Pick the Next Extra History Series! "Historical Tyrants" OPEN until 9/1

It's time for our Extra History poll! Where you get to vote on what our next "Extra History Series" is about!

These four topics were selected from our "Historical Tyrants" Patreon Suggestions and are listed in no particular order below.

Richard III: Shakespeare Smear

It's hard to emphasize how important Richard III really was—by some measures, his death marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. Yet centuries of propaganda have turned him into a depraved villain who murdered his nephews, poisoned his wife, and attempted to marry his niece. The truth is more complicated, even with the rediscovery of his remains shedding more light on him. Richard was a reformer, who made English justice more responsive to the commons, and battled corruption. But he was also a ruthless power player who ably navigated the Wars of the Roses until his end as the last English king to die in battle. We'll sort out truth from scandal, and get to what some see as a tyrant, and others as one of England's best lawmakers.

Herod the Great: The Gospels' Greatest Villain

The Bible hates King Herod. He's portrayed as a scheming tyrant who massacres children in hopes of killing baby Jesus (who let's be real, is the cutest Jesus). But when you learn about him, it's obvious why that is—Herod was not ethnically Judean, but part of a neighboring group forced to convert to the religion. Despite that, he used political savvy and ruthlessness to get appointed the Roman client king of Judea, and despite opposition hung onto the position for the rest of his life. In doing so he interacted with some of the great figures from the age, from Marc Antony to Octavian, executed his wife and several children, and reshaped Jerusalem as probably the greatest builder since Solomon. Though undeniably brutal, he was an impressive and able ruler, yet today is largely known for the Massacre of the Innocents—an event which likely never happened.

Emperor Qin Shi Huang: All Under Heaven

In his burial complex in Xian, Qin Shi Huang is surrounded by a terracotta army representing the vast military force the Qin used to unite China through conquest. But despite being in control of a vast military machine, Qin Shi Huang never set foot on the battlefield. Actually, China's first emperor was more of an administrator and lawgiver than a soldier, deeply devoted to the principles of Legalism, a philosophy that emphasized the setting and enforcement of clear and sensible laws to reign in a human nature it considered wild and violent. Though certainly a ruthless political operator and tyrant, the man who would build the first Great Wall and create the first Imperial seal has recently been reevaluated as setting much of China's political and philosophical traditions between dodging assassins and ordering rivals executed.

Leopold II of Belgium

Leopold II was only the second King of the Belgians, and with a reign of 44 years remains the longest-serving. In Belgium he's known as the Builder King, chiefly famous for the construction of public works, state buildings and parks. But as Belgian shovels broke ground on new projects in Brussels, nearly 4,000 miles away Belgian shovels were digging graves. Because Leopold II was sole ruler and owner of the Congo Free State, a colonial project run for his personal enrichment first in the production of ivory and then the extraction of rubber. It was governed by a personal force that oversaw resource extraction via kidnapping, mutilation, murder, and forced labor that shocked the conscience of even the other colonial powers. Forced to give up the Free State after public outcry, he had the archives burned in order to cover up his crimes, which led to a population loss to the Congo of between 1 and 15 million.

Our Current Schedule is:

A History of Mass Deportation, Starts 7/11 -> Alexander the Great’d Egypt -> Your Pick!

***Friendly reminder: The poll will end at 11:59 PM PT on Monday, September 1st. You can vote for as many choices as you want! This style of voting helps us see what people are most interested in without having to make tough decisions between a couple of close favorites. ***