Welcome to Interesting If True, the podcast that is better than yours.

I'm your host this week, Shea, and with me this week, as always, the ever amicable Aaron

I'm Aaron, and this week I learned that I’m a king in my own mind… and that might just be enough…

The Orange Oligarchs Ostracism

We have been living in an Orwellian horror but it seems there is a light at the end of the tunnel, though who really knows. This past year has revealed that real-life rulers were sometimes more akin to villains in storybooks: orange oligarchs, crazed witches, sleazy morons, and murderous families. Whether these rulers were born that way or the job drove them to do dastardly deeds, a number of monarchs throughout history exhibited signs that something wasn't quite right. For some, it was just a strange quirk here or there. For others, a debilitating problem that left them unfit to rule their own lands.

No one can deny that, despite the perks, being a ruler is complicated. Access to massive riches can corrupt you. You must make decisions that determine the well-being of entire populations. All the while, there are people out there who probably want nothing more than to see you dead. This could lead anyone to develop warped priorities. SO today I will learn you about some of the strangest rulers and royals throughout history, what made them that way, and how it might have affected the country they ruled.

* https://www.britannica.com/biography/Elagabalus

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elagabalus

Elagabalus, who took the throne in 218 AD, was a lesser-known Roman Emperor whose behavior rivals that of the most vicious, cruel, and self-indulgent rulers of all time. A devotee of the Syrian god he was named for, Elagabalus brought the deity's cult to Rome and tried to make it the main religion of the empire. He wasn't above physical aggression, either; Emperor Elagabalus stories have him harming unsuspecting guests while they dined and even depict him as making human sacrifices. But he got the most attention for his private life. Elagabalus had multiple wives as well as a husband, and some reports suggest he was transsexual and enjoyed dressing up in traditional female garb.

If that wasn't intriguing enough, consider this: Elagabalus was only 14 when he became emperor, but the good times didn't last. At the age of 18, the young emperor was slain by his own soldiers.

Elagabalus has a laundry list of weird behavior such as;

* He chained naked women to chariots, like horses, and whipped them as they pulled him around.

* He released poisonous snakes into the audience of the gladiator games and watched as crowds panicked and died from poisonous bites.

* He tied dinner guests to a water wheel to watch them slowly drown.

* He tossed gold and silver from the balcony of a tower and reveled in commoners fighting and dying over the money.

* He let loose lions and leopards during a feast.(This was his idea of a prank because all the animals were rendered harmless but this was unknown to the guests)

* He filled positions in the government based on the sizes of the men's penises.

* When his chief adviser warned him that he should live a moderate life to prevent revolt over the effects of his taxation, he stabbed the adviser to death.

My favorite contribution of his maybe the whoopie cushion, not officially attributed to him. He loved pranks so instead of seating his guests on cushions, according to Historia Augusta, "some of his humbler friends he would seat on air-pillows instead of on cushions and let out the air while they were dining."