If you’ve ever wondered which nation Bob Marley claimed as his favorite, the answer is Yemen – and it’s even funnier when you shout it out while a little buzzed. This top 10 fascinating roundup will take you on a whirlwind tour of Yemen’s wild history, politics, culture, and everyday oddities.

top 10 fascinating facts about Yemen

10 President For Life . . . . Until Death

The ever‑present President Ali Abdullah Saleh literally became a permanent resident of a grave plot in December 2017. After being ousted from the throne he’d occupied for 33 years during the 2011 Arab Spring, Saleh was desperate to claw his job back – after all, the constitution technically allowed a president for life.

In a bold move, Saleh allied himself with the Iranian‑backed Houthi rebels, the very forces he’d battled in six previous wars, and for a short spell it paid off. His successor was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia and Saleh briefly enjoyed a resurgence, even likening his role to “dancing upon the heads of snakes.”

Of course, he soon realized that the Houthis were essentially unhinged tribesmen who spent their days high on khat and killing for sport. Saleh concluded that his original plan to eliminate every last mother’s son was still sound – and he re‑invited the Saudis back into the fray.

The Houthis, feeling jilted like a disgraced bride at a shotgun wedding, turned on Saleh with the ferocity of AK‑47 wielding zealots. They hunted him down as he tried to escape, and ultimately shot him dead, ending the brief reign of Yemen’s only democratically elected president.

9 Proxy War Agogo

We touched on the proxy war earlier, but it deserves a deeper dive into who’s actually fighting whom. While on the surface the Yemeni conflict looks like a Sunni‑versus‑Shia showdown – Saudi Arabia versus Iran – the reality is a tangled web of alliances.

Surprisingly, many Sunni Yemenis threw their lot in with the Houthi rebels, irritated by the post‑Arab Spring chaos. Adding to the madness are the mischievous Al‑Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) operatives, eager to prove they can match the bomb‑making prowess of a 15‑year‑old ISIS recruit.

And yes, ISIS is also involved – because why not? Their presence adds another layer of “joy” to an already convoluted battlefield.

On one side you have the Houthis, whose battle flag proudly proclaims, “God is great, death to America, death to Israel, God curse the Jews. Victory for Islam.” Opposing them, AQAP sports a less catchy slogan but famously blew up the USS Cole in 2000.

The Houthis enjoy backing from various Sunni interests across the Middle East, but not from the Saudis, whom AQAP is keen to assassinate. Meanwhile, the Houthis also aim to kill the Saudis, though their missile strikes on Riyadh have yet to succeed.

On the opposite side stand Yemeni government forces, bolstered by Morocco, Jordan, the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, and a legion of government‑aligned tribes. Their shared goal? Simply put, kill the Houthis.

Bottom line: trust no one, and definitely don’t book a vacation to Yemen right now.

8 The Only Arab Communist Country

Communism and Islam may seem like unlikely bedfellows, but when you strip Marx and Engels of their anti‑religious zeal, a surprising partnership emerges. Various Middle Eastern groups have attempted to fuse the “science” of communism with their faith.

South Yemen actually succeeded in establishing a socialist government that lasted roughly two decades until the country’s reunification in 1990.

Unable to dominate the newly unified Yemeni populace, the socialists launched a civil war in 1994 against President Saleh, a decision that proved disastrous.

Saleh, backed by the United States – the ever‑reliable arm‑supplier for anti‑communist forces – faced an opponent whose only communist allies were the distant regimes of Cuba and North Korea, offering merely verbal solidarity.

After months of fighting and about 6,000 communist casualties, Saleh emerged victorious, ushering in a brief period of peace before the conflict reignited later.

7 The Queen Of Sheba Was Possibly Yemeni — If She Existed At All

According to the Quran, the legendary Queen of Sheba (known as “Saba”) hailed from Yemen around the 10th century BC. King Solomon invited her to his court, hoping she’d convert to Judaism – a proposition that bewildered the sun‑ and moon‑worshipping monarch.

The Quranic narrative claims Solomon summoned a djinn to whisk Bilqis (the queen’s name) and her throne from Yemen to his palace in an instant.

There’s also a competing claim involving Queen Makeda of Axum, who traveled to meet Solomon, resulting in a brief, passionate liaison that allegedly produced a line of Solomonid kings ending with Ethiopia’s Haile Selassie in 1974.

While the Ethiopian version of the story is more widely accepted, both traditions hint at a shared cultural heritage, as Yemen and Ethiopia were once part of the same empire.

6 Yemeni Democracy

In 1993 Yemen became the Arabian Peninsula’s pioneer in holding multiparty elections under universal suffrage. Fifty women entered the race, and two secured seats in parliament.

