All language subtitles for Ancient Top 10 Series 1 3of9 Total Dictators 720p

♪ ♪

male narrator:
This week, on "Ancient Top 10,"

the killer of Romans
and scourge of Europe.

- Armies fled in his wake.
Rivers ran with blood.

narrator: The greatest general
of all time.

- He's really
the incarnation

of what it is to be
a megalomaniac.

narrator: The queen who held
the world in her hands.

- We think our rulers today
have power,

but it was nothing
compared to what she had.

narrator: And the most
murderous dictator in history.

- He was a great ruler,
a military genius,

and truth be told,
a bloodthirsty tyrant.

narrator: The baddest
in the ancient world.

Where will they be ranked in
the only top ten list

thousands of years
in the making?

♪ ♪

The ancient world was ruled
by ruthless dictators.

Wanton brutality was
the order of the day.

There was killing
on a massive scale,

and all for the sake
of absolute power.

This week's
"Ancient Top 10."

Total dictators
of the ancient world,

ranked by experts according
to the impact they made,

and their evil deeds.

[all shouting]

At number ten...

psychotic,
unpredictable,

a terrifying dictator
murdered

after only four years
of rule.

- The most power crazy
of the emperors? Caligula.

He was determined to show off
his god-like powers

by being
the most extravagant

and the most outrageous.

narrator:
He was born Gaius Germanicus

into one of Rome's
most distinguished families.

His great-great-grandfather
was Julius Caesar.

- Caligula was
actually a nickname.

It means "little boots,"

and it was a name
that was given to Caligula

when he was just a boy.

His father took him
on military campaign.

It was almost like he was
a kind of mascot.

So he was dressed up

as the perfect
mini Roman soldier,

right down
to his little boots.

He hated this name.

He thought it was
very disrespectful,

and it almost seems
to have fueled

a kind of psychopathic rage
inside him.

narrator: Caligula had
other reasons to be disturbed.

His own adoptive grandfather,
the emperor Tiberius,

wiped out
his whole family.

- His father,
killed by the emperor.

His mother,
put into prison,

exiled and then
starved to death.

♪ ♪

His siblings died
in prison,

and he's then adopted
by the same emperor

responsible for it all.

If this were a TV series.

it would just be considered
unbelievable.

♪ ♪

- I think it's safe to say
this guy had issues.

He loved watching torture
and gruesome executions.

He spent his nights
in wild orgies.

He was even thought
to have committed incest

with his sisters, and all this
before he became emperor.

narrator: He was just 24
when he rose to power in 37 AD.

At first he was popular.

He abolished taxes and
put on lavish entertainment

for his people,
like the gladiatorial games.

But his extravagance
almost bankrupted Rome.

He squandered the equivalent
of $4 billion

in the first year
of his reign alone.

During this year he also
suffered a serious illness.

Although he recovered,
many believe

it turned him
into a megalomaniac.

- We're told this story
that he was sacrificing

a bull in a temple.

and he was just about to strike
the animal with a mallet

when he turned around
and whacked the priest instead.

♪ ♪

This man was lying bleeding
to death on the ground,

and Caligula
just laughed,

hugely entertained
by this deadly prank.

narrator:
His behavior knew no bounds.

Even in public
at the Colosseum,

Caligula displayed
his psychotic side.

- When he got bored
during the intermission

of the gladiatorial fights,
Caligula had his guards

grab dozens of people
from the crowd

and throw them
into the arena,

just to watch them be eaten
by wild animals.

"Twisted" doesn't even begin
to describe this guy.

narrator: And it wasn't
just extreme violence.

- Caligula was so out there,
there's even a story

that he made his beloved horse
a Roman advisor.

[horse neighing]

narrator:
He was even more insane

when it came
to his own self-image.

♪ ♪

- Caligula was
so deluded,

he didn't think
he was like a god,

he seems to have thought
he was a god himself.

♪ ♪

We're told that he
dressed up as gods

and even goddesses sometimes
out in public,

and he'd remove the heads
of sculptures of gods,

he'd decapitate them,

and replace them
with a sculpture

of his own image.

♪ ♪

This isn't
just power crazed,

this is an example of power
corrupting absolutely.

♪ ♪

- After a four-year reign
of terror,

his people had had enough,
so they got rid of him,

by stabbing him
over 30 times.

