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  • Dark Pattern Explains Why So Few Roman Emperors Died of Natural Causes

    From reader@21:1/5 to All on Mon Oct 18 12:04:56 2021
    https://www.sciencealert.com/dark-pattern-explains-why-so-few-roman-emperors-died-of-natural-causes

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  • From Oh so rich & successful JTEM@21:1/5 to reader on Mon Oct 18 21:58:31 2021
    reader wrote:
    https://www.sciencealert.com/dark-pattern-explains-why-so-few-roman-emperors-died-of-natural-causes

    Not really telling us anything, is it?

    The length of reigns are a matter of history.

    And the reigns were short for the simple reason that they could be. You could become emperor by assassination. Or coup. Civil war. They were a valid means
    of advancement. So everyone who commanded an army knew that they were
    a victorious battle away from becoming emperor. Everyone in the halls of power knew that if they could just form the right alliances, make big enough promises,
    they could become emperor. Every potential heir knew they were a dose of
    poison away from emperor. And, yes, every wife of a general. a highly placed insider or heir knew it too.

    Many cites claim that murder and poison in particular was common amongst the ruling class. It probably made the most sense when women couldn't inherit titles
    and property -- kill their heir, make your own son the new heir...






    -- --

    https://jtem.tumblr.com/post/665418939453636608

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  • From Eric Stevens@21:1/5 to reader on Wed Oct 20 16:50:31 2021
    On 18 Oct 2021 12:04:56 GMT, reader wrote:


    https://www.sciencealert.com/dark-pattern-explains-why-so-few-roman-emperors-died-of-natural-causes

    Well! That's circular reasoning even if I do say as I shouldn't.
    --

    Regards,

    Eric Stevens

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  • From SolomonW@21:1/5 to Eric Stevens on Sun Oct 24 12:40:17 2021
    On Wed, 20 Oct 2021 16:50:31 +1300, Eric Stevens wrote:

    On 18 Oct 2021 12:04:56 GMT, reader wrote:

    https://www.sciencealert.com/dark-pattern-explains-why-so-few-roman-emperors-died-of-natural-causes

    Well! That's circular reasoning even if I do say as I shouldn't.

    It is not easy to determine what killed many Roman Emperors, e.g. Augustus
    is listed as natural, but some say he was poisoned. Several died in battle
    or committed suicide which for rulers in that period was not uncommon.

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