Hi to all of you ! How are you ? Two weeks ago, I announced that this article will be talking about the 5 craziest Roman emperors. So that’s what we’re going to see today. Here, we are not going to be interested in the various actions that the emperor did during his reign but in all his sadistic and bizarre side. Besides, I warn you that some emperors were really very special. That’s why I am warning people who might be sensitive to this. One last thing, for once we are not going to follow the chronological order but will rank the emperors by degree of cruelty. Now let’s get to the heart of the matter and, above all, enjoy your reading.
(When I say “crazy”, it is not necessarily to be taken literally. Moreover, the information used unfortunately cannot be verified and has certainly been modified over time. Last information, I have a shop where I sell Roman coins, click here to see it).
Who are we going to talk to?
In Ancient Rome, customs and society were very different from today. That’s why it was more “normal” to kill your neighbor without much reason. So almost all emperors did cruel actions. But here we are going to talk about the most sadistic. We will therefore see Caligula, Diocletian, Caracalla, Nero and Commodus.
Fifth Craziest Roman Emperor: Diocletian
For this fifth emperor, we’ll start slowly. Besides, he did not want to kill everyone like the emperors that we will see later, but only Christians. Indeed, Diocletian had a big problem with them to the point of wanting to make them all disappear. In order to carry out his task, he put in place four edicts. The first consisted in destroying all places of worship such as churches and books related to this religion. Also, he took away all rights from Christians.
The second edict had all the men of the Church arrested and then locked up. The third edict resulted in the use of torture against men of the Church who did not want to make sacrifices for the Roman Gods. And the last edict is an extension to all Christians of the third. Finally, it often happened that Diocletian threw Christians into the arena facing the beasts. He also had them beheaded or crucified.
In the end, Diocletian was not totally crazy, he was just after the Christians.
Fourth Craziest Roman Emperor: Commodus
We are now going to rise in rank with Commode. He executed a lot of members of his family because he was afraid that they would take power. Also, being a big fan of games, animal fights, gladiatorial fights… He did not hesitate when someone’s face did not come back to him, to throw him in the arena so that the unfortunate one would be made. eaten by animals or kill by gladiators. In addition, sometimes he himself would descend into the arena in order to fight. He was never defeated and thus identified with Hercules. This is why he can be found wearing a lion’s skin and a club on some coins.
Commodus was therefore a special person who liked to fight.
Third Craziest Roman Emperor: Caracalla
We therefore continue on this crescendo with Caracalla. The latter began his reign by killing his brother Geta in order to have full power. He then purged the knowledge he had, especially those close to Geta. And anything that touched his brother near or far was forbidden or killed. Even the simple pronunciation of his name was prohibited. He loved to fight, so much so that in battles he was always at the front with his soldiers, face to face with the enemy. Thus, during his campaigns, he mainly focused on killing people rather than bringing back the spoils of war. However, his soldiers appreciated him and liked the strength he used to fight. Also in Alexandria, people had the good idea to create a satirical play against Caracalla. The latter, having heard of this, took his army, went to Alexandria and probably killed more than 20,000 people.
Caracalla was therefore a very sensitive person who feared that his power would be taken away from him.
Second Craziest Roman Emperor: Nero
At this height of bullshit, the air begins to thin. And Nero, is perfect to illustrate this debility. First of all, the character was married to Octavia (so far, we don’t have much to do with it but we’ll come back to that later). He killed his father Claude, with the help of his mother Agrippina. Subsequently, he tries to kill her by making it look like a boating accident but she clings to life and survival. So he had her murdered in his sleep.
In addition, according to legend, the fire in Rome which lasted several days and ravaged the city in 64 AD was lit under the orders of Nero. This may be in order to build a new Rome in its image. However, there is evidence that this may not have happened. For example, he was not at the scene when this happened and in the fire he lost works of art he loved. So we can’t really know.
Also, he had all the Christians in the city killed by throwing them to the lions or having them crucified. Like what, he would have got along with Diocletian. Now you remember his wife Octavia whom I mentioned earlier in this paragraph. First, he killed her. Well, at this point, it’s not surprising but Nero went even further. Indeed, he beheaded it, took its head and gave it to his new wife: Poppaea, so that she could stick her sewing needles there. He also subsequently killed Poppea while she was pregnant. He then disemboweled it in order to remove the child and “kill” him.
In the end, we can say that Nero was crazy but also totally stupid.
First Craziest Roman Emperor: Caligula (the best)
We have just reached the top, Caligula is a person who is very difficult to reach the ankle. Besides, he is better known for these cruel actions than for these actions as an emperor. So he slowly began his “exploits” when he became emperor. In fact, he succeeded Tiberius because he had the latter’s grandson murdered. This allowed him to take power. During his life, he had incestuous relations with his sisters. Another surprising fact, he had a horse named “Incitatus” which he wanted to name Senator. He never did because he’s been killed before. Besides, he had had this horse built a stable made entirely of marble with a team of servants at his disposal.
Also, Caligula suffered from a physical characteristic which was his baldness. So when he walked through the streets of Rome and saw a man with beautiful hair, he either beheaded him on the spot or he shaved him. Besides, he liked to kill for fun. Indeed, when he was having dinner with guests, often between two courses, the time seemed long. So to remedy this, he sometimes had prisoners killed in front of his guests. The latter were obviously obliged to stay so as not to upset the emperor.
Also during meals, it sometimes happened that Caligula would burst into giggles for no reason. And, when his guests asked him why he was laughing, Caligula would tell them that he was thinking that if he wanted to, he could have them all slit on the spot. Like what you shouldn’t get bored at your table. Always on his pleasure to kill, he liked to throw prisoners or slaves over the ramparts.
Also, when he had the Senators assassinated (a normal thing at this point), he had them publicly slaughtered and left their bodies lying around Rome. On the ego side, there was work as he liked to replace the heads of divine statues with his own. Latest information about him, he would often say when his wife gave him a kiss on the neck, that at any time he could cut off her head. Yes, he had a problem with the beheading.
In the end, Caligula is truly the craziest Emperor of all. Yet his reign had started well, he was loved by his people but Caligula changed one day and he became the tyrant he was. This is probably due to a psychological problem or a shock he received.
This article is now complete. It was different from the others I may have posted but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. If so, let me know in the comments space and also tell me what topic you would like me to talk about in a future post. By the way, for the next article, we are going to talk about a totally different subject since I will tell you about “my trip to Rome”. This article will be published in two weeks. So see you in two weeks!
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