[men struggling]

- Caligula was so hated

that after his death,
the Senate tried

to erase him from history
by destroying his monuments,

but his behavior
was so extreme

that he's remembered
to this day

as one of the most crazy
of Roman rulers.

narrator: Dealing with a legacy
of violence and despotism,

the Senate hoped
for more peaceful times.

But instead someone far worse
was to come.

♪ ♪

At number nine,
another mad emperor--

Nero.

♪ ♪

- Nero was one of the most
infamous emperors of Rome.

The stories of his brutality
are absolutely legendary,

and it's for this reason why
he's got to be in my top ten.

narrator: Emperor of Rome
from the age of just 17--

from 54 to 68 AD--

famous for fiddling
while Rome burned.

♪ ♪

He wandered the streets,
murdering at random,

because he could.

- When we look
at the horrific acts

attributed to Nero,
it looks like he's reading

right out of the playbook
of Caligula.

narrator: It's said
that Nero was envious

of the extravagance
of his uncle Caligula.

He may even have been
trying to emulate him.

When Nero came to power,

his mother had planned
to rule jointly with him,

but he had other ideas.

He built a ship
for her to travel in

and designed it
so that as she slept,

the roof would collapse,
killing her,

but it would look
like an accident.

She survived
this attempt on her life,

but Nero wasn't
giving up.

- He sends a guard to go
and attack her

in her own bedroom,

and the guard bludgeons
and stabs her to death.

[man grunts]

[woman screams]

narrator: Nero's first wife
met a similar end.

- After he's had her exiled
and put to death,

he has her head
delivered to his new wife.

narrator: And her luck
was no better.

- She's pregnant with child
and she dares to complain

that he's spending
too much time at the games.

He kicks his pregnant wife
to death.

narrator:
He then tried something new.

He had taken a shine
to a young man,

so he had him castrated
and made him his new wife.

[man screams]

- He could do that.

He was, in the history books
of Rome,

a total tyrant
and a horrible monster.

- There are even stories that
he'd dress up in animal skins,

have young men and women
tethered to posts

and then ravage them,
roaring like a beast,

even biting off
their genitals.

♪ ♪

narrator: A fire
during Nero's reign

caused devastation
on a scale

Rome had never seen
before.

Half of the city
burnt to the ground.

In true dictator fashion,

as the fire was
still smoldering,

Nero laid claim to vast areas
of land in order to build

an extravagant palace
for himself.

This brought accusations
that Nero had

deliberately started
the blaze,

so he created
a scapegoat.

He rounded up Christians
and had them publicly executed.

- Nero was
incredibly brutal.

One of the most famous stories
about him

is how he used to light
Christians on fire

and use them as torches
for his dinner parties.

[people screaming]

narrator: No one was
safe from him.

Nero had his own senators
whipped,

branded with irons,
and tortured.

If he liked a woman,
he had her husband murdered.

His brutality was
endless.

On top of this,
his extravagant spending

nearly bankrupted
Rome's treasury.

- Towards the end
of Nero's life,

his excesses
became quite extraordinary.

When his wife died,
he bought

what would be
the equivalent

of half a billion dollars' worth
of frankincense.

Rome at this point was
on its knees financially,

it was crippled by debt,

and I think that,
combined with his depravity,

meant that the people of Rome
had just had enough.

♪ ♪

The Senate voted Nero
an enemy of the state

and he was encouraged
to commit suicide.

narrator: Nero left behind him
a legacy of murder,

debauchery, and
Christian persecution.

It made him
yet another ruler

the Senate wanted
to wipe from their records.

This time they
actually passed a law

saying that Nero
never existed.

From Nero to zero.

- This man was
so extreme--

he was so sick,
he was so perverse--

that he has never been
forgotten by history,

and we're still
talking about him

and his dreadful deeds
today.

♪ ♪

narrator: This is
"Ancient Top 10's"

list of total dictators--

The tyrants
of the ancient world,

causing destruction
on a mass scale,

stamping their bloody footprint
on history.

Next on our list
is a ruler

who challenged
the mighty Roman empire

and set its generals
against each other.

In at number eight...

♪ ♪

Cleopatra,
the last queen of Egypt.

A temptress of the Nile
who used sexuality

to maintain
her grip on the throne,

she would ultimately
destroy the empire

she sought to protect.

- Cleopatra was the last
pharaoh of ancient Egypt

and the most famous woman
of ancient times.