Subsequent parliamentary elections slated for 2009 were postponed twice, and in 1999 Saleh finally ran for president in a direct vote. He faced an obscure fellow party member, covered his opponent’s campaign costs, and won with a staggering 96.3 % of the vote.

Since then, Saleh’s General People’s Congress has dominated Yemeni politics, cementing his legacy despite the nation’s turbulent upheavals.

5 The Worst Place To Live As A Woman

Being a Yemeni woman is a monumental challenge. Beyond the religious constraints inherent in Islam, socioeconomic and cultural pressures compound the oppression.

Twenty‑four percent of Yemeni women have endured female genital mutilation – a figure that soars to 69 % in coastal regions – and only about one‑third of women are literate, though some estimates suggest higher rates.

According to the United Nations, half of Yemeni girls marry before they turn 18, and 15 % wed before age 15. Within marriage, women lack equal rights to custody, divorce, or inheritance, and they must obtain a husband’s or father’s permission to travel or obtain a passport.

Legislation aimed at improving women’s rights was on the verge of ratification in parliament, but the outbreak of war halted the process, leaving the harmful practice of female genital mutilation unchecked.

4 The ‘Manhattan Of The Desert’ Features Mud Skyscrapers

Ever wondered how tall a mud‑brick tower could get? In the Yemeni city of Shibam, architects managed to stack mud bricks into eleven‑story skyscrapers, a feat accomplished half a millennium ago while the West was still grappling with clean water.

These towering mud structures have stood for 500 years, earning Shibam the nickname “the Manhattan of the Desert.” The city was listed as a World Heritage Site in Danger when civil war erupted, threatening its fragile heritage.

Beyond the obvious threats from Saudi, Al‑Qaeda, and ISIS forces, Shibam also battles relentless erosion and occasional typhoons that erode its mud foundations, demanding constant maintenance.

The architectural style originally served to protect inhabitants from Bedouin raids; today, the only difference is that the attackers now fly F‑16s.

3 Sunni‑Shia Axis: Swinging Between Tolerance And War

The majority of Yemen’s populace follows Islam, split primarily between Sunni and Zaidi Shia branches. The schism traces back to a historic dispute over the Prophet Muhammad’s rightful successor.

Shia Muslims argue that the Prophet’s cousin should have succeeded him, while Sunnis support the appointment of Abu Bakr, the Prophet’s close confidant, as the first caliph.

Historically, Yemen has been relatively tolerant of religious diversity, even amidst Sunni‑Shia tensions. Not all Zaidi are Houthis, and not all Houthis represent Zaidi Islam, underscoring the nuance between tribal and religious identities.

When tribal politics dominate, religious differences often recede to the background, allowing for periods of coexistence despite occasional flare‑ups.

2 Tribalism Is Overstated

The ongoing Yemeni conflict has shone a spotlight on tribal combatants, a focus that many analysts argue is exaggerated. Yemeni political scholar Abdul Ghani al‑Iryani warned in 2011 that Western observers overstate tribal influence.

He defined a “tribal” individual as someone whose primary loyalty lies with the tribe – answering a sheik’s call to arms. By his estimate, only about 20 % of Yemenis fit that description; the remaining 80 % are urban dwellers or peasants with non‑tribal identities.

This distinction matters because while many Yemenis simply want to survive without being bombed, tribal fighters have historically struggled against well‑equipped opponents, though they excel at guerrilla tactics.

The mismatch between tribal combat style and modern warfare may partly explain why the civil war drags on, with the government unable to decisively defeat tribal militias.

1 The Only Way To Get High Is By Chewing Leaves And Everyone Does It

About ninety percent of Yemeni men and one in four women chew khat leaves, a habit that can be a startling sight for newcomers who find most locals with mouths full of foliage.

When chewed, saliva breaks down the plant’s cells, releasing a mild amphetamine‑like stimulant into the bloodstream. As one market vendor puts it, “khat is the alcohol for Muslims.”

Khat is an expensive addiction: a daily supply costs roughly US $5, a hefty expense in a country where 45 % of the population lived below the poverty line before the war, leading to severe food shortages.

Because families often spend as much on khat as on food, vast tracts of arable land have been converted to khat cultivation, generating revenue but also exacerbating the humanitarian crisis when conflict erupted.

Ash Sharp is editor of Republic Standard.

When we think of ancient Rome today, the image that springs to mind is that of a sprawling empire, but the story began with a vibrant Republic that eventually crumbled under the ambitions of ten unforgettable megalomaniacs. These ten megalomaniacs who set in motion a chain of reforms, betrayals, and wars that irrevocably destroyed the Republic and paved the way for imperial rule.

