Between broken nuclear proliferation agreements, warring global superpowers, and impending ecological collapse, the end of the world seems nigher than ever. At such times, humanity turns to religion. But which one to choose?

Beyond the big five, there are some religions most have never heard of let alone explored. So here’s a quick run-down of what they have to say when it comes to the end of the world — in order of how much we hope they got it wrong.

10. The Invisible Village of Ancestors (Dinka, Akan, and others)

African ancestral religions tend to lack a concept of apocalypse. But they’re still worth a mention for the alternative view they present. Instead of a slow but sure fall from grace toward a punishing and catastrophic end, they see only a “timeless infinity” in which humanity continues forever. The rain season and planting are followed by harvesting and the dry season followed by the rain season and planting and so on. Just like the waxing and waning of the moon, time is an endless rhythm. 

Humans die, of course, but not completely. After death, the “righteous dead” join the “invisible world” of the “village of ancestors”. Righteousness is judged on respect for ancestral traditions and remembering the dead — in other words, continuity.

But this isn’t a future golden age as spoken of by apocalyptic religions. If anything, for African ancestral religions, the golden age lies in the past. After all, each year that passes only adds to the past so if eternity is anywhere, it’s there.

9. Oblivion (Yarsanism)

The Kurdish religion Yarsanism is a branch of the Cult of Angels. It doesn’t have a holy book. Instead, its teachings — and prophecies — are orally transmitted down the ages. Like other branches of the Cult of Angels, Yarsanism holds that souls transmigrate through various reincarnations. Starting out in inanimate objects and progressing through plants and non-human animals, the goal of this journey is purification culminating in a human body worthy of union with the Universal Spirit. Allowing for sins and regressive transmigrations, this process (known as dun ba dun, “oblivion to oblivion”) can take up to 1,000 lives or 50,000 years.

If after its 1,001st transmigration a soul remains non-human, it must await the Final Judgment or Pardivari, “the bridge crossing.”

Thus, unlike most other traditions on this list, the individual determines, by their conduct, the date of their personal apocalypse.

8. The End of the Era of Beasts (Daesoonjinrihoe)

Central to the Korean religion Daesoonjinrihoe (the Fellowship of Daesoon Truth) is a belief in two main eras of humanity: the Former World, seoncheon, which is full of transgressions, and the Later World, hucheon, which is full of goodness. The Former World, in which we live, is subdivided into “Six Stages of Waning Proximity from the Dao” that is, six eras of increasing corruption and chaos. These are the eras of: Divine Thearchs; Sagely Emperors; Heavenly-mandated Kings; Cunning Tyrants; Uncivilized Rulers; and, finally, Beasts. 

We currently live in the last of these, the Era of Beasts, a time of maximum misalignment with the Dao. But this also means the Later World is imminent. Not everyone will get there, but those who do will live forever in eternal youth and abundance. When they open a chest, there will always be clothing and food. There will be no war, no jealousy, only peace for this “noble populace”. 

There will nevertheless be rulers. But these rulers — 12,960 “noble individuals empowered by the Dao” — will be duty-bound to benevolence. Indeed, they only get to be rulers in the first place as a reward for their goodness. They are the highest of Daesoonjinrihoe devotees (of which there are more than two million), and may even come from outside the faith given sufficient cultivation of spirit.

7. The Dawning of the New Age (The Aetherius Society)

Founded in 1955 by London cab driver Dr. George King, the Aetherius Society believes extraterrestrials have long been guiding mankind — in the forms of Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, and others. But the central extraterrestrial is the Master Aetherius, who spoke through the Society’s founder. According to this being, the New Age is “being born this moment”; it’s up to us whether it’s pleasant or “a little unpleasant.” But either way, “the wheat will be sorted from the chaff.”

The apocalypse preceding the dawning of the New Age will involve various catastrophic changes, including an increase in natural disasters (check), a gradual decrease in the ionosphere (check), and a consequent increase in cosmic rays and UV radiation reaching the surface of our planet (check). In our current form, says the Aetherius Society, we are not spiritually evolved enough to benefit; these changes will kill us instead. But the next Master is on his way, and the Earth herself is set to alter her position in space. We are, according to the teachings of the Master Aetherius, at the dawning of the Age of Aquarius — a new golden era for humanity.

This vision of the end times differs considerably from that of Raëlism, another extraterrestrial religion. According to their prophet Raël, the development of nuclear weapons was the “sixth seal of the Apocalypse” and their use in nuclear war will be the seventh. At this point, our extraterrestrial creators the Elohim (Hebrew for “gods”) will not intervene. But they will clone, on the Planet of the Eternals, all humans fortunate enough to have had their “cellular plan” transmitted to Raël or one of his guides beforehand.

6. Ragnarok (Asatru)

Based on the ancient religion of the Norse, modern Asatru revives beliefs in the old Æsir gods — as well as their (and our) ultimate demise. Ragnarok literally means “Doom of the Gods” in Old Norse, but they’ll take the world of men, Midgard or “Middle Earth”, with them. In Norse mythology, the land of the gods, Asgard, is at the heart of Midgard. It’s also the site of the ash tree Yggdrasil, the death of which will mean the end of the world.

