Sickest Dynastic Family?

[The Yosemite Bear]

was it the serial brother/sister incests of the pharos?, the family tree of The Juli *Caligula*, the incest and infighting of the Plantangents, The curruption of the Czars, who were the truly worst dynastic family in history?

[CaptainChewbacca]

was it the serial brother/sister incests of the pharos?, the family tree of The Juli *Caligula*, the incest and infighting of the Plantangents, The curruption of the Czars, who were the truly worst dynastic family in history?

I think Egyptian Pharoahs, though the Julio-Claudians were pretty bad.

[Frank Hipper]

I'm sure that there's some eye openers among Chinese nobility.

Not neccessarily limited to one dynasty, but Maya ruling classes had a penchant for using their enemies' skin and bones for ornamentation...balls for their ballgame, as well.
A human skull gives a solid rubber ball a nice hollow center to make it...bouncier.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I'm sure that there's some eye openers among Chinese nobility.

Not neccessarily limited to one dynasty, but Maya ruling classes had a penchant for using their enemies' skin and bones for ornamentation...balls for their ballgame, as well.
A human skull gives a solid rubber ball a nice hollow center to make it...bouncier.

But see, that's their culture. The Julio-Claudians shocked their fellow Romans, especially when Nero used Christians as living torches.

[Frank Hipper]

I'm sure that there's some eye openers among Chinese nobility.

Not neccessarily limited to one dynasty, but Maya ruling classes had a penchant for using their enemies' skin and bones for ornamentation...balls for their ballgame, as well.
A human skull gives a solid rubber ball a nice hollow center to make it...bouncier.

But see, that's their culture. The Julio-Claudians shocked their fellow Romans, especially when Nero used Christians as living torches.

True, but the Pharonic dynasts you voted behaved in a culturally acceptable way as well.

[Enforcer Talen]

Id love to see proof for nero. Ive been told thats more 'evidence' by the catholic church for martyrs.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Id love to see proof for nero. Ive been told thats more 'evidence' by the catholic church for martyrs.

Alot of early historians, both christian and otherwise, recorded the great Fire of Rome in 67 (69?) C.E. and that Nero looked for blame. This was also the beginning of a second diaspora of Christians out of Rome, so they were definitely running from something.

IIRC alot of Nero's anti-christian laws were recorded and preserved, but how do you count credibility when the Roman Empire turned Christian 3 centuries later?

[Frank Hipper]

I've seen a decent case made on some TV show recently that it very likey COULD have been the Christians who burned Rome.

And if you read "The Beast" in revelations to mean Nero, it seems like they had good propaganda backing them.

[Enforcer Talen]

http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/lying.htm makes a fairly strong case in defense of nero - at least, in re of christianity.

[Captain Cyran]

I've seen a decent case made on some TV show recently that it very likey COULD have been the Christians who burned Rome.

And if you read "The Beast" in revelations to mean Nero, it seems like they had good propaganda backing them.

Had Revelation even been penned by then? I thought Paul was from ~100 or so AD.

[CaptainChewbacca]

I've seen a decent case made on some TV show recently that it very likey COULD have been the Christians who burned Rome.

And if you read "The Beast" in revelations to mean Nero, it seems like they had good propaganda backing them.

Had Revelation even been penned by then? I thought Paul was from ~100 or so AD.

Paul was around at the same time as Nero, and all the letters directly attributed to him (some aren't authentic) were written between 48 and 80 CE. Some think that Luke's Gospel is actually written as a sort of explanation to the world about Christianity, to clear up misconceptions of the Roman government.

[Tzeentch]

I think the laurels for single craziest ruler has to go to Emperor Elagabalus; most incestuous dynasty goes to one of the Ramses. He had close to 400 children with concubines from his massive harem; they formed their own intermarrying ruling class for a few generations. Eew.

[Frank Hipper]

I've seen a decent case made on some TV show recently that it very likey COULD have been the Christians who burned Rome.

And if you read "The Beast" in revelations to mean Nero, it seems like they had good propaganda backing them.

Had Revelation even been penned by then? I thought Paul was from ~100 or so AD.

John of Patmos wrote Revelations.

[Imperial Overlord]

John of Patmos wrote Revelations.

Who is frequently confused with, but not, the Apostle John. The council of Nicea split fairly closely over whether or not Revelations was divine prophecy or demented ravings, but obviously divine prophecy won.

[Darth Wong]

Frankly, I find all of the Roman documentation on the early days of Christendom to be of highly suspect credibility. It's like examining the life of a famous person based solely on his own self-penned autobiography with no corroborating sources to confirm anything that he's saying.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Frankly, I find all of the Roman documentation on the early days of Christendom to be of highly suspect credibility. It's like examining the life of a famous person based solely on his own self-penned autobiography with no corroborating sources to confirm anything that he's saying.

We take Greek culture of Homer's Illiad solely from a 14th century translation of an earlier work that's now lost. We've got 4 separate biblical codicies that date to the 3rd century. Its all in how high you set your burden of proof/doccumentation.

[Elheru Aran]

Sick as in inbred, or sick as in evil?

For inbred I'd say you couldn't go far wrong with the various European royal families... the Spanish, by the late 19th century, had hemophilia in almost all their male children, for example.

For evil, as has been observed earlier on here in this thread, you can't really go wrong with the Romans. The Egyptians were just mean; the Romans relished what they did...

[HemlockGrey]

Well, the Ptolomies married sisters to brothers...I think they win the Most Incestous Prize.

[Frank Hipper]

Frankly, I find all of the Roman documentation on the early days of Christendom to be of highly suspect credibility. It's like examining the life of a famous person based solely on his own self-penned autobiography with no corroborating sources to confirm anything that he's saying.

We take Greek culture of Homer's Illiad solely from a 14th century translation of an earlier work that's now lost. We've got 4 separate biblical codicies that date to the 3rd century. Its all in how high you set your burden of proof/doccumentation.

Some people prefer archeology to Homer.

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

I've heard of stuff worse, but this story always gives me the chills.

...The Mother Queen then cut off Madam Chi's arms and legs, removed her eyes, smoked her ears, drugged her dumb, and let her live in the toilet room, calling her "human pig". A few days later, she called the emperor to go watch the human pig. The emperor asked about it, she told him it was Madam Chi. The emperor cried and was ill for a year. He sent someone to the Mother Queen to say, "This is inhumane. I'm your son, but I can't rule the kingdom." From that day on, the emperor drank and partied, never caring about the people, and was ill.

All in the name of jealousy.

[General Zod]

elizabeth bathory is pretty high up there as far as perverse and twisted goes.

[Frank Hipper]

I've heard of stuff worse, but this story always gives me the chills.

...The Mother Queen then cut off Madam Chi's arms and legs, removed her eyes, smoked her ears, drugged her dumb, and let her live in the toilet room, calling her "human pig". A few days later, she called the emperor to go watch the human pig. The emperor asked about it, she told him it was Madam Chi. The emperor cried and was ill for a year. He sent someone to the Mother Queen to say, "This is inhumane. I'm your son, but I can't rule the kingdom." From that day on, the emperor drank and partied, never caring about the people, and was ill.

All in the name of jealousy.

I knew China would provide good fodder to dicuss here.

[The Yosemite Bear]

There was also a highly murderous, family of popes too.

[HemlockGrey]

You're probably thinking of the Borgias, who poisoned and conquered their way across Central Italy, but in the 9th century there was also a (related) group of popes who raped nuns, turned the Lateran Palace into a brothel, entertained prostitutes at church functions...

[StarshipTitanic]

The Habsburgs, because they have a genetic defect named after them. I just love the way people like Charles II actually ruled.