15. Sporus Pretended To Be the Empress of Rome
The Roman Emperor Nero is remembered for being vicious and cruel, but few people know that he fancied a young boy named Sporus who was very attractive and feminine. So, he castrated him, and married the boy. According to the story, Nero kicked his first wife, Poppaea, to death when she was pregnant with their child. And when he saw Sporus, he thought that the boy looked almost exactly like his dead wife. He even started calling Sporus “Poppaea”, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he even made him dress up in his wife’s clothes. This was partly out of guilt, and partly to cover up the fact that he killed his wife. We don’t know how well this ruse actually worked, though.
Creepy? Yes. Insane? Definitely. Aside from the body mutilation and having to be married to an abusive psychopath, Sporus got to enjoy all of the luxuries of an “Empress” in the Holy Roman Empire. After Nero’s death, Sporus could have gone free, but without any real job skills to speak of, he tried to become the “wife” of two other politicians, since that’s what he did best. But his plans were ruined when he was exposed for homosexuality. He ended up being forced to fight as a gladiator, and chose to commit suicide on the battlefield, instead.