Psychologists say that a person is addicted to bloody tragedies and dramas terrifying the imagination. Numerous stories about world wars, deadly epidemics, brutal massacres and fires become the source of such negative information. But the most dangerous thing is that in them these crimes are considered a manifestation of force, and mediocrity is condemned. And this is not surprising. As the sages said, the closer to the throne, the more demons. And woe to those philistines if they are led by a person for whom power has become a passion and, at the same time, madness.
Gaius Caesar Caligula is considered such a mad villain, who would rather destroy his state than strengthen it. He was a favorite of the rulers of the Eternal City, received a military education in Germany. The Romans expected a lot from Caligula. And the beginning of his power was promising: he released political prisoners, reduced tax payments, gave the people "bread and circuses." But a few months after coming to power, the young ruler fell ill.
The people were very worried about their favorite: many made terrible and difficult vows - if only he would recover. And their pleas were heard - the disease receded. But the beloved ruler, nursing her beloved, suddenly died. Caligula's grief was disappointing. Rome became hostage to the grief of its ruler: it was not the former ruler who returned to them, but a cruel villain and a monster.
While people were fulfilling their vows given during Caligula's illness, he began to replenish the empty state treasury. And he chose the most villainous method - the death penalty with confiscation of property. He felt joy, watching the executions of people, and also demanding from the executioner that he gave the convict the greatest suffering. It is said that, one day, a senator turned to Caligula to pardon his son. The ruler received him affectionately and immediately rushed his subordinates to carry out the immediate execution of the young man, and invited the senator to dine together, where his grief-stricken father spoke toast for the murderer sovereign.
Caligula's pride grew every day: he imagines himself to be a god who has the right to decide the fate of people. It is interesting that the murderer of the executioner was his teacher of military affairs, who knew Caligula even during his studies in Germany - Cassius Kherey. It is still unknown what Caligula insulted Kherei, but he organized an attempt on the ruler and was the first to inflict a mortal wound on Caligula.
Another villainous ruler: the Chinese emperor Ying Zheng, who was nicknamed by the people - the cruel tiger of the East. He got a very complex state in which it was possible to restore order only with an iron hand.
At the age of 12, he took the throne of the emperors of China. He had to fight off the troops, the largest states in North China. As a winner, he cruelly dealt with the rulers of the attacking countries: many lost their lives … New ways were invented to take a person's life. If the offender was considered especially dangerous, then all his relatives were subjected to destruction. Such unreasonable cruelty aroused the anger of the subjects. The ruler without exception slaughtered all who dared to rebel against his power. Religion was suppressed, other opinions were persecuted. The emperor believed that only he should be worshiped by his subjects and no one else.
At the same time, under the supervision of Ying Zheng's associates, numerous roads, beautiful palaces, canals for irrigation of lands, beautiful cities were built. But the most luxurious object erected was the capital of the state - the city of Sanyang, and the most grandiose - the Great Wall of China. About two million people worked on the construction of the defensive wall. They erected a rampart about four thousand kilometers long, with watchtowers. Most of these builders died, and no one buried them - they simply buried the bodies in the earthen embankments against the wall.
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Ying Zheng introduced a single writing system, carried out a monetary reform, was engaged in the introduction of technical innovations … But, only the distant descendants of the first emperor of China have the right to assess whether his good deeds were able to become an excuse for atrocities.
The deeds of Joshua, who, in order to return the land to the Jews, destroyed many cities with fire and sword, killing their inhabitants, can also be subjected to historical assessment. Only the list of the destroyed cities takes several pages in Scripture. It is probably difficult to imagine that Western European civilization arose on the blood of many people.
But another tyrant and villain - Genghis Khan, was much more lenient towards his enemies than the Israelites and Joshua. He killed male enemies only when they refused to swear allegiance to him, and kept everyone else alive.
Everyone was afraid of him: from Kiev to the Great Wall of China. Genghis Khan is only a title, and his real name is Temuchin. He came from a poor but noble family. Having become the ruler of the Mongols, he quickly showed how a noble will and a cruel mind can transform the surrounding reality. Genghis Khan fulfilled a great mission by uniting the east of Eurasia, including Russia. This is how Genghis Khan expressed his parting words to his descendants: “Do not destroy your consent, do not untie the knot of unanimity that you have tied; don't cut your own gate."
What the conqueror of Eurasia was also known for: he avenged his father's death, becoming a ruler, knew how to keep friendship and appreciated loyalty. The famous historian Lev Gumilev believed that all information about the cruelty of the Mongols is a myth. The real reason for the existence of the fiction about the crimes of the Mongols is the clash between the agricultural culture and the nomadic way of life. Indeed, Genghis Khan's warriors destroyed irrigation systems, sold Persian craftsmen, took beautiful women to the Horde, but this was not cruelty, such actions were common for the sons of the steppe.