What we know of Ragnarok comes from two main sources, the 13th-century Prose Edda and the 10th-century poem Voluspa. First will come moral chaos, murder, and a harsh, cruel winter — the lightless Fimbulwinter — that will last three years. The wolf Skoll will swallow the sun and the wolf Hati will swallow the moon. The wolf Fenrir will be loosed from its bondage onto the world, as will Loki and the Midgard Wyrm. These and other giants, demons, and ghosts will attack Asgard from all directions and the gods will each fall as heroes. Their final moments are actually told in some detail: Thor will slay the Midgard Wyrm then stagger back nine paces and die from its venom; Loki and Heimdall will kill each other, as will Tyr and Garm, a hound from the underworld. And Odin will be swallowed by the wolf Fenrir. Freyr, armed only with a stag’s horn, will be killed by the giant Surtr who will then set about destroying the earth. Everything will be burned, including the “World-Tree” Yggdrasil. It’s not known when this will happen (although the Viking calendar is said to have set it for February 22, 2014).

However, new life will follow. The children of the gods (Odin’s sons Vidharr and Vali, Thor’s sons Modi and Magni, and others) will inherit Asgard. And from a new shoot of Yggdrasil, called “Treasure-Mimir’s Holt,” will emerge a woman named Lif (“Life”) and a man named Lifthrasir (“Stubborn Will to Live”). Together, they will repopulate the earth.

5. Apocalyptic War (Yezidism)

Another branch of the so-called Cult of Angels, an ancient belief system whose real name has been lost to history, Yezidism is a minority religion in Iraq. They worship the Peacock Angel, or Malak ????s, a fallen angel outsiders conflate with the Devil — hence Yezidis’ unfounded reputation as devil-worshipers. Besides two written scriptures, the Book of Revelation and the Black Book, Yezidism is an oral tradition, with teachings passed down and embellished by word of mouth. 

Prophecies are transmitted the same way, even though, confusingly, they come from what Yezidis call the “book” or defter. This “book” has no material existence. When seers enter a trance and receive their visions, they are said to be “falling into book” (defteré keftin). Often, the content of these visions pertains to the end of the world.

A recurrent theme is an impending apocalyptic war between the forces of good and evil, in which holy beings (xas) and supernatural entities (bastiné) will do battle. As of 2020, there were said to be 200 xas preparing for war in Iran, while Miryam (Mary) was in London creating the planes that would bring the angels. Some prophecies are highly specific, listing the countries involved, how long war will last, and how many people will die. “There will be a war in America. There will be a war in Holland, in Britain, in Lebanon … Twelve years this war will last. After twelve years, only six million will remain in Iraq.” 

But always the forces of good will prevail and life will be pleasant again — for the survivors and those yet to come. Another prophecy foretells the destruction of all life on Earth, followed by the arrival of the “golden-eyed ones” (holy beings), who will “make the world pleasant again.” Another talks of a “great deluge” in which “the earth will be like a sea” but after which “everything will be nice again.”

4. The Fourth Destruction (Mandaeism)

The Mandaean religion, founded in Persia in the first centuries CE, reveres above all the non-personified “god” ‘Great Life’, or fertility, whose symbol is ‘living water’. Shunning hierarchy, they see rulers (Archons) as obstacles to spiritual progress. Hence, while they consider John the Baptist one of their own, they don’t see him as a prophet or leader but one of many adepts in healing magic, a Nasurai. Jesus was a Nasurai too, they say, but one who led men astray, since, among other things, his Byzantine followers used still (i.e. dead) water for baptism and forced monks and nuns into celibacy.

Unfortunately, we don’t know a great deal about Mandaean cosmology. Their Haran Gauaita is thought to have contained the Mandaeans’ entire world history, from creation to apocalypse, but only fragments survive. Nevertheless, what we do know from this and other texts is fascinating. According to the Mandaeans, the future of humanity ends with chaos among Arabs, the reign of the false Messiah, the return of Anush Uthra (an angel from the world of light), and “a final debacle before the end of the world under the domination of Amatit, daughter of Qin.”

All this will take place 480,000 years after Adam. But it won’t be the first such apocalypse, it’ll be the fourth. Adam and Eve’s race was destroyed by “sword and plague” 216,000 years after their creation. Then came the age of Ram and Rud, survivors of the previous destruction, whose race lasted 156,000 years. After the second destruction, survivors Shurbai and Sharhabi’il sired a new race of humans, only for it to be wiped out 100,000 years later by flood. From survivors Nuh and Nhuraitha came our own race, allotted just 8,000 years by the prophecy. Specifically, our destruction is set for the 791st year of the sign of the fish, Nuna, and while it’s not clear when that is, it’ll come by wind or air.

3. The End of White Yang (Yiguandao)

Once seen as a threat by the Chinese Communist Party, Yiguandao spread to Taiwan in the 1980s and, after decades of suppression there too, was eventually legalized. Since then, the religion — a mix of Daoist and Buddhist ideas — is even welcome back on the mainland. 

Yiguandao cosmology basically consists of ‘Three Yang Eras’ (or ‘Three Sun Eras’), each presided over by a Buddha.  The first, the ‘Era of Blue Yang’, lasted 1,886 years from 3086-1200 BCE under the watch of Dipamkara Buddha. Then came the 3,114-year ‘Era of Red Yang’ (1200 BCE – 1912 CE) under Sakyamuni Buddha. Our own age, the ‘Era of White Yang’, is set to last 10,800 years under Maitreya Buddha. 

