5 Monarchs Who Suffered Horrible Deaths

Being a monarch won’t save you from a gruesome death

A painting of Tsar Nicholas II by Aleksandr Makovsky, 1896 (Wikimedia Commons)

Monarchs have always enjoyed prosperous lifestyles. While others struggled to survive, they benefited from wealth, security, and power, and this trend has been consistent throughout history.

But being a monarch doesn’t make you immune to hardship. Even with an abundance of fortune and influence, these five monarchs couldn’t escape their terrible fate.

1. Emperor Vitellius

An engraving of Emperor Vitellius by Giovanni Battista de’ Cavalieri, 1583 (Wikimedia Commons)

Emperor Vitellius ruled the Roman Empire for just eight months in 69 AD. Ancient sources describe him as a cruel, extravagant, and perverted man who loved gluttony and gambling.

In July, the armies in the east of the Roman Empire declared themselves in favour of Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the Governor of Judaea. These armies marched on the capital, which led to the Battle of Bedriacum.

Vitellius was defeated but refused to abdicate, so Vespasianus’s army captured the emperor, bound his hands, put a noose around his neck, and dragged him half-naked to the Forum, a famous square in the middle of Rome.