[1] Suetonius writes that "in relation to all those who were [Caligula's] favourites, his behavior constituted madness.
"[2] According to Suetonius, a portent of Caligula's assassination is said to have been Mnester's performance of "the same tragedy which the tragedian Neoptolemus had produced at the games during which King Philip of Macedon was killed.
"[3] During the reign of Caligula's successor Claudius, Mnester retained the favour of the imperial court.
[5] "Claudius probably would have spared the actor, but his freedmen convinced him that Mnester deserved to die with the others.
"[5] He was portrayed by Nicholas Amer in the 1976 TV series I, Claudius[6] and by Rick Parets in the 1979 film Caligula.