Then we reveal the haunting mitigating factors and introduce conflicting and fresh evidence ultimately leading to potentially new verdicts concerning these enigmatic men.
EPISODE 1: EMPEROR GAUIS (CALIGULA)
Rome’s most evil Emperor ruled for only four years, from A.D. 37 to 41 - a brief, but brutal reign even by Roman standards. His reign got off to a promising start with some very popular policies - cutting taxes and pardoning exiles. Then something changed. Historians and Detectives can’t agree why - was it syphilis, epilepsy or mental illness?
EPISODE 2: BAD KING JOHN I
Bad King John I - the Medieval Monster - was far worse in real life that the fictitious villain of the Robin Hood legend. Even before he was crowned King in 1199, he had a dreadful reputation. This was the Prince who, when he learned that his brother ‘Good King Richard’ the “Lionheart” had been imprisoned on return from crusade, decided to tell people he was dead so that he could rule
instead.
EPISODE 3: KING HEROD THE GREAT
King Herod the Great - the infamous child-killer of the Bible who didn’t just murder other people’s kids but killed his own children too. As usual in history it’s the kings and emperors who notched up the most terrible conquests and brutal victories that have come to be known by the suffix ‘the great.’ And Herod was certainly Great in this respect.
EPISODE 4: IVAN THE TERRIBLE
Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich - Ivan the Terrible - was the first grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and later ruled as the “Tsar of all Russia” until his death in 1584. Back in the 16th Century when the suffix Terrible was first bestowed on Ivan, it meant ‘awe-inspiring’, ‘powerful’ and ‘formidable’. By the end of his reign, most of his subjects probably felt the word as we understand it today was more apt.
EPISODE 5: HENRY VIII
Henry VIII - Britain’s most prolific serial killer monarch - its been estimated that during his 36 year reign he ordered the executions of somewhere between 57,000-70,000 people, among them friends, advisors, clergy, old people and children, and famously, two of his wives.
EPISODE 6: EMPEROR NERO
Emperor Nero - the Antichrist - who killed Christians for fun. Nero was 17 when he ascended to power in AD 54 following the death of his step-father, Claudius, Fourteen chaotic, blood-spattered years later it was all over, Nero dying - perhaps by his own hand - at the climax of a rebellion against his rule.