Historical Fun

History Fun Fact September 6th On This Day in 380, Emperor Theodosius defeated the usurper, Emperor Eugenius, at the Battle of the Frigidus. With the defeat of Eugenius, both the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire were untied once again, the last time in history it would be one great big Empire.   Theodosius, also known as Theodosius the Great, or Cute-Squirrel-Lips by his Praetorian Guard, was born on the 11th of January, 347.   After the Battle of Figidus, Theodosius became Emperor of the entire Roman Empire, the last Emperor to rule over the whole thing.   During his reign, Theodosius-Cute-Squirrel-Lips had a serious problem with the Goths during and set about trying to eradicate them. Perhaps they reminded him of his own moody teenage years.   Unfortunately, his reputation took a serious hit, along with his gonads, a war injury he would never recover from, as he wasn't successful in destroying them. Or the other b...

The Assassination of Emperor Tiberius: Killed By A Pillow On the 16th of March, 37, yes, that's actually a real year, the Emperor Tiberius was assassinated by a pillow.   The pillow may have just been where his head was resting whilst he slept. Or it may have been above his head, being pressed down, really hard, by Caligula. No one is quite sure.   Tiberius died in Misenum, aged 78, after placing himself in exile for the last years of his life. Everyone had it in for him. That bloke. The bloke over there. The geezer sitting down. The fairy on top of the Christmas tree. The gnome in his neighbour's front garden. Everyone.   The guy was a little paranoid.   And not well liked.   When news spread to Rome about the death of Emperor Tiberius, the crowd rejoiced. Then went silent when they were told he had recovered. And then rejoiced again when they heard Caligula and Macro had smothered him with an inflatable hedgehog. Pillow. They s...

The Assassination of the Roman Emperor Valentinian III   On the 16th of March in 455, seriously, it's a real year, look it up, the Roman Emperor Valentinian III was assassinated.   Valentinian had been having some serious problems for the last few years of his reign. Many of these problems were paranoia. Other problems revolved around hedgehogs and STDs, but we're not getting into that.   Everyone was out to get him. Even that bloke selling ice-creams from the van on the corner. And especially the dude on the skateboard in the park.   And, not least with a bloke called Aetius, a Roman General, and the "Last of the Romans."   Valentinian had relied, either willingly or out of necessity, on the help of Aetius for over twenty years. The Roman General had quelled unrest in the Empire and defeated invading armies, including a resounding victory over the army of Attila The Hun.   The Roman General, Aetius, was...

Fun Facts About the Emperor Caracalla As Evil Emperors go, Caracalla is probably one of the worst, most evil emperors you'll ever come across. This guy was not just bad. Not just evil. He was total Whacko-Jacko, Someone-Didn't-Eat-Their-Greens-As-A-Kid evil. 1. Caracalla was Emperor between the 16th September 198 and the 8th April 217. 2. Caracalla was the eldest son of Septimius Severus , who was most famous for killing Dumbledore in an elaborate plan that shocked the Potter world to its core. Caracalla spent most of his youth and early adult life learning to cope with his father's betrayal of Harry Potter's mentor, and so he managed his anger by perfecting the evil art of puppy-kicking. This meant, when he finally became Emperor, he had all the training required to be an evil git. 3. Caracalla was made Emperor in the year 198, whilst his father was still alive.  You'd think be...