We think our rulers today
have power,

but it was nothing
compared to what she had.

She was literally
a god walking on earth.

narrator: She's best known
as a beautiful seductress,

but there was
a lot more to her than that.

- Egyptian royal families
were a hotbed of scheming,

plotting,
murder, and incest.

Cleopatra did
very well indeed

even to make it
to adulthood alive,

and then she secured
her position as pharaoh

by murdering
her brother.

She would stop
at nothing.

♪ ♪

narrator:
She was calculating,

and she was also extremely
bright and well educated.

In fact, it's said
that she spoke nine languages.

- She was a very learned woman,
educated in mathematics,

in geometry.

- Cleopatra,
we think of her

as this sexy femme fatale,

this Elizabeth Taylor-like
figure,

and we forget that she was
incredibly brilliant.

narrator: Not only did
her talents and beauty

attract attention,
but also her country's wealth.

The Romans were
threatening to invade.

The Egyptian army was not
strong enough to take them on,

so Cleopatra turned
to other means

to keep her kingdom safe.

- She realized that Egypt
needed Rome's allegiance,

and so she decides
to set her sights

on the most powerful man
of the time, Julius Caesar.

She seduces
and beds him.

♪ ♪

- There's a story she had
herself rolled into a carpet

and smuggled
into the royal palace

of Julius Caesar
just to meet him,

and she not only met him,
but apparently bedded him

and then the two
went on to become

this immense powerful couple.

narrator: They formed
a political alliance

over the course
of four years,

even having a child
together,

but Caesar's relationship
with the Queen of the Nile

angered Rome,
and in 44 BC,

it came to a bloody end.

He was murdered
by the Senate.

After Caesar's death,
the Roman general Mark Antony

was sent in
to assert Rome's control.

What happened?
She bedded him too.

- We're told that in order
to demonstrate

Egypt's incredible wealth,

when she was seducing
Mark Antony,

Cleopatra took
a big, fat pearl.

Now, this thing was
the most precious,

the most expensive jewel
in the known world.

narrator: It's estimated
that this pearl would be worth

around $30 million today.

- She dissolved it
in a cup of wine vinegar

and then drank that down.

It was the most brilliantly
theatrical act of seduction.

narrator:
Cleopatra and Mark Antony

became lovers
and allies,

but, just like her previous
relationship with Caesar,

their union was seen
as a threat to Rome.

Antony's political rival,
Octavian, declared war.

He defeated Antony
in 31 BC,

forcing him to flee
with Cleopatra.

Antony committed suicide

after being surrounded
by his enemies.

In one final act
of defiance,

Cleopatra did the same.

She either allowed herself
to be bitten

by a poisonous snake,

or took a fatal overdose
of narcotics.

- Cleopatra had
tremendous pride,

and so she would
rather die

than suffer the indignity
of being paraded

through the streets of Rome
as a prisoner.

narrator:
Cleopatra's ultimate success

lay in her seduction
of Rome's most powerful men.

- What we have to remember
about Cleopatra is that

she wasn't just
a kind of beautiful pin-up

bathing in ass's milk,

this was
a feisty, smart woman,

and critically,
she was able

to control
the men around her,

and that's why she deserves
to be in this top 10.

narrator: But Cleopatra's
appetite for power

was nothing compared
to our next total dictator.

The most powerful pharaoh
ever to rule Egypt,

who fought the largest
chariot battle known to man.

At number seven...

Ramesses II.

- When we think
of Egyptian Pharaohs,

Ramesses II is the name
that inspires awe.

narrator: Ramesses
expertly used propaganda

to portray himself
as the greatest warrior

of the Egyptian empire.

He presided over Egypt
at the height of its powers.

He ruled for 67 years
in the 13th century BC.

It was the longest
fully documented reign

in Egyptian history,

and he kept himself busy.

- Ramesses II had
200 wives and concubines,

96 sons,
60 daughters.

How could this guy
not be in the top ten?

♪ ♪

- Ramesses II lived
to 93 years old.

This is in a period
where most people die

by the age of 40.

It was almost impossible
to picture Egypt

without Ramesses II
leading it.

narrator:
In true dictator fashion,

he commanded his people
to build

huge statues of himself,
all for his own glory.

- All rulers built
monuments,

but Ramesses II
outbuilt them all.

narrator: His greatest
of all is this,

Abu Simbel--
a true reflection

of Ramesses'
self-promotion.

