker 1: as the poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks.
Speaker 1: It seems that then, just like today, where you lived
Speaker 1: said a lot about who you were, even when that
Speaker 1: message was wrong. Of course, Aaron had friends who were
Speaker 1: better off. One of them was a boy named Jimmy
Speaker 1: who lived in a much nicer part of town. At school,
Speaker 1: they had a lot of laughs and enjoyed each other's company.
Speaker 1: Kids have fewer prejudices and it showed in their friendship.
Speaker 1: But Jimmy's mother didn't care for the neighborhood where Aaron's
Speaker 1: family lived, so she made it clear to her son
Speaker 1: that the poor boy was never allowed in their house.
Speaker 1: After all, he might steal something. Right, well, it happened
Speaker 1: one day in nineteen fifty that Jimmy had some relatives
Speaker 1: come to stay for a while at their house. His uncle,
Speaker 1: a Lonzo Green, was a country singer, and to Jimmy
Speaker 1: it was like welcoming royalty into the house. He beamed
Speaker 1: with pride and couldn't help but tell all of his
Speaker 1: friends about it, and that included Aaron, which prompted a request.
Speaker 1: You see, Aaron had somehow come into possession of a guitar,
Speaker 1: but he had no idea how to tune it, so,
Speaker 1: knowing Jimmy's uncle as a musician, he pressured the friend
Speaker 1: to go home and ask if he could visit, just
Speaker 1: to get help with his guitar. Uncle Anzo agreed as
Speaker 1: long as they didn't break the rules. So Jimmy told
Speaker 1: Aaron to meet them outside on the sidewalk, and that's
Speaker 1: where Alonzo first met him, a shy boy with dark
Speaker 1: hair and a southern accent, with a raddy old guitar
Speaker 1: over his shoulder. They made small talk. Alonzo represented everything
Speaker 1: this teenage boy wanted to be, so there was a
Speaker 1: lot of that awe and wonder you might expect. The
Speaker 1: singer asked if he knew how to tune the instrument,
Speaker 1: and the boy shook his head, so he showed them
Speaker 1: right there outside Jimmy's house. The pair really hit it
Speaker 1: off too soon enough, an hour had flown by. Alonzo
Speaker 1: had his own guitar with him and he played through
Speaker 1: a number of songs on it, singing along as he did.
Speaker 1: There were ballads, gospel songs, even some stuff he'd written
Speaker 1: on his own, and Aaron loved every minute of it.
Speaker 1: He even learned a few chords in the process. But
Speaker 1: when they were done, Aaron had to leave. There was
Speaker 1: no way Jimmy's mother was going to let him inside,
Speaker 1: and it was getting late, and I'm gonna be honest,
Speaker 1: with you. It had to have felt pretty demoralizing to
Speaker 1: be rejected like that just because he didn't have as
Speaker 1: much as others. It worked out okay, though. Aaron kept practicing,
Speaker 1: and within a couple of years he was good enough
Speaker 1: to feel like he should step into a recording studio.
Speaker 1: In August of nineteen fifty three, he did just that,
Speaker 1: recording two songs that he had put onto a record
Speaker 1: he intended to give to his mother. Soon enough, though,
Speaker 1: word about his talent had spread. Although it wasn't just
Speaker 1: his guitar the people were drawn to, it was his voice.
Speaker 1: There was something special about it about him, and the
Speaker 1: world was slowly noticing that. Yes, he was the poor
Speaker 1: kid from the wrong side of the tracks, but that
Speaker 1: was all about the change. Today, there's hardly a home
Speaker 1: in the country that his voice hasn't entered, despite the
Speaker 1: rules laid out by Jimmy's mother, and over the years,
Speaker 1: his music propelled him to legendary status. He holds the
Speaker 1: wreck heard for the most Billboard Top forty songs at
Speaker 1: one and has sold more than one hundred forty six
Speaker 1: million albums worldwide, which of course makes sense. After all,
Speaker 1: Aaron was the king Elvis Aaron Pressley. I hope you've
Speaker 1: enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe
Speaker 1: for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the
Speaker 1: show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was
Speaker 1: created by me, Aaron Manky, in partnership with how Stuff Works.
Speaker 1: I make another award winning show called Lore, which is
Speaker 1: a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can
Speaker 1: learn all about it over at the World of Lore
Speaker 1: dot com. And until next time, stay curious.