For the History Channel, I wrote about historical rulers whose eccentricities tended towards insanity.
The granddaddy of all mad kings is King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian ruler whose first-person account of a seven-year descent into animal-like insanity is one of the most fascinating sections of the Old Testament book of Daniel. According to that account, the arrogant king was struck down for his disbelief in the Hebrews’ God, leaving his palace and living in the wild. The Biblical story of Nebuchadnezzar’s madness became the framework through which royal insanity was seen in the Judeo-Christian world.
Topping even his nephew Nero for the crown of cruelest and craziest Roman emperor, Caligula was known for his lavish projects, his sadism and his eccentricity. He once had his army construct a two-mile floating bridge so he could gallop along it on his horse. In another episode he ordered his troops to “plunder the sea” by gathering shells in their helmets. Tall and hairy, Caligula is said to have banned the mention of goats in his presence, but practiced facial contortions to better terrify his subjects. He built a lavish house for his horse Incitatus and attempted to appoint the steed to the high office of consul, though he was assassinated before he could complete the promotion.