10 Maddest People Ever To Be In Charge Of A Country

Sextus Varius Avitus Bassianus became Emperor of Rome at the age of fourteen and either went, or was revealed to be, hopelessly mad. He would only last until his assassination in 222 at the age of eighteen, and seems to have known it, because he crammed those four short years with acts of enough wanton cruelty and bizarreness for multiple lifetimes.

He ignored affairs of state and devoted himself to two things: the worship of a weird Syrian sun-god the Romans hated, and lots and lots of seriously nasty sex. If anyone told him to steady on, old chap, he had them executed.

One legend has him hosting a lavish dinner party when he released such a huge drift of flower petals onto the diners they were smothered to death. He married a Vestal Virgin (and several men), prostituted himself in the Imperial palace and generally tried to break the record for most outrages against Roman society committed by one person. After death he was known as the Emperor Elagabulus after the sun-god with whom he replaced Jupiter as head god honcho for the duration of his reign.

Or maybe he didn't. Roman historians weren't known for their aversion to fake news. Perhaps he was just a kid who had too much too young and liked a bit of unconventional slap and tickle. But if any of it is true, Elagabulus was one of the maddest people ever to be in charge of anything.