The fate of another tyrant ruler - Julius II (Grozny) is interesting. He demonstrated how a minister of the church, having occupied the Holy See, turned out to be cruel, noble, treacherous and generous, and everything in order to achieve his goals in any way. Julia's ill-wishers argued that the ruler was involved in all cruel crimes. In his early years, he traded in piracy, selling people into slavery. When Julius took over as high priest, he advocated forgiving the sins of those who kill and rob the Venetian. Another crime of the Holy Father: he actively incited Genoa to rebel against the King of France, and when the Genoese uprising was brutally suppressed, he not only did not come to their aid, but helped the king to punish the rebellious.
The insidiousness and greed of this man were so great that he in advance forgave the sins of the soldiers who captured the cities, killing, indiscriminately, all the inhabitants. There is evidence that he brutally suppressed the uprising in Rome, killing about 15 thousand inhabitants. During his reign, the papal lands occupied the largest territory. He set one people against another, was the initiator of ruinous wars. However, he left his successor with enormous wealth in the papal treasury.
Julia can undoubtedly be considered the founder of the modern Vatican. During his reign, the most magnificent cathedrals and palaces were built. This cruel, villainous priest supported art with one hand and killed people with the other. And all for the sake of supporting their personal power.
Caliph Al-Hakim was called the Arab Caligula. They were both insane and obsessed with power. In his youth, Al-Hakim disappeared in one of the best libraries in the East - the Fatimid library. He seemed to be looking at the world with a sweet smile, accepting officials, avoiding communication with women, supporting the Ismaili faith. The turning point in Al Hakim's behavior came after the establishment of a center for Ismaili propaganda in Cairo. Strange decrees were issued: residents were forbidden to appear on the streets of the city during the day, women were not allowed to leave their homes, shoemakers were not allowed to sew women's shoes, holidays were prohibited … Disobedience was punishable by execution. The entire city turned into one Ismaili monastery overnight. All people of other faiths were persecuted. It was by order of the Caliph that the Temple of the Holy Sepulcher was destroyed. A conspiracy against him matured in his own family. And one day, having gone out for a night walk, he did not return …
The royal couple of Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand, are known for sending Columbus in search of unexplored lands and receiving the gratitude of Europe for finding America. It is believed that the evil genius of the married couple was the Queen's confessor. The rulers of Spain unquestioningly obeyed this gloomy and vicious man. The first years of the reign of the spouses were marked by cruel persecution of heretics. Numerous executions, sophisticated torture, encouragement of denunciations, atrocities against subjects shook the Europeans and the Holy See. The queen's confessor invented his own method of killing people: several people were brought in at the same time onto the scaffold where the oven was built and burned alive. Not to say that the royal couple felt shame or regret about this - they fully supported the inhuman attitude towards people, elevated to the rank of state policy.
One of the most cruel rulers of the East is considered the Turkish ruler Mehmed II. To become the ruler of Turkey, he killed his brothers in order to avoid an attempt on the throne. He even issued a decree allowing his heir to kill his brothers in order to maintain order in the empire. Cruelty towards relatives coexisted with unprecedented bloodthirstiness towards enemies. When the Sultan's troops captured Constantinople, he gave the city to plunder, ordering the soldiers to destroy all its inhabitants without mercy. The chronicles say that most of the inhabitants died, the rest were turned into slaves. Turkish Istanbul arose on the ruins of Constantinople.
The cruelty of some monarchs is simply amazing in its ferocity. But it is more difficult to perceive the atrocities committed by a woman on the throne. We are talking about the empress of China - Tsi Xi (Yohanala), who became a real killer of her state. She was born into the family of a customs officer, having matured, she entered the house of Emperor Hsien Feng as a concubine. She set herself a goal - to become an empress. The girl was well versed in poisons. She managed to destroy all rivals and become the only one for the emperor. Having given birth to a son to the emperor, she became even closer to the ruling person of the empire, appearing next to the emperor at all receptions. After the death of the emperor, she took over the regency with a young son.
She ruled the empire with an iron hand, intimidating her subjects with bloody executions. Tsi Xi, in order not to transfer the throne to her son, poisoned him too. The creepy old woman Qi Xi, who has lost her mind, died at the age of 55. The servant caring for her said that she looked in the antique mirror all the time. After her funeral, he looked in the mirror and recoiled in fear: the emperor's young concubine, Yohanal, was looking at him!
It is believed that the real truth about the atrocities of monarchs is much scarier than we know. Should our generation know about them? Maybe. History lessons are needed to know our past and to prevent a repetition of such atrocities in the future.