- Ramesses built
more temples, obelisks,

and huge monuments
than any other pharaoh,

and the biggest Egyptian statue
ever was of himself.

♪ ♪

He was a true megalomaniac.

narrator: He was also
battle-hungry

and wanted
to re-claim territories

lost by past pharaohs.

At just 22,
he embarked on and won

numerous military campaigns.

His arch enemy was
the Hittites,

a people that lived in what is
now modern Turkey and Syria.

- Ramesses' most famous fight
was the Battle of Kadesh,

which took place
against the Hittites in 1274 BC.

♪ ♪

- It was the largest
chariot battle in history,

and 6,000 thundered
across the battlefield.

It was absolute carnage.

narrator: It was to be
the end of a conflict

that had lasted
for two centuries

over control of the lands
of the eastern Mediterranean.

The battle is believed
to have been a draw,

but Ramesses claimed
victory.

- He was a great propagandist
because he didn't win that war.

He didn't win that battle.

They didn't take
the city of Kadesh,

but he went back to Egypt
and erected

these huge monuments
celebrating his victory.

narrator: The final outcome
of the Battle of Kadesh

was the signing of the world's
first peace treaty,

in 1258 BC.

A copy of the treaty
now hangs

on the wall
of the United Nations.

♪ ♪

Ironically, Ramesses'
greatest monument

was a symbol of peace.

narrator:
We're counting down

the top 10 total dictators
of the ancient world.

The most powerful,
the most brutal,

and the most devastating,

changing the course
of history forever.

Next in our countdown is
a great military dictator.

At number six...

♪ ♪

the man famous for leading
elephants across the Alps--

Hannibal.

- He is one of the greatest
generals of all time,

which means he deserves
a place in our top ten list.

narrator:
In the 3rd Century BC,

the north African
Republic of Carthage,

what is modern day Tunisia,
was at war with Rome.

Hannibal's father was a general
in the Carthaginian army.

He had fought the Romans
for 40 years,

but eventually
suffered defeat.

This humiliation fueled
an obsession for revenge

in Hannibal.

When his time
to command the army came,

he made it his mission
to wipe out Rome for good.

He planned
an audacious attack.

His army included
90,000 infantry,

12,000 cavalry,
and even 40 war elephants.

- Hannibal was
the master of surprise.

He built giant rafts
on the river Rhone

to carry
his famous elephants,

and he did
the unthinkable.

He marched into Italy
over the Alps,

elephants and all,
totally surprising the Romans.

narrator: Leading his army
over the mountains

was an astonishing
achievement,

but it was his victories
on the battlefield,

once in Italy, that made him
such a great commander.

In the first two clashes
he routed the Romans.

[men shouting]

And he used his war elephants
to do it.

[elephant trumpeting]

- Two battles,
two bloodbaths.

In each case, Rome loses
3/4 of her army.

This has never happened

to the world's
leading superpower.

narrator:
Rome's response?

It raised
its biggest army ever--

90,000 fighting men.

The next battle would be
a monumental clash--

The Battle of Cannae.

- In this battle
Hannibal lost about 4,000 men.

The Romans,
up to 70,000.

This was one of the bloodiest
battles in history.

narrator: The Romans
should have crushed Hannibal,

but he used one
of the greatest

battlefield maneuvers
in history,

called
the pincer movement,

simultaneously attacking
both sides of the enemy.

This strategy
was to define Hannibal

as one of the greatest
tacticians of all time.

- This was the worst defeat
the Romans had ever had.

We've got to look forward
2,000 years later

to the battlefields
of World War I

to even see
that level of carnage,

and remember,
this wasn't guns,

this was slashing,
stabbing,

bloody hand-to-hand combat.

narrator: Hannibal went on
to occupy much of Italy

for 15 years,

but failed to take
the biggest prize of all,

the city of Rome.

He had won the battles,
but ultimately lost the war.

- In the end, like Cleopatra,
Hannibal poisoned himself

rather than face
Roman capture.

He had no intention
of giving the Romans

one inch of satisfaction.

narrator: Hannibal's victory
at Cannae had

far-reaching effects.

Rome lost its status
as a fighting power.

But ultimately it led
to the Roman military

being transformed
into a professional force.

And they even adopted
Hannibal's strategies

for their own.

