Ancient Roman political leaders were often cruel, both physically and mentally. Some have unusual habits and passions, while others have bizarre hobbies. Portal theconversation.com speak about the most eccentric rulers of ancient Rome.
Hortensius
Hortensius (114-50 BC) was an orator and politician of the late Roman Republic. He loved the ornamental plants of the plane tree family so much that he watered them with wine. And one day, receiving news that one of the trees was about to die, he quickly completed the legal procedures to quickly be near his favorite tree.
Marcus Licinius Crassus
A contemporary of Hortensius, an influential Roman general and politician, who liked to keep ornamental eels in an expensive pond. He even decorated his beloved eel with jewelry, and after the fish's death, he held a funeral and mourned for three days.
Furthermore, the details of his unusual hobbies survive to this day not as humorous facts but as satire. Crassus died in Mesopotamia, in a brutal battle against the Parthians (rulers of ancient Iran) in 53 BC. Parthian generals lured Crassus to a hot, waterless plain and destroyed his army – among the 20,000 killed were not only the Roman himself but also his son.
The orator and politician Cicero liked to mock the Piscanarii – or lovers of decorative fish ponds. In his opinion, they should have paid more attention to the affairs of state than their pets.
Caligula
The tradition of eccentric leaders continued after ancient Rome became an empire. The only difference is that now the grotesque rulers, endowed with almost limitless power, can easily cross the line into violence and cruelty.
This is what made Caligula (37-41 AD) so famous. He appointed his horse as consul, provided him with luxurious stables and slaves. He often dresses as four different gods, including the goddess Venus. Sometimes Caligula wore a golden beard and held a thunder arrow in his hand, imitating Jupiter.
Caligula was also known for his paranoia, which only increased as his reign progressed. On his orders, trials of “traitors” were often held, in which senators and at least one potential rival for the title of emperor were executed.
But stories of Caligula's excesses have probably been greatly exaggerated. His serious disagreements with the Senate led to the class often writing historical works disliking the emperor.
Nero
Perhaps the most notorious Roman politician of them all. Nero was the grandson of Caligula, who ruled the Roman Empire from 54-68 AD, and he went down in history for his cruelty and excessive tendencies. Perhaps many people know him thanks to the legend that Nero sang and played the cithara (a type of lyre) while Rome burned in 64.
In fact, this is unlikely to be true, but historians know for sure that after the fire, Nero built a huge palace with 300 rooms right on the land cleared by fire from previous buildings. The emperor really enjoyed playing the cithara, and even organized a music festival for him to perform as a singer. And in 59, Nero decided to kill his biological mother. For these and many other reasons, Nero was declared a public enemy in 68, after which he committed suicide.
closet
100 years later, Emperor Commodus continued the tradition of his predecessors. Many people probably know him for the Gladiator movies – and he actually appeared in the Colosseum. One ancient source (no doubt exaggerated) even claims that he visited the arena 735 times.
Commodus liked to dress up as Hercules, his favorite mythological hero. In Rome there is even a sculpture depicting the emperor in the guise of a legendary hero. But the public knows him mainly for his unpredictable behavior and cruelty. So Commodus killed his sister in 182 because he suspected her of plotting a coup. And the emperor died unjustly – he was strangled in the bathroom after losing all his allies.