So, according to Yiguandao, we have until the 127th century (the year 12712 CE) before the end of Man. This will complete the ninth “mega-month” of the 129,000-year “mega-year” allotted to the universe by Supreme Goddess Wuji Laomu. The Earth itself will be around longer, beginning to deteriorate in the tenth “mega-month” until finally vanishing without a trace, along with Heaven, in the twelfth.

2. Return to Ilyuwn (Nuwaubian Nation of Moors)

The Nuwaubian Nation of Moors originated in the 1970s and 80s as the Ansaaru Allah Community, a black separatist group based in Brooklyn. Founded by Dr. Malachi (aka Dwight York), it rebranded with its Afro-futurist, extraterrestrial overtones in the 1990s. According to Nuwaubian scripture (all written by Malachi), black people are superior to whites. Whereas whites evolved from apes, blacks were created by aliens. Furthermore, not only were the ancient Egyptians black; Jesus, Buddha, Muhammad, and every other prophet were “dark skinned” and “wooly haired”. 

In 1993, Malachi shifted the center of his religion to a purpose-built compound in Georgia. Known as Tama-Re, it featured replicas of the Egyptian pyramids, Sphinx, and other monuments and temples. Here the Nuwaubians claimed sovereignty as a nation and started stockpiling guns. 

They were preparing for the end times. The Nuwaubians’ extraterrestrial creators were on their way back to “pick up their children” and annihilate every Caucasian. The aliens would then take the Nuwaubians — all 144,000 of them if the 2,000 or so devotees would hurry up and have more children — back to their home galaxy Ilyuwn, where Dr. Malachi’s planet Rizq can be found.

1. Project Lucifer (The Pana-Wave Laboratory)

The Pana-Wave Laboratory, a Japanese religion known for wearing white clothes and driving a convoy of white vans to deflect radiation, has put out numerous prophecies for the end-times. Believing that Earth began 365 million years ago on a star named Veh-erde, they claim extraterrestrials have guided us ever since — in particular through their founder Yuko Chino. According to her, not only were “communist guerrillas” slowly assassinating her with a bombardment of gamma rays, microwaves, x-rays, and other radiation, there was also an apocalypse looming. On May 15, 2003, an undiscovered tenth planet would pass close to Earth and reverse its poles, leading to earthquakes and tsunamis that would wipe out most of humanity. Hoping to ride it out, she and her convoy traveled around Japan looking for somewhere to wait. When May 15 passed uneventfully, a spokesman rescheduled the apocalypse for the following week, May 22, 2003. Again, they were wrong.

But they didn’t stop there. In July 2004, they announced that cracks were forming on Japan’s sea floors and that “at this rate Japan will sink to the bottom of the seas” by spring 2005. The Laboratory’s new plan was to build a spacecraft to leave the planet. Unfortunately, however, they were unable to obtain the steel-titanium alloy they needed. But that didn’t matter, because by spring 2005 an alternative scheme had been hatched. Project Circle P, in which the P stood for “pick-up”, assured Chino’s followers that a fleet of UFOs would rescue them from coming disasters.

The most concerning of these, for them, was codenamed Project Lucifer. According to a memorandum from Chino, the US government was planning to “transform Jupiter into a new sun” by firing a probe full of plutonium at it. As a result, Mars would be pulverized, becoming an asteroid belt, and Jupiter’s now unmediated gravity would pull Earth right through it, killing 99 percent of humanity. Although it hasn’t happened yet, Chino’s death in 2006 has deprived us of any further updates.

There are many conspiracies surrounding UFO research, but some of the most intriguing surround some of the researchers themselves, more specifically, their deaths. According to some, there have been several deaths, either from natural causes or from suicide, that investigators might wish to take another look at.

With accusations of suicides covering up murder to discreet poisons to imitate a natural death, some of these claims are darkly interesting, if admittedly speculative. Here are ten such cases.

Related: 10 Bizarre Figures From The UFO Contactee Movement

10 Ron Rummel – Too Close to the Truth?

Without a doubt, one of the most controversial deaths on our list is that of Ron Rummel. Rummel had a background as an Air Force intelligence agent. What’s more, in the years leading to his death, he was the publisher of the magazine Alien Digest. Some of the topics discussed in Alien Digest revolved around the idea that aliens were indeed on Earth. And had long-term plans to use humans as a “food source.” As we might imagine, many in the UFO community dismissed such notions.

Then, in August 1993, Rummel died—an apparent clear-cut suicide in which he had shot himself in the mouth. However, there were soon conspiracy claims of foul play. This included no blood being found on the barrel of the pistol nor fingerprints on the handle. It also appeared that the suicide note had been written by a left-handed person when Rummel was right-handed. According to some, Rummel had been silenced because he was “getting too close to the truth.”

How true these claims might be is still discussed by some in UFO circles. However, the official record reflects that Rummel, unfortunately, took his own life.^[1]

9 Ron Johnson – Drank From a Poisoned Soda Can?

Another tragic death that some researchers have highlighted as potentially suspicious is that of MUFON investigator Ron Johnson. He officially suffered a sudden fatal stroke at a meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration in Texas in June 1994. Johnson, who was 43 years old and recently medically cleared as fit and well, let out a sudden gasp at the meeting before falling forward in his chair. Even more disturbing, his face had turned purple, and blood poured from his nose.

Although the cause of his death was ruled as natural (a stroke), some thought there was more to it. Several people at the meeting recalled him taking a drink from a soda can in the seconds before his sudden collapse and death. What’s more, given his involvement in UFO investigations and his background of working with advanced technology with several corporations, some people wondered if something had been placed around the soda can, or even in the drink that might have caused such a reaction that would have been easily dismissed as a stroke.^[2]

We should note that there is no proof of foul play, and the speculation is exactly that.

