The course of History corresponds more closely to periods of long slow development rather than to the actions (exploits, mistakes, follies) of those we call the great men' and those we remember. Even so, history is taught as a succession of leaders, Emperors, Kings and big events; battles, victories or defeats, and chronological reference points. Statues, monuments, street names and cenotaphs show our fascination with historic heroes. Three enduring empires, which are well-documented, have left us with memories and caricatures-like images of extravagant sovereigns; violent, blood-shedding, or even very mentally ill men. Here we recall some examples from the Roman Empire (Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Caracalla, Heliogabalus, etc.). Much defamation has left us very negative recollections of these Emperors, possibly the result of efforts to discredit them by the senatorial aristocracy, who saw their power disappear progressively and so endeavoured to ruin the reputation of the higher authority. The ultimate imperial power was achieved through the transition to the thousand-years Byzantine Empire, a monarchy in which the Emperor was not only the terrestrial sovereign but also God's. Messenger (Caesaropapism). The empire of the Tsars (the 3rd Rome), a continuation of the Byzantine orthodox, also had a long series of sovereigns who were blood-shedding, or mentally disturbed (Ivan the terrible, Peter the great etc.), or otherwise major incompetents. This empire was prolonged by the USSR, taken over by the renewed absolute authority of the double-powered Russian Head of State and Orthodox Metropolitan. From 1492, the Hispanic empire offers a series of portraits of mad kings with Juana la Loco and his descendants. And after the "Spanish Habsburgs", the Bourbon dynasty still present today. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.
