4 historical figures who touched terror in the past

Throughout history, as you know, there have been countless crazy sadists who have been responsible for the deaths of many people - and we here at Mega Curioso have published several stories about these personalities for you to check out.

Some time ago, Janel Comeau of Cracked brought together a team of bloodthirsty personalities who had touched terror in the past - so we decided to select 4 figures we hadn't talked to you about yet. See below:

1 - Agrigento Phalaris

The name "Agrigento Pálaris" may not be very familiar to you. However, he became known as one of the cruelest tyrants of all time. This guy became dictator of Agrigento - in present-day Sicily - in the 6th century BC, and the locality flourished under his rule. However, while Phalaris was a competent leader, he was also a crazy sadist.

Fálaris claimed to have devoured little babies and, as if to declare that he was a cannibal, he enjoyed roasting alive if he did not walk the line in Agrigento. For this, the dictator wore a bronze bull which he received as a gift from a Greek artist named Perillos - who had a hatch through which the prisoners were placed. Then the sculpture was placed over the fire, and the poor victims were slowly being cooked inside.

In addition, to make the executions even more interesting, the bull had an opening in its mouth that made the screams of the prisoners 'stuffing' a sort of macabre moo. Ah, a picturesque detail: when Faris won the sculpture, he demanded that Perillos demonstrate his operation - and baked the Greek artist to ensure that the torture machine worked smoothly.

2 - Tiberius of Rome

Tiberius, the madman, was emperor of Rome between the 14th and 37th and was the great-uncle of Caligula - which, as we told in a Curious Mega story that you can access through this link, should also have several missing screws. For Tiberius invented some very innovative methods of torture, and one of his favorites was to tie prisoners' penises to prevent them from urinating and to force the poor men to drink huge quantities of wine until their bladders burst.

The emperor also ordered his prisoners to stop being fed so that they would slowly starve to death, and forced his grandson - Nero Caesar - to commit suicide. Tiberius noted that the boy began to gain popularity in Rome and declared that the young man was the enemy of the empire. Later, they say that Nero was exiled and that Tiberius ordered an executioner to show him a gallows and the hooks that would be used to drag his corpse.

Another characteristic of Tiberius was his kindness. On one occasion, during a visit to inland villages, a poor fisherman offered the emperor a huge carp he had just caught. Tiberius returned the gift gently, causing his guards to rub the fish in the man's face until his skin turned raw. A cute!

3 - Goujian of Yue

Goujian ascended the throne of Yue in China in 496 BC after the death of his father, but his rule was attacked at the behest of the neighboring ruler and dominated by Wu's warriors. Then Goujian was taken hostage and remained in the custody of the enemies for a long time, until he was convinced that he would obey all his orders.

The fools of Wu's kingdom believed in Goujian's submission, allowing him to return home - and that was tremendous bullshit. For the next decade, Goujian devoted himself to fueling all his desire for revenge by devising strategies to defeat enemies. When the right time came, he launched himself into war, and one of the tricks he devised while waiting to raze Wu's people was somewhat frightening.

Goujian assembled all the criminals of his kingdom, and while his army waited for an important battle to begin, he ordered these men to come to the front line, unsheath their knives and cut their throats before the eyes of astonished enemies. And Goujian was sending waves after waves of suicides to make a bloody spectacle to confuse Wu's warriors and attack them from the rear.

4 - Pope Innocent VIII

Innocent VIII acted as Pope in the 15th century and was responsible for proclaiming the terrible "Bull against the Witches" - which listed all the offenses that qualified a person as a heretic and empowered the Holy Inquisition gang to imprison, torture, punish and burn the suspects of witchcraft at the stake. As if little, Innocent's personal physician still tried to turn the pontiff tormented by witchcraft into a vampire.

At the end of his life, the Pope was very ill and spent much of his time bedridden and unconscious. So a Jew named Abraham Meyre decided to attempt a transfusion to save Innocent from death. Except at that time doctors didn't understand how the procedure worked - and Meyre had the pontiff drink gallons of blood.

It is rumored that several people were murdered to obtain the necessary blood. In addition, one story is that the fluid was "donated" by three 10-year-old Jewish boys who did not survive the procedure. The initiative did not work, of course, since drinking blood is not the same as having transfused it, and the vampire Pope did not survive. The doctor who proposed the treatment was severely punished for the failed attempt.

* Posted on 11/30/2015