8 John Murphy – Discreetly Silenced Years After the Kecksburg Crash?

Perhaps one of the most little-known suspicious deaths of a person connected to UFOs is that of radio broadcaster John Murphy. We should note that Murphy was not a UFO investigator but a radio journalist. He happened to be in the right place at the right time during the alleged Kecksburg UFO crash in December 1965. So much so that he obtained audiotapes of witnesses and several photographs of the crash site.

This alleged evidence was ultimately confiscated by high-ranking government officials, an incident that was witnessed by at least one other radio station employee. In short, it appeared Murphy was very credible in his claims.

As much as he was in the right place at the right time to witness and document the Kecksburg incident, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time several years later in California in February 1969 when he was killed in a tragic hit-and-run accident. To some, though, the accident was anything but.^[3]

7 Tony Dodd – Tumor Triggered by Dark Agents?

For the 1990s and much of the early 2000s, Tony Dodd was one of the UK’s leading UFO researchers and investigators. That he had a long career as a police detective behind him only made him that much more credible regarding the incidents he investigated.

He was a regular speaker at various UFO events and investigated some of the most intriguing cases of UFO sightings and apparent alien abductions in the UK from the late-1980s to the early 2000s.

Dodd passed away in 2009 from a brain tumor. Given that he had—according to his own writings—received warnings to avoid certain countries due to possible attempts on his life, as well as direct warnings from a mysterious agent in the United States, many wondered if the tumor had somehow been “triggered” by agents of a dark agency with advanced technology. Dodd himself had written of such suggestions before.^[4]

Of course, like many on this list, these ideas and proposals are pure speculation.

6 John Mack – Death by Drunk Driver Just a Cover?

Without a doubt, John Mack is perhaps one of the most important people in UFO and alien abduction research, even now almost two decades after his tragic death in 2004 after being hit by a drunk driver while in London. What perhaps made Mack’s study of UFOs and alien abduction claims all the more vital to the UFO community was his position as a professor at Harvard University. He is largely seen as one of the first “academics” to look at such claims with a serious mind—and did so publicly.

There is almost certainly no more to Mack’s death than it being a truly tragic accident caused by a drunk driver. However, there were some in UFO circles who privately raised an eyebrow or two to the fact that someone making such wild (and well-researched) claims from such a lofty position should meet such a tragic end.^[5]

5 Ann Livingstone – “Poisoned” by the Men in Black?

UFO investigator and MUFON member Ann Livingstone died in 1994 of a fast-acting and aggressive form of ovarian cancer. However, many of her fellow MUFON members, fellow investigators, and close friends began to wonder if a UFO sighting and subsequent encounters with the “Men in Black” might have been connected to her tragic death.

The incident in question went back to December 1992. One evening, her apartment near O’Hare Airport in Chicago was suddenly lit up by a “silver-white flash.” Then, only a few hours later, several “faceless” entities dressed very similar to the Men in Black arrived at her apartment. Moments later, she blacked out, unaware of what happened next.

As outlandish as it might sound to many, some researchers have suggested that her illness was a result of this strange meeting. Of course, whether there is any truth to such assertions remains open to debate, at least for some.^[6]

4 Jim Keith – A Series of Coincidences or a Suspicious End?

The death of researcher and author Jim Keith could very well be a case of several bizarre and unlikely coincidences. However, several strange odds and ends surround his death that have made some believe it to be a little suspicious.

Keith had been involved in examining the work of Danny Casolaro (an investigative journalist whose death was also suspicious). He essentially claimed Casolaro’s statements of an “octopus” of individuals controlling events from behind the scenes was accurate. Further were the claims of drug testing by dark, government “contacts” on residents in areas such as Dulce in New Mexico (against their will) under the bizarre guise of alien abduction to divert attention away from their very real (and illegal) activities.

Whatever the truth, Keith would fall from a stage at a festival in 2004, breaking his tibia and requiring surgery. It was a surgery that he would never wake up from. His official cause of death was a blood clot in his lung that caused him to pass away on the operating table. Incidentally, around the same time as Keith’s death, one platform he wrote for (Nitro News) completely disappeared from the internet for several weeks.^[7]

3 James Forrestal – Was He Pushed or Did He Jump?

At just before 2 am on May 22, 1949, the very first Secretary of Defense of the United States, a position he had resigned from only months earlier, jumped from the 13th floor of Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland. He was being treated for depression at the facility at the time of his death, but to some, including members of his own family, his death was far from a clear-cut suicide.

According to the official version of events, Forrestal was last seen when a guard checked on him at 1:45 am. He was reading in his room. It is then said that Forrestal immediately left the room and made his way to the kitchen, where he then tied a bathrobe rope to the nearby radiator and the other end around his neck. Then, he jumped from the window. The rope snapped, and he fell to his death.

However, several things leaped out at those who examined this official version. First, the rope around his neck would not have been long enough to allow him to reach the window from the radiator. What’s more, there was no evidence that the rope had ever been in contact with the radiator.

Even more suspicious is the guard who was on duty that evening. He had not been to the facility before and was brought in as a last-minute replacement. He gave his statement—as the last person to see Forrestal alive, remember—and then discreetly disappeared back into anonymity.

