So maybe he killed his mother. And his brother. And maybe he forced women into orgies or worse, made them listen to his poetry. But Nero, for all his faults, deserves credit as one of the world's first in a long line of crazy dictators.
What was once thought to be indulgent history, turned out to be true today, when archaeologists uncovered Nero's banquet hall that actually did rotate with the day and nighttime skies. Not bad for a first century ruler. Questions do remain about whether the room had a retractable marble ceiling that dropped perfume and flowers on its guests below though.
If Nero were around in the 21st century, he'd most likely look a lot like the recently deceased leader of the gloriously neutral country of Turkmenistan, Turkmenbashi. This former leader outlawed Bruce Springsteen, built a rotating golden statue of himself, named January after his mother (Tuesday, too), and wrote the country's own religion. He also outlawed lip syncing.
After all, if you're going to be a dictator, be a crazy dictator. Other (dis)honorable dictatorship mentions?
Pope's are Dictators (remember, the Vatican IS a country) and Don Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI through one of the Kraziest parties in town. My Favorite is the Banquet of the Chestnuts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banquet_of_Chestnuts Now who says church has to be boring?
ReplyDeleteKim Jong Il! You have to give it up to a man who's still celebrating the clog, bellbottoms, and state-sponsored brothels (but only for himself, one does have class)
ReplyDeletehttp://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Everyone%20Else/images/kim-jong-il-smiling.jpg