10 Megalomaniacs Who Shaped the Fall of Rome

10 Marius

Gaius Marius, a name that may not echo loudly in modern classrooms, was in fact a transformative general whose victories over the roaming Germanic tribes secured Italy’s safety. His battlefield brilliance earned him fame, but his legacy stretches far beyond the battlefield.

The crux of his lasting impact lay in his radical overhaul of Roman recruitment. Traditionally, Rome’s legions were composed of small‑landed citizens who served briefly before returning to their farms. As Rome’s overseas ambitions grew, this model faltered: prolonged campaigns left many soldiers impoverished, while aristocrats seized their farms to create massive estates. Marius answered the manpower shortage by opening the ranks to the urban poor, turning soldiering into a professional, long‑term career with pay and the promise of land after service. This shift supplied the manpower needed to crush the Germanic threat.

While his reforms produced the army that won the wars, they also forged a new political force—legions whose loyalty lay with their commander rather than the Senate. In this way, Marius unintentionally laid the groundwork for future generals to wield personal armies against Rome itself, nudging the Republic toward its eventual downfall.

9 Sulla

Lucius Cornelius Sulla, once a dedicated lieutenant under Marius, seized the opportunity presented by the very reforms his mentor had introduced. Rising through the ranks, he proved his mettle during an Italian revolt and was initially slated to command Rome’s war against Mithridates of Pontus in 88 BC.

When Marius, driven by jealousy, wrested the command away, Sulla’s loyal legions—now professional soldiers accustomed to long service—refused to be sidelined. The resulting clash erupted into a full‑blown civil war, culminating in Sulla’s forces storming Rome, seizing power, and declaring him dictator. Rivers ran red with the blood of his opponents, and his reign, though brief, demonstrated the terrifying potency of an army bound to a single man.

After a few years, Sulla voluntarily stepped down, proclaiming his reforms complete and restoring a veneer of republican governance. Yet the precedent was set: the army’s allegiance now rested with its commander, not the state, a fault line that would be exploited by successors seeking absolute rule.

8 Lucullus

While Sulla still clung to power, a youthful and flamboyant figure emerged at Rome’s doorstep: Gnaeus Pompeius, later famed as Pompey the Great. Inheriting an army from his father, he swiftly defeated Marius’s loyalists in Sicily and demanded a triumph—a grand public celebration of his victories.

Sulla initially balked, but Pompey’s clever retort—that “more people worship the rising than the setting sun”—forced the dictator’s hand. The triumph proceeded, and soon after, the Senate appointed the aristocrat Lucullus to lead a campaign against Mithridates. Though a capable commander, Lucullus proved too aloof to grasp the new reality, relying on plunder to appease his troops rather than the generous rewards his rival Pompey offered.

The resulting discontent was stoked by the agitator Clodius, who highlighted Pompey’s generosity versus Lucullus’s stinginess. The troops mutinied, forcing Lucullus to cede command to Pompey, illustrating how personal ambition and soldierly loyalty could overturn even the most senior appointments.

7 Crassus

Marcus Licinius Crassus, whose name still reverberates as the wealthiest Roman ever recorded, watched Pompey’s eastern triumphs with a potent mix of envy and calculation. A staunch supporter of Sulla, Crassus helped eradicate the dictator’s enemies, then snapped up their confiscated estates for a pittance, amassing a fortune that dwarfed most of his contemporaries.

Despite his riches, Crassus craved the glory that eluded him on the battlefield. His rivalry with Pompey intensified after the latter’s eastern victories, and Crassus’s own attempt to suppress Spartacus’s slave revolt was eclipsed when Pompey arrived at the last moment, massacred the remaining rebels, and claimed credit for ending the uprising.

Their rivalry grew bitter, setting the stage for an inevitable clash. As Pompey prepared for further eastern campaigns, Rome trembled under the looming shadow of two powerful men whose personal ambitions threatened the very fabric of the Republic.

6 Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar entered the political arena as a modestly affluent member of an ancient, but financially strained, patrician family. Burdened by debt, he climbed the cursus honorum by aligning himself with the affluent Crassus, while simultaneously maintaining a cordial relationship with the charismatic Pompey.

Observing the friction between Crassus and Pompey, Caesar recognized an opportunity: Crassus desired a spectacular military command and legislation to protect his business interests, while Pompey sought land allocations for his veterans. By proposing a strategic alliance, he convinced both men that cooperation would amplify their individual ambitions, leading to the formation of the First Triumvirate, with Caesar as the Senate’s political frontman.

This unprecedented power‑sharing arrangement granted each member unprecedented influence, yet it also concentrated authority in the hands of three individuals, effectively sidelining traditional republican checks and balances and setting Rome on a collision course with autocracy.