- Hannibal defeated the Romans
in their own backyard.

His tactics were so good that
they're still being studied

in military academies
around the world.

I can't think of a better
endorsement for a combat leader.

narrator:
Hannibal was one of Rome's

most feared adversaries,
but he wasn't

the only tormentor
to threaten its authority.

Our next total dictator
had such power

that he had the fate
of the Empire

resting entirely
in his hands.

Riding in at number five...

♪ ♪

Attila the Hun.

Just the mention of his name
strikes terror into the soul.

This barbaric dictator
murdered his brother

so that at only 28 he became
the leader of the Huns,

a nomadic tribe
in Fifth Century AD,

Eastern Europe.

- There are few
historical figures

who inspire the terror
of Attila the Hun.

Armies fled in his wake.

Rivers ran with blood.

narrator:
Attila expanded his rule

by attacking
the Roman Empire.

He did it by rampaging
through cities,

torturing entire towns,
raping and killing.

He was so ruthless,
it's said

that if you were
a citizen in Rome

and begged for mercy,
he would still kill you.

- It cemented
his reputation

as one of the world's
most brutal dictators.

narrator:
Attila had the advantage

of commanding an army
that was vast,

bolstered by warriors
from different tribes.

- He was able to unite
the Germanic tribes

against the Roman Empire.

He was a just
and fair ruler,

unless you were Roman.

narrator: The Huns were
expert riders and under Attila,

they became famous
for their rapid movement,

catching the enemy
off guard.

They would swoop in, then
disappear just as suddenly.

- The key to Attila the Hun's
success was the composite bow.

Compact, powerful,

and you can use it
from horseback.

Mobile firepower.
Deadly.

- In less than ten years,
from virtually nothing,

Attila the Hun
built an empire

that stretched
all the way from central Asia

to modern day France.

Attila's reputation struck
such fear into his enemies,

he wasn't just
the scourge of Rome.

They called him
the Scourge of God.

narrator: After causing
wide-scale destruction

across Italy,
he set his eyes on Rome itself,

but was prevented by the most
unlikely of sources.

- He could have actually
gone on to destroy Rome,

but he stopped,
not because he didn't have

the military means,
but apparently

because the pope
came to see him,

unarmed and in person,

and somehow
convinced him not to.

narrator: Soon after that,
Attila died

in rather
undignified circumstances

on his wedding night,
after heavy drinking.

- When Attila the Hun died,
his entire army was devastated,

and his elite horsemen
smeared their faces with blood

and rode around
in a circle slowly

around the tent
where his body lay.

It would have been
a powerful, emotional sight.

♪ ♪

narrator: It's argued that
the impact of Attila's reign

was so great,
he was ultimately responsible

for the collapse
of the Roman Empire

in the West.

Today he is
still remembered

as a vicious,
unstoppable force.

♪ ♪

narrator: This is
the "Ancient Top 10" list

of total dictators,

ranked according
to their impact on history.

At number ten,

we saw the crazy
Roman emperor, Caligula.

Number nine,
madder still was Nero.

Number eight was
manipulative Cleopatra.

At number seven,
the greatest pharaoh,

Ramesses II.

At number six was
the mighty general Hannibal,

and at number five,
the terrifying Attila the Hun.

Next in our countdown,

the most famous Roman
of them all.

At number four,
all hail Julius Caesar.

♪ ♪

General,
brilliant politician.

Born in 100 BC,
Caesar created

a new chapter
in Roman history.

He made his name
conquering Gaul,

what is now France,

in the first of many
brilliant campaigns

that would give him
a reputation

as one of Rome's
all-time great leaders.

[men shouting]

But this infamy
came at a bloody cost.

- Caesar himself claimed
that he killed a million Gauls

and enslaved
another million.

♪ ♪

- Caesar nearly doubled
the size

of the Roman empire,
and under him,

the focus was pushing
into northern Europe,

away from the heartland
of the Mediterranean world.

narrator:
His enemies feared him,

but to his men
he was a hero.

He was never known
to have lost a battle.

- Julius Caesar has
three qualities that makes him

absolutely unstoppable.

One, he fights
on the frontline

with his soldiers
so they respect him.

Two, he never gives up,
and three,

he has the most capable armies
in the world

and he knows
exactly how to exploit them.

- He's bold and audacious
and thinking the unthinkable.

[men shouting]

narrator: But Caesar had
political enemies.