Most alarming, though, were the scratch marks discovered on the window ledge it is claimed Forrestal jumped from. This suggested that Forrestal was forced out of the window and then desperately attempted to cling to the ledge before finally falling.

From a UFO perspective, given the events at Roswell and the many other UFO incidents that occurred in the final years of the 1940s, Forrestal almost certainly knew everything there was to know about this strange, new phenomenon sweeping the United States. To some, it was this knowledge that made him a target of an unknown dark government agency.^[8]

2 Morris K. Jessup – A Sudden, Suspicious End?

An early name in UFO research is Morris K. Jessup, author of the 1955 book, The Case for the UFO. Unknown to Jessup, the release of the book would spark a series of events that would result in his tragic death. Jessup began receiving correspondence from a mysterious gentleman named Carl Allen, who eventually claimed to have been involved in the legendary Philadelphia Experiment. This correspondence caught the attention of the U.S. Navy, who questioned Jessup at length about it and his UFO research in general.

However, following the meeting, Jessup began receiving strange phone calls. This caused him to be much more guarded in his research. Then, on April 19, he made arrangements with Dr. J. Manson Valentine to meet him the following day regarding a “breakthrough” he had made. Jessup never arrived at that meeting.

He was discovered the following day, dead in his car, a hosepipe coming out of the window leading to the exhaust. Some believe the suicide was actually murder. Perhaps one of the reasons was the soaked towels wrapped around the hose pipe. Not only did they not belong to Jessup, but there was also no water source anywhere nearby for him to have soaked them in.

The real circumstances behind his death are still debated today.^[9]

1 Phil Schneider – Murder Covered-Up as Suicide?

Of all the people on this list, without a doubt, the most controversial is our last entry, Phil Schneider. In the early 1990s, Schneider began a series of public lectures where he claimed to have worked for the United States government at various underground facilities. It was during this work that he stumbled into a full-on battle between underground aliens and a military unit below Dulce. He would even claim to have suffered an injury during the fight from a futuristic alien weapon, scars he displayed publicly several times.

As you can imagine, many scoffed at Schneider’s claims, even some from inside the UFO community. Others, however, seemingly bought into what he was saying entirely. And his talks still circulate around the Internet today. He would also state during these talks that “how long I will be able to do this” was not known.

Officially, Schneider took his own life on January 17, 1996. His body was discovered with a piece of wire flex wrapped several times around the neck, an apparent hanging. Many people, including some members of his family, dismissed the suicide claims.^[10]

We can all think of current presidents and prime ministers who seem a little out of their depth. Luckily for them the worst that can happen to them is being voted out at the ballot box. For those who rose to the top of the Roman Empire however the end of a political career was often a lot less dainty. If you messed up then there were always those who were willing to replace you, often over your dead body.

Here are ten Roman emperors who suffered horrific downfalls.

Top 10 Little-Known But Fascinating Roman Emperors

10 Vitellius

The year 69 AD was an exciting one in Rome. Known as ‘the year of the four emperors’ it saw a number of people gain the imperial throne only to lose their lives soon afterwards. Vitellius was perhaps the most interesting of the figures who donned the imperial purple.

In an age where people spent fortunes on banquets Vitellius out ate them all. One of his proudest creations was the “Shield of Minerva, Defender of the City” – a vast dish made from “the livers of pike, the brains of pheasants and peacocks, the tongues of flamingoes and the milt of lampreys, brought by his captains and triremes from the whole empire, from Parthia to the Spanish strait.” He was also known for snatching bits of food from the offerings made to the gods. Notably absent from his skills was that of soldiering.

His short reign came to an end when Vespasian, declared emperor in the East, turned up in Rome. Vitellius agreed to abdicate in peace when most of his followers abandoned him but the opposing soldiers refused to let him. He returned to his palace to find even the servants had fled. He was dragged from his home and paraded through the streets of the city.

“But they bound his arms behind his back, put a noose about his neck, and dragged him with rent garments and half-naked to the Forum. All along the Sacred Way he was greeted with mockery and abuse, his head held back by the hair, as is common with criminals, and even the point of a sword placed under his chin, so that he could not look down but must let his face be seen. Some pelted him with dung and ordure, others called him incendiary and glutton, and some of the mob even taunted him with his bodily defects.” His last words before execution were “Yet I was once your emperor.”^[1]

9 Caligula

Becoming Emperor at a young age may not be the best start in life. Imagine being just out of your teens with all the power in the world. His position did not escape a young Caligula who told people “Remember, I can do anything I please to anybody.” Raised in the deadly court of the Julio-Claudian family he had seen many close relatives die suspicious deaths which must have affected his stability and made him somewhat paranoid.

Among Caligula’s most famous acts were waging a war against the god Neptune, declaring himself a god, and kissing his wife’s neck before telling her “Off comes this beautiful head whenever I give the word.” Such actions do not tend to make people very loyal to you. When he turned his fondness for deadly jokes on his guards and senators however they decided to cut short the god’s reign.

The conspirators trapped Caligula as he walked between the theatre and the palace and fell on him with swords. One blow severed his jaw and others fell as the emperor slid to the floor. According to Tacitus his last words were “I’m still alive.” Alas he did not have much time left when that would be true.^[2]

8 Petronius Maximus

By the 5th century the Roman Empire was in trouble. Large numbers of Goths and other peoples from outside the empire had moved into Europe and were carving out kingdoms of their own. The power of the emperor was constantly being challenged. Yet emperors still had time for other activities like seducing the wives of their officers. When Valentinian made love to the wife of Petronius Maximus he also made a powerful enemy.

