Unusual Deaths in Antiquity

Death is inevitable… but it can sometimes strike in strangely spectacular ways. Here is a collection of remarkable cases from Antiquity, where fate took some truly unexpected turns.

Milo of Croton (around 540 BC)

A famous Greek athlete renowned for his superhuman strength, he once tried to split open a partially cracked tree trunk with his bare hands. His hands became trapped, and unable to free himself, he was devoured by wolves. A tragic and savage end.

Pheidippides (around 490 BC)

The Athenian hero of the Battle of Marathon is said to have run the 42 kilometers from Marathon to Athens to announce the victory… only to collapse and die from exhaustion. His feat inspired the modern marathon.

Aeschylus (around 458 BC)

The Greek playwright reportedly died in a bizarre accident: a bearded vulture dropped a live tortoise onto his bald head, mistaking it for a rock to crack the shell. A tragedy worthy of his own dramas.

Philetas of Cos (around 270 BC)

A poet and grammarian who, according to tradition, died of insomnia after becoming obsessed with the liar’s paradox. When logic turns lethal…

Chrysippus of Soli (around 207 BC)

A Stoic philosopher said to have died of laughter after seeing a drunken donkey trying to eat figs. Proof that even the wise are not immune to a fatal fit of laughter.

Licinius Crassus (53 BC)

After his defeat against the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae, Crassus was captured by the general Surena. According to several ancient sources, molten gold was poured into his mouth with the words: “Satiate yourself with the metal you crave so much!” His head was then sent to the Parthian king Orodes II.
(Modern historians note that such symbolic stories were common in Roman accounts.)

Porcia Catonis (42 BC)

Wife of Marcus Junius Brutus, she is said to have taken her own life by swallowing hot coals after learning of her husband’s death. Many historians, however, believe she more likely died from carbon monoxide poisoning in a poorly ventilated room.

Herod the Great (4 BC)

According to the historian Flavius Josephus, he died after a long and agonizing illness involving fever, violent itching, abdominal pain, genital gangrene with maggots, convulsions, and difficulty breathing.
(Specialists today suspect a combination of kidney failure, sepsis, and gangrene.)

The son of Emperor Claudius (1st century AD)

He is said to have choked to death while playing with a pear he tried to toss and catch in his mouth.
(The story is reported by Suetonius, though some historians consider it satirical.)

The Apostle Peter (around 64–67 AD)

According to the Acts of Peter, an apocryphal text, he was crucified upside down at his own request. The inverted position is explained through theological symbolism related to the creation of the world. It is the only crucifixion of this kind described in ancient sources.

Emperor Galba (AD 69)

So unpopular among Romans and the Praetorian Guard, he was assassinated—and 120 different people claimed responsibility. Their names were recorded in a list that Emperor Vitellius later used to track them down and execute them.

Emperor Valerian (AD 260)

Captured by Shapur I, king of the Sassanid Persians, Valerian was allegedly used as a human footstool whenever the king mounted his horse. After years of humiliation, some authors claim he was flayed alive. The more credible version suggests that his skin was tanned and dyed red after his death to create a macabre mannequin.

Hypatia of Alexandria (AD 415)

A Greek mathematician and philosopher, she was murdered by a Christian mob who tore her flesh with sharp oyster shells (or, according to other sources, pottery shards). What remained of her body was then burned.

(Source: Wikipedia)