Ancient serial killers
Jack the Ripper and H. H. Holmes are often called the first serial killers, but did you know there were equally ruthless people that preceded them? Here are 6 historical serial killers all active before the 17th century.
Procrustes
According to Greek mythology, Procrustes owned an estate along a busy road in Attica, Greece. He would “kindly” invite passers-by and travellers to rest and stay the night at his place, offering an iron bed. If you didn’t fit, don’t worry! Procrustes would stretch or amputate the traveller to the length of the bed, which would kill them. His murders finally ended when the mythical Theseus gave Procrustes a taste of his own medicine by using his own method against him! While Procrustes existence is still debated by historians, the next serial killers are all real.
The all-female roman poison ring
While Procrustes was doing his thing in Greece, something weird was happening in Ancient Rome. Around 331 BC, men started dropping dead everywhere. Initially thought to be a plague, an investigation discovered it to be poison! These murders were linked to a group of over 100 matrons, with the ringleaders being 2 aristocratic women named Sergia and Cornelia. Ironically, the women claimed to be giving the men medicine, and when prompted to drink their own concoctions to prove their innocence, they readily drank, and then died.
Liu Pengli
Liu Pengli is known as the first recorded serial killer in history. A Han prince, Pengli’s reign of terror started in 2nd Century BC and lasted 2 decades. He would often go on “expeditions” with 10-30 young men, slaves, and criminals, where he would kill people and steal their belongings. He had over 100 confirmed victims and would have had many more if a victim’s son hadn’t alerted the Emperor. Luckily for Pengli, the Emperor was his uncle, who couldn’t stand to have him killed. Instead he was stripped of his title, made a commoner, and banished from the kingdom.
A notable historically merciless killer, Queen Anula ruled Sri Lanka from 47 to 42 BC. She is notable for being the first queen in Sri Lankan history to have wielded great power and authority, as well as being the first female head of state in Asia. Her story is filled with affairs, poisonings, and murders, and she definitely wasn’t someone to mess with. In total she killed all 4 of her husbands, as well as her son. The pattern went: have an affair, kill your current husband and marry the new man, then fall in love with someone else, and kill the current husband, and so on. Eventually, Anula was overthrown and burned alive, ending her saga of poisonings.
Locusta of Gaul
Another woman well versed in poison, Locusta was active in the Roman Empire during the First Century. She was also known to poison for fun, using her skills in botany and herbs to give people fatal heart attacks. Her talent made her the go-to poison maker for the Emperor Nero, who sent aspiring poisoners to learn from her. Locusta also allegedly took part of the assassinations of Claudius and Britannicus. However, when Nero died and Galba rose to Emperor, her protection ran out. She was quickly executed, going down into history as the “first female serial killer in Western history”.
Gilles de Rais
Gilles de Rais was a French nobleman and knight in the 15th century. His notable achievements include fighting alongside Joan of Arc, and well, being a serial child killer. After he retired from the military, Gilles took up the occult and alchemy in attempt to summon a demon to make him rich. He also started kidnapping and murdering children.
He was finally caught in 1440, and after confessing to murdering over 140 children, he and his accomplice were hanged. In a surprising twist, many have doubted the credibility of his confession, theorising that the verdict of his trial was an act of revenge by the Catholic Church- similar to Joan of Arc. Either way, the crimes committed are horrifying regardless of who was the perpetrator.
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