Most depraved/brutal rulers

TinyTartar

Banned
I think the most has to be Elagabalus.

The dude might have been a crossdressing freak who liked to whore himself and his mother out, but really, throwing snakes onto live crowds? It doesn't get more sick and depraved than that.

He might have been the worst Roman emperor there was. Caracalla and Caligula make good cases for themselves, but Elagabalus was the worst.
 
trust me, there is no word in English to translate the Russian word "Грозный" (Grozny). The best fitting variant is "Awe-inspiring in his/her enemies who truly deserved to being scared" :D
Don't get too hung up on modern common usages, the word "terrible" is still a fitting translation, as are "awesome" and "awful" for that matter. Calling him "Ivan the Fearsome" might also be an appropriate translation into English however, so many redundant or flexible words we have...
 
Groan.

First this is in the pre-1900 discussion. Second, if you are seriously trying to claim that Churchill (crusty old imperialist that he was) is more depraved than Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot or more than a dozen other tinpot dictators in the 20th century, you are simply trolling.

The swat valley raids took place pre 1900 as did the boer war he took part in

I think the greater question is does 3 million indians dead not count when compared to the myth of him saving a failed bankrupt Britain from Germany hegemony
 

tenthring

Banned
I propose the following:

1) We can't judge these people simply by death count. The pre-industrial world is a brutal place, war is common. A ruler that killed many in conquest but maintained order and governed well might still be a good ruler. Trajan killed a lot of people for Rome's glory and is still considered the archetype "good emperor". Try to remember that if they didn't conquer, someone else would.

2) I think judging people by their own moral system makes a bit more sense. So for instance most groups weren't universalists (care about everyone) but particularists (care about their own people). So someone that does bad things to their own people is particularly vicious.

3) Hedonism, narcissism, and petty tyrannies are particularly deplorable, because those aren't guarantee by the circumstances of the times. This is especially so if its done at a large scale rather then some private vices.
 
Top