Maximus convinced Valentinian’s guard to assassinate him, which they did while the emperor was practising archery. Seeing a nice new job opening Maximus had himself declared the new emperor and married Valentinian’s widow Eudoxia to make himself seem more legitimate. It did not work.

Eudoxia called on the help of the Vandal king Geiseric. He turned up with an army and Maximus’ reign was brought to a minimal end. With news of the Vandal advance Maximus abandoned the city but as he rode away a crowd saw their fleeing emperor and stoned him to death. Three days later the Vandals arrived in Rome, sacked the city, and gave us the modern meaning of the word vandal.^[3]

7 Elagabalus

Religion is always a dangerous topic to bring up yet emperor Elagabalus decided to risk bringing a new and foreign cult to Rome. Coming to the throne at the age of around 14 Elagabulus was named because of his position as the chief priest to the Eastern sun god Elagabal. This devotion to a different god was just one reason Elagabalus did not survive for long.

Ascending to the throne because of his blood ties to previous emperors and the influence of his mother and aunt Elagabalus could have enjoyed popular support but his sexual and religious activities made him deeply unpopular. He attempted to have male lovers put in positions of authority, though he also married one of the sacred Vestal Virgins in a sacrilegious ceremony. Vast sums of money were promised to any surgeon who could give the emperor a vagina.

While power makes everyone a little eccentric his activities were a little too much for the Romans. Despite attempts to please his forces the army turned on the emperor. “He made an attempt to flee, and would have got away somewhere by being placed in a chest had he not been discovered and slain, at the age of eighteen. His mother, who embraced him and clung tightly to him, perished with him; their heads were cut off and their bodies, after being stripped naked, were first dragged all over the city, and then the mother’s body was cast aside somewhere or other, while his was thrown into the Tiber.”^[4]

6 Commodus

Marcus Aurelius is often held up as one of the wisest people ever to rule. Yet his death brought about the end of a period of calm and peaceful rule. While the previous five “good” emperors had been adopted by their predecessors because of their talent and abilities Marcus Aurelius chose to leave the empire in the brutal hands of his unstable son Commodus.

As soon as Marcus was dead Commodus abandoned his war against the German tribes to rush back to Rome and all the pleasures he could find there. “After he had come back to Rome he led the triumphal procession with Saoterus, his partner in depravity, seated in his chariot, and from time to time he would turn around and kiss him openly, repeating this same performance even in the orchestra. And not only was he wont to drink until dawn and squander the resources of the Roman Empire, but in the evening he would ramble through taverns and brothels.”

Several conspiracies sprang up against the emperor’s life, including one led by his sister. He survived these attempts only to fall to one which his wife took part in. When poison failed to kill Commodus they arranged for one of his favourite athletes to surprise him in his bath. Instead of a happy ending however Commodus was strangled to death.^[5]

Top 10 Worst Roman Emperors

5 Nero

The Julio-Claudians liked to keep power within the family. But then they also liked to keep murder, sex, and intrigue there too. Nero was great nephew to the emperor Claudius but became his adopted son when Nero’s mother Agrippina married him, despite being his niece. When Claudius died it was Nero who became emperor and not Claudius’ son Britannicus. Poor Britannicus soon died in mysterious circumstances and Nero was undisputed ruler.

Despite his mother attempting to influence his rule, supposedly through incest with him, Nero decided he liked his power to be entirely in his own hands. After several botched attempts to kill her Agrippina was finally stabbed to death by one of Nero’s agents. She told her assassin to stab her in her womb as it had given birth to such an unnatural son.

Nero’s rule was given over to his own pleasure and desire to be an artist. When he competed on stage in poetry and singing everyone had to watch him – some men faked their own deaths in the audience to escape his ‘art.’ When several generals rose up against him Nero dithered until it was too late. He spent time arranging his burial plot and seeing how pretty it was remarked “What an artist dies in me.” With the aid of an assistant he managed to drive a dagger into his throat.^[6]

4 Joannes

Despite the risks associated with being Roman emperor there were always people who seemed to want the throne. When the emperor Honorius died his son was far away in Constantinople. This power vacuum was filled when Joannes, a high ranking civil servant, claimed the crown.

When the Eastern emperor sent a force to remove Joannes it was defeated and the leader captured. Joannes showed mercy to this man as he hoped to negotiate a peace settlement with the Eastern emperor. This mercy was misplaced as the envoy stirred up a conspiracy against Joannes.

The emperor was captured by his enemies and not shown any mercy. They “brought him out in the hippodrome of Aquileia with one of his hands cut off and caused him to ride in state on an ass, and then after he had suffered much ill treatment from the stage-performers there, both in word and in deed, he put him to death.”^[7]

3 Valentinian

The Roman empire in the 4th century was surrounded by enemies. While the empire was able to keep most of them out the situation required emperors to spend most of their time campaigning in various wars. This could be aggravating – and for Valentinian I it proved so annoying that it killed him.

When a tribe called the Quadi were angered by Romans building forts on their territory they sent envoys to the Romans. The Romans invited the Quadi to dinner to discuss matters – and promptly murdered their guests. This pushed the Quadi into forming alliances and invading Roman lands. This required Valentinian to come in person to crush the invasion.

