Our understanding and treatment of mental illness has come a long way over the centuries – and it’s just as well! In medieval times, people suffering a bout of ‘melancholia’ or those deemed ‘mad’ were seen as a great embarrassment to their families and were routinely locked away, hastily removed from the public eye. But what happens when that person is the most powerful person in the country? As history will show us, handling a ‘mad monarch’ was a difficult and risky business!
Nebuchadnezzar II – 7th Century BC, Babylon
Born in 634 BC in what is now called Neo-Babylonia, Nebuchadnezzar II became one of the greatest Babylonian kings. In his quest to make Babylon the most powerful city-state in the east, Nebuchadnezzar and his armies went up against the Egyptians and the Assyrians, defeating both. He successfully managed to gain control of all the trade routes in Mesopotamia, from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean, by subduing the Syrians and Palestinians. Although Nebuchadnezzar's military and political accomplishments were great, he appeared to have suffered a period of insanity, which is described in the Bible.