The Roman Senate ordered him
to step down from his command

and return to Rome.

They were afraid
of his power.

He went,
but took his army.

- And when he marched
into Rome,

people flocked to him.

They treated him
like a returning god.

narrator: With the support
of the people behind him,

he took over leadership
of the city.

He was made
dictator for life,

giving him extra powers,

which he used to rule
like a king.

- He didn't get to his position
by being born into it

like many other leaders
on the list.

He won it,
through determination,

through his dynamic
personality.

narrator: His impact
on Rome was immense.

He built magnificent
new buildings and temples.

He taxed the rich
and helped the poor.

He was responsible for the rise
of the Roman Empire.

- Julius Caesar had become
the new state.

The Roman Republic
was no more.

It had been replaced
by one total dictator.

narrator: At the height
of its empire,

Rome is thought to have been
the largest city on the planet,

with a population
of more than a million.

But Caesar's endless ambition
created enemies.

He was eventually killed
by his own men

on the floor
of the Senate.

The legacy
of his dictatorship?

Roman culture spreading
further than ever before.

We still live
by some of Caesar's principles.

The 365-day calendar and
many of Europe's laws today

are based on those introduced
by Caesar himself.

- The thing about Caesar
is that he had

the greatest historical impact
of any Roman leader ever.

♪ ♪

narrator:
While Julius Caesar fought

for domination
of Europe,

on the other side
of the world

an even greater evolution
had taken place.

It created the world's
most enduring empire,

and it's all thanks
to our number three.

♪ ♪

The emperor Qin of China.

He created one of the seven
wonders of the world

and an army
of clay soldiers.

He was the first emperor

of one of the oldest
civilizations in the world.

- China. 200 BC.
The Emperor Qin.

♪ ♪

Before this time,
all was disunification,

warring states everywhere.

[men shouting]

- And in just nine
short years,

Emperor Qin takes over
one million square miles

and becomes emperor
to 27 million people.

♪ ♪

The scale of this
is unbelievable.

narrator:
In the third century BC,

no man on earth
could rival Qin.

He came to power
at the age of 39,

and did more
than any other ancient dictator

to build a legacy.

He carried out
a series of reforms

that would unify the country
and build a lasting empire.

- Emperor Qin created
a dynasty,

created a system
of standardized measures,

scripts, language, roads.

narrator:
And he began the building

of the Great Wall of China,

the most ambitious
engineering project

in all history.

But in order to build
and keep control

of his incredible empire,
Qin was a merciless dictator.

Enemies were hunted down
and enslaved.

- The emperor Qin created
a police state

in ancient China.

He persecuted Confucians,
he enslaved people,

he castrated prisoners,

he basically allowed
no private citizens

to have
their own weapons.

This was ultimate
dictatorial control.

narrator: He even had a plan
to rule in the afterlife.

It gave us one
of the most extraordinary

archaeological finds
of all time,

and it's coming up
on "Ancient Top 10."

♪ ♪

narrator: This is
"Ancient Top 10's" list

of total dictators,

ranked according
to their impact on history.

Brutal, cruel,
power-hungry rulers

who would stop at nothing
to grow their empires.

At number three
on our list...

♪ ♪

The Emperor Qin,
the first emperor of China.

- Emperor Qin was obsessed
with immortality.

He had his alchemists
working on an elixir of life.

Now some of these elixirs
contained mercury,

which ironically,
rather than extend his life,

probably did
the exact opposite

and hastened his death.

narrator: Even so,
death posed no obstacle

and he wanted to do
whatever was necessary

to rule in the afterlife
as well as this one.

- Qin had over 700,000 workers
build his tomb,

and the construction took place
over his entire life.

♪ ♪

- After his death, Qin's entire
court was buried with him.

Hundreds of slaves, servants,
concubines, wives, musicians,

even his favorite
horse and chariot,

buried alive.

♪ ♪

narrator: Qin believed
that he would also need

protection
in the afterlife,

so he built forces in his tomb
to guard him.

- The one problem with being
a violent tyrant

who comes to power
by slaying everybody

who stands in your way is
you make a few enemies.

When you're alive,
it's not a problem.

You've got bodyguards,

you can keep 'em
out of the way.

But when you're dead,

they're waiting for you
in the afterlife,

and they carry
a serious grudge.