When the emperor turned up with his army the tribes were soon crushed but, fatally, the emperor agreed to meet with a Quadi representative. When the Quadi refused to accept full responsibility for what had happened (their envoys had been treacherously murdered after all) Valentinian became so enraged with their attitude that a blood vessel in his head spontaneously exploded. The emperor collapsed and died.^[8]

2 Carus

Carus was another emperor who had dealings with the Quadi, though his were rather more successful. After being acclaimed emperor by his troops Carus led victorious campaigns against the German tribes before turning his attention to the Persian empire in the East.

Here too he had brilliant successes. Carus recaptured Mesopotamia as a Roman province and drove further into Persia – despite oracles telling him that he would not go any further. Already ill the emperor retreated to his tent when a thunderstorm blew up. In the night lightning was seen to strike within the army camp. When the emperor’s tent was opened in the morning he was found dead inside, apparently struck by lightning.

This death from above was seen as a sign that the campaign should be abandoned and the Romans marched back the way they came.^[9]

1 Valerian

Carus had not been the first Roman emperor to attempt to bring the Persians to heel. With the growing Persian empire threatening much of the Eastern Roman empire many emperors had been forced to wage war against them. Perhaps the most unfortunate was Valerian.

Seeking to recover lost lands he managed to reclaim much that had been taken by the Persians but his army was struck by an outbreak of plague that left him lacking manpower. Despite this Valerian led his men out against the Persian emperor Shapur. At the Battle of Edessa the two armies met – to the complete destruction of the Roman force.

According to Persian inscriptions, which graphically show Valerian being brought before Shapur, the Romans were entirely defeated and captured. For the first time in Roman history an Emperor was captured alive by a foreign enemy. While the captive soldiers were set to work digging water channels in Persia Valerian suffered a worse fate. According to Roman sources “he was flayed, and his skin, stripped from the flesh, was dyed with vermilion, and placed in the temple of the gods of the barbarians.” Others claim that the former emperor was turned into a footstool for the Persian kings.^[10]

10 Facts That Show Why Caligula Was Rome’s Craziest Emperor

When historians delve into the murky waters of totalitarianism, colored by the bloody unwashed hands of political tyrants, they often highlight the chaos left in their wakes, the hardship brought upon the oppressed, or the sheer horror of their rule, only mentioning the other halves as a sideline to their story. However, the women in the lives of these dictators often play a prominent role in how power-hungry or evil they can be.

Some of these so-called dictator wives, like Lucia Hiriart, wife of Augusto Pinochet, and Asma Al-Assad, the wife of notorious Bashir Al-Assad, avoid the pitfalls of dictatorship. But with riches earned off the back of bloodshed, some of them are not so lucky. Here are ten wives (or mistresses) of dictators that met unfortunate ends.

10 Elena Ceausescu

Elena was the wife of the communist dictator of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu—who succeeded to the leadership after Gheorghiu-Dej passed away in 1965. Her fall was as magnificent as her husband’s rise to power. One of the most powerful women in Eastern Europe during the final decades of their rule, Elana was an important cog in their time in power, which left Romania in economic, social, and moral ruin.

Considered to be immensely vain, she also brought about the ruin of Romania’s Academy of Sciences as the institution lost control of all 50 institutes originally under its jurisdiction. To this day, controversy remains regarding her accreditation in many scientific papers. On Christmas 1989, the government collapsed, and Elena and her husband Nicolae were executed later that same day by firing squad.^[1]

9 Kay Amin

The self-proclaimed last rightful king of Scotland, Idi Amin, was the murderous dictator responsible for the death of an estimated 300,000 people. Yes, the smiling deviant had a way with the ladies, and Kay was happy to indulge him with his psychotic tendencies. Kay Amin was Idi’s fourth wife, whom he met while she was studying at Kampala University, despite his already being married.

Seven years later, the couple split after Idi added yet another wife to his repertoire of angels. Less than one year later, in a death shrouded in mystery and uncertainty, Kay’s body was discovered in the trunk of a car, dismembered and sewn together in an unrefined fashion. The car belonged to a doctor with whom Kay was rumored to have had an affair. The doctor’s body was found the day before, ruled a suicide. We should probably take that with a grain of salt.^[2]

8 Eva Braun

No list of dictators would be complete without Adolf Hitler. The man needs no introduction, and his atrocities are well documented. Almost as famous as his reputation as a murderous racist maniac is his exploits with photographer and long-time mistress Eva Braun. Not involved with any of his politics, she was a safe haven for the Führer to escape from killing and pillaging entire nations by providing a simple life of domesticity and relaxation—skiing, swimming, and laughing.

Hitler did not allow her to be seen with him in public, and unlike many others on this list, she remained out of the spotlight. In April 1945, the same day the Americans liberated the Dachau concentration camp, Eva and Adolf were united in marriage and then committed suicide together as the Russians closed in around them. It must have been love, then. Who else would have made such a permanent commitment?^[3]

7 Nadezhda Alliluyeva

Joseph Stalin, the poster child of communism and way up there with the worst on the kill counter, was responsible for millions of deaths (possibly as high as 60 million). The atrocities of his regime were not limited to enemies of the state or neighboring countries who stepped out of line; the majority were his countrymen killed in camps, executions, and famine as a result of failing policy.

