13. Pothinus Gave a Severed Head to Julius Caesar
Pothinus was a young king regent to the Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, who was running Egypt together with Cleopatra VII. They were only supposed to rule together until Pothinus became old enough to take over his rightful place as Pharaoh. There does not seem to be a good explanation of why Pothinus became a eunuch in the first place, but it could have been to prevent him from passing down the royal bloodline, or he could have chosen that lifestyle.
It was said that Pothinus studied the art of persuasion, but that he was far better at making friends with evil men. Pothinus tried to gain favor with Julius Caesar by killing and beheading one of his enemies, Pompey. However, this totally backfired, and it only disgusted Caesar, and made him mistrust Pothinus’ leadership skills. He ended up siding with Cleopatra and Ptolemy, and ordering that Pothinus be beheaded.