5 Cato

Amid the Republic’s growing rot of bribery and intimidation, Marcus Porcius Cato stood as a beacon of unyielding integrity, openly scornful of his fellow Romans. His uncompromising moral stance earned him widespread admiration, as citizens recognized the stark contrast between his virtue and the pervasive corruption.

Cato’s steadfast refusal to bend his principles produced dire political repercussions. He obstructed Pompey’s attempts to allocate land to his veterans, prompting Pompey to propose marriage to Cato’s niece—a proposal Cato rebuffed with a cutting remark: “Cato is not to be captured by way of the women’s apartments.” This humiliation stung Pompey’s pride and highlighted the growing divide between the Republic’s elite and its moral watchdogs.

Both Caesar and Crassus sought Cato’s support, but his disdain for their perceived immorality kept him aloof. His relentless opposition forced the triumvirs to formalize their coalition, underscoring how a single incorruptible voice could shape the political landscape even amid a tide of decadence.

4 Clodius

Even as the First Triumvirate tightened its grip, dissent persisted from stalwarts like Cato and the eloquent Cicero. Seizing the moment, the populist agitator Clodius—once an officer who incited mutiny against Lucullus—renounced his aristocratic status, proclaiming himself a plebeian and rallying the city’s poor into a volatile mob.

Clodius’s radical tactics soon intertwined with the triumvirs’ agenda. As Tribune of the Plebs, he dispatched Cato to govern Cyprus, effectively removing a vocal opponent, and then orchestrated a violent campaign against Cicero, forcing the latter to flee Rome while his home was set ablaze and a liberty shrine erected atop the ruins.

This alliance between the triumvirs and Clodius amplified the Republic’s internal chaos, demonstrating how populist unrest could be weaponized by elite factions to eliminate rivals and consolidate power.

3 Milo

Clodius’s triumphs, bolstered by his provision of free wheat to the starving masses—a Roman analogue of modern welfare—further entrenched his popularity. Meanwhile, the triumvirate began to fracture: lingering animosity between Crassus and Pompey resurfaced, prompting Crassus to encourage Clodius to turn his sights on the great general.

Pompey soon found himself the target of public scorn; in the Forum, a Clodius associate subtly dropped a dagger at his feet, forcing the celebrated commander to retreat. Undeterred, Pompey rallied his own support through Milo, who secured the tribunate and hired gladiators and mercenaries to counter Clodius’s gangs, turning Rome’s streets into a battlefield.

The climax arrived when Milo and Clodius crossed paths on a road, and one of Milo’s gladiators hurling a javelin felled Clodius. Enraged supporters dragged his corpse into the Senate and set the building ablaze over his body, a gruesome spectacle that epitomized the Republic’s descent into violent factionalism.

2 Gaius Claudius Marcellus

In the wake of Clodius’s chaos, the Senate turned to Pompey for stabilization, and he swiftly suppressed the remaining gangs, restoring a tenuous peace. Yet the Republic faced a new crisis: Crassus had perished in a disastrous Parthian campaign, while Caesar’s unexpected conquests in Gaul amassed unprecedented wealth and a battle‑hardened army.

Alarmed by Caesar’s rising power, the Senate appointed Pompey as the protector of Italy, but Caesar’s legions, seasoned and loyal, outmatched Pompey’s newer recruits. The tension peaked in 50 BC when Consul Gaius Marcellus ordered Caesar to relinquish his command and return to Rome, a move that would have left Caesar vulnerable to prosecution.

Defying the decree, Caesar crossed the Rubicon in January 49 BC, igniting civil war. His bold march marked the irreversible breakdown of republican institutions, setting the stage for an ultimate showdown between two titanic figures.

1 Pompey The Great

As a safeguard against Caesar’s ambitions, the Senate had tasked Pompey with commanding Italy’s legions. Recognizing that his green recruits could not match Caesar’s seasoned veterans, Pompey opted for a strategic withdrawal, inadvertently ceding the initiative to his rival.

Pompey’s campaign, though marked by strategic brilliance, was marred by a lingering timidity. He repeatedly outmaneuvered Caesar—luring him into modern Albania, attempting sieges, and winning at Dyrrhachium—yet he failed to press his advantages, allowing Caesar to regroup and ultimately secure a decisive victory at Pharsalus.

Defeated, Pompey fled to Egypt, where the young Pharaoh, seeking favor with Caesar, ordered his assassination. While Caesar himself would later fall to conspirators, the Republic had already been mortally wounded; its ashes gave rise to Augustus, the first emperor, sealing the end of the republican experiment.