♪ ♪

narrator: Qin would create
an entire army

to look after him
when he died,

to be buried
alongside him.

♪ ♪

- This is where we find
the famous Terracotta Army.

♪ ♪

8,000 soldiers,
horses, and chariots,

all designed to protect him
in the afterlife.

♪ ♪

- Emperor Qin's tomb
was also protected

by booby traps
and a great mercury lake.

Even today archaeologists
have yet to uncover

the full mysteries
of the tomb.

♪ ♪

- Emperor Qin.

He built the Great Wall,

he left us
the Terracotta Army,

and he gave his name
to China.

This guy left
a serious legacy.

narrator: Qin united a country
to create his empire,

but our next total dictator
was intent

on dividing and conquering
to build his,

reaching
across several continents,

just missing out
on the top spot...

♪ ♪

At number two,
Alexander the Great,

military commander
and king of ancient Greece--

a man whose very name
is a tribute

to the vast territory
he conquered.

The story of Alexander is
a mix of myth and fact.

He was a pupil of Aristotle,
the great philosopher,

and then became ruler
of the Macedonian Empire

in the fourth century BC.

Some saw him as a tyrant,
an alcoholic and a thief,

whilst others painted him
as a saint and a hero.

- Alexander was
certainly charismatic.

The son of a king,

he even washed
his hair in saffron

to make it shiny.

Today he would be
a movie star.

♪ ♪

It's easy
to romanticize him though.

Don't forget, he was
a cold-blooded killer.

♪ ♪

- Alexander became
very successful very quickly.

When he was just 16,

he was left in charge
of Macedonia,

and by the age of 19
he'd been declared king.

[men shouting]

- A couple years after that
he had vanquished

the Greeks' greatest enemy,
Persia,

from within which he ruled
over 2 million square miles.

There had never been
an empire that big before.

narrator: Alexander was
a brilliant commander

and expert tactician.

- Throughout history,
military leaders have looked

to Alexander the Great
for inspiration.

Bold maneuvers,
surprise attacks,

being at the right place
at the right time

to deliver
the perfect killing blow

exactly when
it was needed.

This guy is
as good as it gets.

♪ ♪

- Alexander the Great
was a brilliant general,

but he suffered from these bouts
of rage and paranoia.

He's really
the incarnation

of what it is to be
a megalomaniac.

He is brilliant,
but he also had his demons.

narrator: As many
of the other dictators

on our list have shown,
sometimes power

can bring about
debauched behavior.

- Alexander the Great had
quite the complicated love life.

He had three wives,
one mistress,

a lifelong male lover,

and a sexual relationship
with a eunuch,

and who knows
how many others on the side.

- And like most soldiers,

Alexander the Great
was kind of a party animal.

His drinking was
legendary.

Once, when drunk,
he killed

one of his best friends
with a spear,

and another time,
after a drinking contest,

42 of his buddies
lay around him

dead with alcohol poisoning.

This guy was a pro.

[men shouting]

narrator:
After 15 years of battling

across half
of the known world,

Alexander died at just 32,
possibly of malaria.

- In all his years
of conquests,

Alexander the Great
never lost a single campaign.

He's definitely one
of the greatest military minds

that ever lived.

[men shouting]

- Alexander's drive
for immortality was responsible

for the deaths
of 1/4 million people.

That's more than anyone
up until that time.

He was a great general,
but he was brutal--

really, really brutal.

♪ ♪

- Love him or hate him,

Alexander was
one exceptional guy.

narrator: Alexander fought
for honor and glory,

and a result was
the spread of Greek culture

across several continents.

He will always be remembered
as an all-conquering dictator.

♪ ♪

narrator: This is
"Ancient Top 10's" list

of total dictators,

violent rulers
of the ancient world,

ranked according
to the impact they had.

♪ ♪

At number ten was
power-crazed Caligula.

♪ ♪

Number nine,
the demented Nero.

♪ ♪

Number eight, the last
Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra.

♪ ♪

And number seven,

the mighty pharaoh,
Ramesses II.

♪ ♪

Number six was
the brilliant general Hannibal.

And number five,
brutal Attila the Hun.

At four,
Rome's ultimate dictator,

Julius Caesar,

and at number three,

the first emperor of China,
the emperor Qin.

Just missing the top spot
at number two,

the immense
Alexander the Great.

♪ ♪

But who do our experts
consider

to be the number-one
ancient total dictator?

