Cruelest people in history?

[Zephyrus]

Later in life, he also punished one of his legions that performed badly in battle by having every tenth man crucified. He then proceeded to name the legion "The Tenth," so they would always remember their blunder. They became one of his best legions..

Now you know where the word "decimation" comes from.


And don't forget the siege of Alesia where he besieged Vercingetorix and starved tens of thousands of men, women and children.

 

[DarkBliss]

decimal- decimation? Nice.

 

[V.V.V.V.V.]

Yep.

 

[The Ozzman]

Charlie Manson is from Cincinnati. Now you truly know how fucked up this city is.

 

[Life Sucks]

I'll add Foday Sankoh. He was the rebel leader (leader of the Revolutionary United Front) in Sierra Leone during the war, and he had his troops cut off limbs and gouge out eyes of people that supported the government. He is the reason there are so many mutilated and disfigured people in Sierra Leone.

Here is something I learned in history in college, which was a while ago, so I'm vague on the specifics now, but anyways. There was a king (Persian or Syrian I think) who after he conquered an army, had every second man blinded, while having every other man half blinded so he could led the defeated army home. When the other king saw his mutilated army returning home like that he dropped dead.

 

[Einherjar86]

Now you know where the word "decimation" comes from.


And don't forget the siege of Alesia where he besieged Vercingetorix and starved tens of thousands of men, women and children.

Yup, talked about that in the good ol' Latin class. But Caesar was one badass motherfucker. The Siege of Alesia was pro. Granted, he did starve thousands of people, as you said; but he was also massively outnumbered. Caesar was a master at motivating and driving his legions. The speed with which he moved and the agility with which he commanded are to be remembered. Truly a remarkable man in history.

 

[Carcassian]

 

[Manic Ferocity]

Can anyone top Hitler?

 

[Zephyrus]

FYI Caesar didn't start the whole decimation practice.

 

[Carcassian]

THe russians topped Hitler.

Or did they ?

 

[Life Sucks]

Stalin killed more people than Hitler, but his genocide wasn't race-based.

 

[Zephyrus]

So that makes it less cruel?

 

[skeptik]

Not necessarily, but sheer numerical superiority doesn't necessarily mean greater cruelty either.

 

[Zephyrus]

I think intent is the determining factor, since cruelty is more a product of a twisted mind than of external circumstance. A general in war can slaughter tens of thousands and not necessarily be cruel. But if he then went onto massacre just as many women and children in the enemy city just for enjoyment, that is bona fide cruelty.

 

[Black Friday]

I think intent is the determining factor, since cruelty is more a product of a twisted mind than of external circumstance. A general in war can slaughter tens of thousands and not necessarily be cruel. But if he then went onto massacre just as many women and children in the enemy city just for enjoyment, that is bona fide cruelty.

Thus Hitler is more cruel because he put people to death from hate. Stalin was just killing anyone who opposed his reign.

 

[Einherjar86]

FYI Caesar didn't start the whole decimation practice.

Yeah I know; it was a common practice against mutinous legions, right?

Stalin killed more people than Hitler, but his genocide wasn't race-based.

Yeah, not on the surface. But there are reasons that the majority of people he arrested and killed were Polish, Ukrainian, and Korean. Stalin was suspicious of certain races more than others. Which actually contradicts the whole idea of Marxism, because all races are supposed to be equal; Marxists only discriminate by class.

And Hitler didn't do it out of enjoyment. It's not like he said "I get a kick out of killing Jews." He had a reason for it; it was political.

 

[Zephyrus]

Yeah I know; it was a common practice against mutinous legions, right?

Incompetence and cowardice, in most cases.

The earliest documented decimation occurred in 471 B.C. during the Roman Republic's early wars against the Volsci and is recorded by Livy.[2] The practice was revived by Crassus in 71 B.C. in the Third Servile War against Spartacus. Julius Caesar is often reported as having used the practice on the 9th Legion during the war against Pompey, but this has been disproved.[3]
Decimation was still in practice during the Roman Empire, Suetonius records that it was used for the last time by Augustus in 17 B.C.,[4] while Tacitus records that Lucius Apronius used decimation to punish a cohort of the III Augusta after their defeat by Tacfarinas in 20 AD

So much old Julius' cruelty in that regard.

 

[Einherjar86]

Incompetence and cowardice, in most cases.



So much old Julius' cruelty in that regard.

Yeah, I've read that too; but I'm not sure if it's true.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Yeah, not on the surface. But there are reasons that the majority of people he arrested and killed were Polish, Ukrainian, and Korean. Stalin was suspicious of certain races more than others.

True, but I don't think race played a huge part in Stalin's killings. He was suspicious of EVERYBODY. His doctor diagnosed him paranoid, then the doc "mysteriously" dissapiered. He killed off anybody he feared was a threat to him.

 

[waif]

Cruelty is one of the good things about him.

Let me explain this in the simplest possible terms: You. Are. An. Idiot.

Genghis Khan.
Brilliant military leader but he did wipe out entire populations, for example the sacking of Urgench.

Not cruelty, just callousness.

I think intent is the determining factor, since cruelty is more a product of a twisted mind than of external circumstance. A general in war can slaughter tens of thousands and not necessarily be cruel. But if he then went onto massacre just as many women and children in the enemy city just for enjoyment, that is bona fide cruelty.

Exactly. This is why I don't consider Attila, Genghis, Hitler, or Stalin to be legitimate candidates. Ditto for Caesar - they were just doing what they felt they had to do.