Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 23 hours ago
Throughout the years, humanity has been forced to deal with uncertain times and even more uncertain leaders. However, we won't leave all that nastiness for the fantasy novels; we're bringing it to you right here. Believe me, when I say the villains of fiction, you know, and love today ain't got nothing on the scum of reality. The worst part of all—they're not all in the medieval time, you might be imagining. Oh, no—some on this list are alive and well today. Same can't be said of their people, but you know—meh. This is, after all, the worst monarchs of all time.
To exemplify those presented to you today, I'd like to start off with a quote from Stefan Molyneux, who had this to say about rulers in general: "The ones who are insane enough to think that they can rule the world are always the ones who do." Very telling of the characters of the ruling class. Steve Jobs later said something similar but slightly upgraded it for modern times: "The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can CHANGE the world are the ones who do." While they are very similar in their language, their intent is widely the opposite. Rulers, especially of old, were notoriously narcissistic. For those times, those ideals of strength above all fed into narcissistic values and allowed for heinous monarchs to rise to power. Jobs, on the other hand, speaks of the opposite. The world is full of sane people who don't want to break anything. "Could be worse" kind of people.
These facts make it hard for the "could be better" type of people.
These facts make it hard for the ones who realize that sometimes things need to be broken.
And indeed, these facts make it hard for the crazy ones to change anything. In this context, the crazy ones are the ones to shake everything up.
Call what you will; I'm glad to have been born far after the rule of Gaius Caligula of Rome. Ruling from 12 to 41 AD, Caligula's mad reign sets a high bar in terms of horrible monarchs. A promising Candidate from the start, Caligula was initially loved. After assuming supreme power and Emperor's role, a flip in Caligula's head must have flipped. Just a few months into his reign, he made it a purpose to humiliate and intimidate other governmental officials, particularly of the Senate and military Command. He had begun to construct himself a monopoly of power that no one saw coming until it was too late. At his worst, he was insulting all members of the world, including his own subjects; by declaring himself a literal god, he increasingly began alienating himself. Alienating a narcissist, especially one yielding such power, is a dangerous gamble. They will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to maintain power. Realizing his falling in popularity—and all too human emotion—the mad king instituted a reign of terror throughout the land by enacting arrest for treason. There was no evidence or trial, of course. Caligula's predecessor, Tiberius, pulled a similar stunt just a reign prior. When it comes to Rome, there were so many corrupt monarchs it was hard to choose just one. I have to be fair to all the terrible rulers, too, right? After all, that's why you're here, is it not?
Pick a location, and you can research a horrible ruler in the area at some point in another. During his reign, Emperor Qin Sh Huang of China is credited with creating the first unified Chinese Empire. An incredible feat, undoubtedly. While his idea of a unified China might have been better in the long run, his mind wasn't so focused on the future. He wanted all of China for himself. A narcissist through and through. Though he accomplished incredible things throughout Chinese history, that didn't make him a good ruler. Part of the reason he achieved unification was by destroying the country's already established education system, filling their heads with propaganda garbage, and working his subjects until they literally died. The slave machine that unified China was one of the fastest in all of the world's history. Some of his propagandic ideologies inspired such tales as George Orwell's 1984 and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. He followed principles that included speaking in opposites, issuing orders that made no sense, and behaving in contraries. Sound familiar? He also distrusted anyone with an education, the educational system as a whole, and not only was the first recorded monarch to burn books but even terrified citizens from the pursuit of knowledge by burying several hundred scholars alive while everyone watched. In addition to unifying china, he constructed himself a tomb so massive it came equipped with 8,000 terra-cotta warriors and horses. Everything he thought he accomplished fell apart in less than a decade after his deat—his divine-like status soon to crumble away with his ego and life.
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#DownTheRabbiHhole #Monarchs #AncientHistory
Throughout the years, humanity has been forced to deal with uncertain times and even more uncertain leaders. However, we won't leave all that nastiness for the fantasy novels; we're bringing it to you right here. Believe me, when I say the villains of fiction, you know, and love today ain't got nothing on the scum of reality. The worst part of all—they're not all in the medieval time, you might be imagining. Oh, no—some on this list are alive and well today. Same can't be said of their people, but you know—meh. This is, after all, the worst monarchs of all time.
To exemplify those presented to you today, I'd like to start off with a quote from Stefan Molyneux, who had this to say about rulers in general: "The ones who are insane enough to think that they can rule the world are always the ones who do." Very telling of the characters of the ruling class. Steve Jobs later said something similar but slightly upgraded it for modern times: "The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can CHANGE the world are the ones who do." While they are very similar in their language, their intent is widely the opposite. Rulers, especially of old, were notoriously narcissistic. For those times, those ideals of strength above all fed into narcissistic values and allowed for heinous monarchs to rise to power. Jobs, on the other hand, speaks of the opposite. The world is full of sane people who don't want to break anything. "Could be worse" kind of people.
These facts make it hard for the "could be better" type of people.
These facts make it hard for the ones who realize that sometimes things need to be broken.
And indeed, these facts make it hard for the crazy ones to change anything. In this context, the crazy ones are the ones to shake everything up.
Call what you will; I'm glad to have been born far after the rule of Gaius Caligula of Rome. Ruling from 12 to 41 AD, Caligula's mad reign sets a high bar in terms of horrible monarchs. A promising Candidate from the start, Caligula was initially loved. After assuming supreme power and Emperor's role, a flip in Caligula's head must have flipped. Just a few months into his reign, he made it a purpose to humiliate and intimidate other governmental officials, particularly of the Senate and military Command. He had begun to construct himself a monopoly of power that no one saw coming until it was too late. At his worst, he was insulting all members of the world, including his own subjects; by declaring himself a literal god, he increasingly began alienating himself. Alienating a narcissist, especially one yielding such power, is a dangerous gamble. They will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to maintain power. Realizing his falling in popularity—and all too human emotion—the mad king instituted a reign of terror throughout the land by enacting arrest for treason. There was no evidence or trial, of course. Caligula's predecessor, Tiberius, pulled a similar stunt just a reign prior. When it comes to Rome, there were so many corrupt monarchs it was hard to choose just one. I have to be fair to all the terrible rulers, too, right? After all, that's why you're here, is it not?
Pick a location, and you can research a horrible ruler in the area at some point in another. During his reign, Emperor Qin Sh Huang of China is credited with creating the first unified Chinese Empire. An incredible feat, undoubtedly. While his idea of a unified China might have been better in the long run, his mind wasn't so focused on the future. He wanted all of China for himself. A narcissist through and through. Though he accomplished incredible things throughout Chinese history, that didn't make him a good ruler. Part of the reason he achieved unification was by destroying the country's already established education system, filling their heads with propaganda garbage, and working his subjects until they literally died. The slave machine that unified China was one of the fastest in all of the world's history. Some of his propagandic ideologies inspired such tales as George Orwell's 1984 and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. He followed principles that included speaking in opposites, issuing orders that made no sense, and behaving in contraries. Sound familiar? He also distrusted anyone with an education, the educational system as a whole, and not only was the first recorded monarch to burn books but even terrified citizens from the pursuit of knowledge by burying several hundred scholars alive while everyone watched. In addition to unifying china, he constructed himself a tomb so massive it came equipped with 8,000 terra-cotta warriors and horses. Everything he thought he accomplished fell apart in less than a decade after his deat—his divine-like status soon to crumble away with his ego and life.
--
Subscribe for more videos: youtube.com/c/DownTheRabbitHoleG9As1e?sub_confirmation=1?
--
#DownTheRabbiHhole #Monarchs #AncientHistory