Was he Roman?

Chinese?

Egyptian?

No. Springing upon the world
in a blaze of glory,

this evil warlord
was a Mongolian warrior

who would turn most of Asia
into a bloodbath.

At Number one...

♪ ♪

Genghis Khan.

He left terror and destruction
in his wake,

annihilated
tens of millions of people,

and created the biggest empire
in antiquity.

He was the greatest dictator
the world has ever seen.

- Genghis Khan was
a great ruler,

a military genius,

and truth be told,
a bloodthirsty tyrant.

narrator: Mongolia
in the 12th century AD,

a land of feuding tribes,
raiding and marauding.

- Genghis Khan's father
was murdered.

He rose from poverty,

he escaped
from slavery and exile,

and he then rose to the top
and united

the warring Mongol tribes
underneath him.

It's the ultimate example
of coming from nothing

and then staying at the top
against all odds.

narrator:
By 1206 AD,

Khan had turned
the individual tribes

into one single political
and military force

known as the Mongols.

He then led them into war
against their arch-enemy.

With 90,000 men,
Khan invaded China.

It had the largest army
in the world--

over a million men--
and he destroyed them.

- [groans]

narrator:
When the Mongols took Zhongdu,

the capital of China,

they massacred
over 100,000 people.

It's said that the earth
was greasy with human fat.

But he didn't destroy
everything.

- Genghis Khan was
incredibly violent,

but he was smart, so you know,
he went through China,

but he took from China
paper and printing,

guns, gunpowder,

and brought them with him
to the rest of the world

and used them well.

narrator:
Then he turned West

and wiped out around 3/4
of what is now Iran.

- In 25 years, Genghis Khan
and his Mongol hordes

managed to conquer
an area

bigger than the Romans
managed to in four centuries.

narrator: It was
the largest land empire

in the ancient world.

It went on to cover
over 12 million square miles,

more than three times
the size of the United States.

- No army has moved as far
or as fast until World War II,

and they did it
all on horseback.

narrator: For its citizens,
being part of the Mongol Empire

had a great many advantages.

It was one
of the most ethnically

and culturally diverse
in history.

But as for rival leaders,
if they didn't surrender,

they suffered
the consequences.

- Now, we can't know
exactly how many people died

as a result
of Genghis Khan's conquest,

but a rough estimate
is a staggering 40 million.

That's at least
as much as Stalin,

and more than Hitler.

[men shouting]

- So many lives
were extinguished

under Genghis Khan's rule

that the amount of carbon
in the atmosphere

caused by people breathing
was reduced

by a staggering
700 million tons.

- This is incredible
on two levels.

One, he was able
to murder

11% of the global population
at the time,

and two, this led
to climate change.

narrator: Khan's impact was
immediate and devastating,

but he also brought
law and civilization.

His conquest was
so solid,

there was a century of peace
afterwards.

- This guy wasn't just brutal,
he was brilliant,

so, for example,
he saw that the Chinese

had amazing law codes
and codes for commerce

and medicine
and these kinds of things,

and he left them
in place.

He said, "These people
are doing it right.

I'll rule as an overlord
and leave things as they are."

narrator:
Trading routes opened

and cultural and technological
exchanges took place.

Explorers
like Marco Polo

were able to travel
freely across the land.

This unification was key
in building a strong empire.

But individually,
Khan believed a man's strength

was in the children
he left behind,

and he had a harem of women
that numbered in the thousands.

- Now, believe it or not,
due to Genghis Khan's

great success
in raiding and pillaging

over such a huge area,

1 in 200 men
on planet Earth today

can trace their DNA
directly back to him.

I would call that
success.

♪ ♪

- No one knows where
Genghis Khan is buried.

The witnesses to his burial
were killed,

and his grave is
hidden somewhere.

But to this day in Mongolia,
he remains a national symbol.

♪ ♪

narrator:
As well as modern day Mongolia,

Genghis Khan's empire
included most of China,

spreading
throughout Asia,

the Middle East,
and even Russia.

♪ ♪

- No one else in history
has ever come close.

Genghis Khan is
the ultimate dictator.

♪ ♪

narrator: There have been
dictators throughout history,

but for sheer ruthlessness,
nothing can match the ancients.

With their ambition,
determination,

and relentless brutality,

they forged empires
and changed the world forever.

These were
the ancient total dictators.