No one is immune from violent or stupid death. Including rich, influential people. Next, we will look at examples of strange deaths and brutal murders of famous figures of antiquity.
Pentuar, 1173 BC. The son of Ramses III, the Egyptian prince Pentuar, whose body was found in the burial complex DB-320, was killed in a particularly cruel way. At the time of his death, he was between 18 and 20 years old. The mummy's hands were tied behind her back, and her chest was compressed. The distorted posture and painful expression on his face suggests that Pentuar was slowly dying of suffocation, being buried alive in a crudely expanded cedar sarcophagus. which, apparently, was originally intended for another person.
But they killed him not just like that, but as punishment for a conspiracy against his own father. Thus, for the crime, Pentuar was deprived of the hope of a dignified afterlife.
Aeschylus, 455 BC. Aeschylus is an ancient Greek playwright, the father of European tragedy. He died under very strange, one might even say comical, circumstances. The legend, retold by Pliny the Elder and Valery Maximus, says that Aeschylus died while walking because an eagle threw a turtle on his head, mistaking the playwright's bald head for a smooth stone from a height.
Chrysippus, 206 BC. Since antiquity, stories of deaths from laughter have come down to our days. The first on the list was the ancient Greek philosopher Chrysippus, who lived in the 3rd century BC. He saw his drunken donkey eating figs and shouted, "Now give him some pure wine - wash out his throat." The Greek found his own joke so funny that he burst out laughing and died.
Cleopatra, 30 BC. After the death of her beloved, the Roman general Mark Anthony, the last queen of ancient Egypt gave herself a bite to a viper. But according to historians, Cleopatra's suicide was only a cover for her elimination by political opponents.
Since the mortality rate from a viper bite is not as high as, for example, from the venom of a cobra, which is found in Egypt. Another plus in the treasury of this argument is the fact that next to Cleopatra, two of her maids were found dead, on which there were no snakebites.
Valerian, AD 260. Most Roman rulers did not die a natural death, but perhaps the worst of them was the death of Emperor Valerian. After he was captured by the Persian king Shapur I, Valerian offered a huge amount of gold for his release.
But Shapur did not like this idea, he felt contempt for the emperor. He ordered to pour molten gold down his throat, then rip off his skin and stuff him with straw like a scarecrow. So Valerian hung for a long time as a trophy in the palace of the Persian king.
Hypatia of Alexandria, 415 AD. The Greek woman Hypatia of Alexandria was one of the most educated women of her time. She was fond of philosophy, mathematics, astronomy. Unfortunately, she got involved in politics.
Christian supporters of Bishop Cyril, who was aiming for the post of head of the city, did not particularly approve of her relationship with the prefect of Alexandria, Orestes. And they decided to demonstrate their dislike in a particularly creepy way, and to the whole city.
A crowd of fanatics dragged Hypatia out of their own house, stripped to death, beaten to death, and then tore off her skin with crockery shards. Her remains were dragged all over Alexandria. This was done with the most vile criminals, and then thrown into a fire outside the city.
The death of Hypatia dealt a devastating blow to local opposition and urban culture. Insane Christian fanatics came to power, led by Bishop Cyril. Later, the Christian society justified such a crazy act by the fact that in this way it was possible to rid the city of filth and witchcraft.
Attila the Hunn, 453 AD. According to legend, the ruler of the nomadic people of the Huns, Attila, was so loving that every night a new girl was brought to him. And the number of his wives and concubines was simply innumerable.
So, during the next wedding, Attila went overboard with food and alcohol. In the morning he was found in a pool of his own blood. At the same time, no visible traces of the murder were found on the body. Most likely at night he started bleeding from the nose, and Hun was so drunk that he did not wake up and simply choked.