Nadezhda Alliluyve’s, Stalin’s second wife, death was ruled as a suicide at the age of 33. Just like all the oligarchs who continue to mysteriously fall from windows at the moment, one can definitely be somewhat suspicious of Russian reports of suicide, even if there were rumors that she was driven to it by Stalin’s behavior.^[5]

5 Eva Peron

María Eva Duarte married Juan Peron in 1945, and she was involved in his campaign to become the next Chilean president, which he did in 1946. Unfortunately, her death would come only a mere six years later. However, before that occurred, she became a beloved symbol to the people of Chile. Her work with the poor and advocacy for women’s suffrage made her a very popular woman. Nothing so unusual about this so far. Well, it soon gets disturbing.

Eva was diagnosed with cervical cancer, but her husband did not tell her. In fact, it was kept a secret so that the people would not see her as weak. Since she was Juan’s connection to the Chilean masses, he didn’t want anything to change that. In fact, he kept the real reason for her treatments and surgeries from her, with rumors of having ordered that Eva receive a lobotomy—supposedly to help her with pain. But this isn’t all.

After Juan Peron was deposed in 1955, his enemies stole her corpse, which was kept hidden in Italy for 16 years. Her body was eventually returned to Juan, who was living in exile in Spain at the time. Upon his death in 1974, Juan’s third wife, Isabel Peron, entombed Eva with her husband in a crypt in the presidential palace in Chile. Only two years later, when new military leadership took over the country, Eva was finally returned to her family, who buried her in La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.^[5]

5 Khieu Ponnary

Khieu Ponnary was the wife of the revolutionary Pol Pot (actual name Saloth Sar), the man who presided over the brutal Khmer Rouge regime starting in early 1975. Pol Pot was a man who was responsible for the death of more than a million Cambodians but still managed to live long enough to have age take him rather than a guillotine.

Married in 1956, Ponnary was also a communist by heart and eight years his senior. She was also the first Cambodian woman to obtain a bachelor’s degree and taught linguistics and literature. She tested the waters of extremism politics before paranoia got to her, convinced that the Vietnamese were out to kill her and her husband. Incapacitated by her mental health for the remainder of her life, she passed away, out of the public eye.^[6]

4 Yang Kaihui

Yang Kaihui was the second wife of Mao Zedong, the leader of the Communist Party in the Republic of China, a man responsible for millions upon millions of deaths. Mao’s first marriage was arranged when Mao was only 13—they never lived together, and Mao never acknowledged her as his wife). Kaihui shared Mao’s political views and, shortly after meeting him, took up membership in the party. Her marriage to Mao ended when he took up with another woman, Mao’s second wife, He Zizhen. And that should have been the end of it.

But they were in a civil war, and as you may have noticed from this list, there aren’t many happy endings. In November 1930, Kaihui was captured by a Guomindang warlord and executed in front of her infant son. It doesn’t always help to get out while you still can—it also didn’t help that she maintained her political views throughout her life.^[7]

3 Jiang Qing

The women in Mao’s life had about as torrid a time as his unfortunate subjects. As the fourth wife of Mao Zedong, a movie star, and part of the infamous Gang of Four, Qing was the most influential woman in the People’s Republic of China until Mao passed away in 1976. Then, her steady downfall began.

Jian was arrested in 1977 and expelled from the Communist Party. Three years later, Qing and the other members of the Gang of Four were held responsible for provoking turmoil and bloodshed, charges which she denied while denouncing the courts and the current leadership. She was found guilty and sentenced to death. Two years later, the Chinese government changed her sentence to life imprisonment. In 1991, Jian Qing reportedly committed suicide in prison.^[8]

2 Imelda Marcos

Another woman many might already know is Imelda Marcos, the wife of Ferdinand Marcos, a lawyer and politician. He established an authoritarian regime in the Philippines, which came under severe criticism for suppression of democratic processes. Imelda was also known as the Steel Butterfly and the Rose of Tacloban for her fashionable beauty. She married Ferdinand after only two weeks in a very Hollywood move, and so began her time in the political spotlight. Unlike others on this list, she is still alive—as of this writing—but still met with some unfortunate events.

Considered by most as an asset to the leader, she oversaw numerous beautification projects in Manilla. This position swiftly changed after her husband declared martial law, and the rest of the world characterized her as a drain on the treasury (how many shoes did she have?) and a proponent of nepotism. After a controversial election, the Marcos family fled the country to Hawaii—with gold and jewels galore—where they spent their time in exile.

After her husband died in 1989, she returned to the Philippines, holding office in the Lower House. In 2018, she faced a setback as she is now on bail after being sentenced for embezzling $200 million in funds decades ago. Her son, Ferdinand “Bongbong,” was elected to the presidency in 2022. What does this mean for the former Steel Butterfly?^[9]

1 Clara Petacci

Benito Mussolini, the famous Italian dictator and Nazi sympathizer, had a wife, Rachele Mussolini, who lived out her life in peace at her home in the town of Predappio. Clara, Benito’s mistress, who was comfortable with her role in the public eye as his mistress, remained by his side until the bitter end. Mussolini, having an insatiable thirst for women, was open about his affection for Clara, noting that she was the only woman he ever truly loved.

After the Nazis lost their grip on northern Italy, Mussolini met with a group of partisans, knowing his hold on Milan was on shaky ground. After learning the situation was even more dire, he stormed from the meeting with Clara in tow. Later, they joined up with a convoy of fellow fascists that were traveling north. Unfortunately, their car was stopped, and they were attacked by partisans. Petacci and Mussolini were then taken to a remote Italian town and executed by machine gun fire. Their heavily mutilated bodies were strung up and paraded for all to see.^[10]