Historical Backstabs That Backfired Big Time

Everyone loves a good double cross

It's why every daytime talk show and soap opera has been on the air longer than many of us have been alive

But as the old saying goes, if you play with fire, you're going to get burned

And even the most carefully planned double crosses can blow up in your face

So today, we're looking at historical backstabs that backfired big time. Attila the Hun swept through Western Europe

in the 5th century BCE, ransacking what is now France. But the incursion was halted by a coalition

led by the Roman general Flavius Aetius at the Battle of the Catalonian Fields

We imagine Flavius hoped to get a commendation or something. But instead, his stellar service was rewarded

by getting whacked at the hand of Emperor Valentinian III, believing Aetius intended to place his own son on the throne

Instead of Valentinian's firstborn, the emperor accused the general of trumped-up charges of drunkenness and insubordination

and then took care of him. According to one source, after Valentinian finished the act

a courtier said, You have just cut off your right hand with your left. Like an evil dead situation

the ominous prediction by the surprisingly eloquent advisor held true. Less than six months later

two of Aetius' subordinates got their revenge on Valentinian, slaying the emperor in the middle of

the city in broad daylight, with none of the nearby guards even trying to stop it

Not content with unifying Japan under his banner, Toyotome Hideyoshi launched an audacious bid to

become emperor of China, beginning with the conquest of Korea in 1592. Jeez, dude, leave

some of the continent for the rest of us. The incursion stalled when one outstanding Korean

admiral named Yi Sunxin inflicted a series of catastrophic defeats upon the Japanese fleet

But with great acclaim comes great jealousy, and Yi's position was coveted by fellow officer

Wong Yun, so much so that he plotted and schemed to remove Yi from power. When Yi was imprisoned

for disobeying orders that would have sent his fleet into a trap, Wong Yun was handed the reins

What a win, right? Well, in his one and only naval battle as commander

he indeed sent his fleet into a trap. Wong Yun was declared KIA and lost all but 12 of the Korean

Navy's warships. Meanwhile, Yi's allies in court managed to convince the king of his innocence

which must have really pissed off Wong Yun's ghost. When you think of the Renaissance, you may think of the Italian city of Florence and its powerful

Medici family. The Medicis made their fortune in banking and spent lavishly to support Florence's burgeoning

arts movement. But with this wealth and acclaim came jealousy and a plot by the rival Pazzi family to knock the Medicis from their perch The plan was simple Assassinate the current ruler Lorenzo and his younger brother Guiliano

They wanted to finish off the siblings outside the city walls at the same time

But the brothers kept separating when the attacks were supposed to go down. After months of waiting, the plotters decided at the last moment to attack the Medicis during mass

Guiliano was stabbed 19 times, with Francesco Pazzi making the fatal blow

Lorenzo managed to escape the sacrilegious ambush with a minor neck wound

During the attack, Jacopo Pazzi was supposed to rouse the city's population against the

Medicis, but soon found the Pazzi family badly underestimated the level of public support

for the Medicis and how willing everyone would be to forgive a violent attack in church

Turns out people don't like that so much. Francesco was dragged from his bed and hung by an angry mob

alongside several other conspirators. Jacopo tried to flee the city, but was soon captured

and dispatched alongside scores of his family. But apparently, death alone was not sufficient punishment for Jacopo

His body was exhumed from the Pazzi family tomb and reburied outside the city walls

Then some local children dug up the remains and dragged Jacopo back through the city

before chucking him into the River Arno. When asked why, the children allegedly said, I don't know what to tell you, bud

In 1592 CE, the fearsome warlord Oda Nobunaga was on the cusp of unifying Japan under his banner

With news of a siege stalling in the west, he ordered one of his top generals, Akechi Mitsuhide, to gather his men

But he probably should have picked someone else. With Nobunaga staying the night in the Honoji Temple in Kyoto, Mitsuhide turned on his master

and overwhelmed the few retainers Nobunaga had on hand. With the situation lost, Nobunaga set fire to the temple and took his own life

That's some I'm-taking-my-ball-and-going-home energy. It seemed like Akechi Mitsuhide was poised to finish what his master had started and

ultimately become the ruler of Japan, but he only had a week to enjoy his spoils

After that, the forces of another Nobunaga subordinate defeated Mitsuhide's troops. Mitsuhide fled the scene, but he was slain by a bandit leader less than a month later

Easy come, easy go. Li Bu was one of several warlords vying for control of China in the wake of the Han Dynasty's collapse

He cut his teeth as an officer in service of a magistrate named Ding Nguyen and even became his adopted son

A strange move, but an undeniably effective career strategy. However when powerful warlord Dong Zhuo came onto the scene Li Bu jumped at the chance to betray his adopted father in exchange for a place at Dong Zhuo side He lopped off poor Ding Yun head and became the foster son of Dong Zhuo

Li Bu served his new master well until he also betrayed and killed him

People should probably stop adopting this guy. Li Bu spent the next few years

moving from one warlord to another until he was apprehended in his sleep

and presented to the great warlord, Chow Chow. Li Bu offered to serve Chow Chow

But this was rebuffed on the advice of warlord Liu Bei, whom Li Bu had the unfortunate habit of calling Big Ears

Li Bu was strangled on the orders of Cao Cao, and we'd like to imagine the strangler said

Big Ears sent me. Of course, much of his story comes from the 14th century novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms

which is a dramatized version of history, like Braveheart. So take it with a hefty pinch of salt

The eldest son of Alexander the Great's bodyguard, Ptolemaeus Caravnos, was passed over for the

Egyptian throne in favor of his younger brother, Philadelphos, who ruled as Ptolemy II. After he

was disinherited, Caravnos linked up with another of Alexander's successors, Selefgos, to topple yet

another Alexandrian alum, Lysimahos, and claim his kingdom. But once Lysimahos was vanquished

the impetuous Karavnos knifed Selavkos in the back and claimed Lysimahos' kingdom as his own

Following all that so far, there are a lot of O's names in there. Treachery may have won Karavnos a crown, but it did not make him super popular. He managed to fend

off the initial challenges to his throne, but the chaos prompted an army of Galatians to swoop in

Karavnos refused to lend aid to the neighboring tribes, and in doing so

he signed his own death certificate. His would-be allies became enemies and joined up with the

Galatian king Vojios. Cheravnos was defeated in battle and the victorious Celts mounted his head

on a spear. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Artavnos was the captain of the Persian king Xerxes' personal guard. It's nice work

if you can get it, but after his disastrous attempts to invade Greece

and an expensive building program that depleted the empire's treasury, the knives were out for Xerxes

So, Arctavanos went in on a conspiracy with Xerxes' son-in-law, Megavizos, who sounds like he may have been a Decepticon

and a conniving court advisor named Aspamitres, who sounds like an artificial sweetener

The plan was simple. Kill Xerxes and pin the blame on the eldest son, Darius

The scheme was carried out flawlessly, and the unfortunate Darius was executed by his younger brother Artaxerxes for his crime despite his vigorous denials Not content with just one regicide the gang got back together to take out the new king But Artavanos soon discovered that vows don mean an awful lot among backstabbers

Megavizos sold out both Artavanos and Asparmitres to gain favor with Arthazerxes

and Artavanos was swiftly whacked. Ottoman Sultan Osman II was nicknamed The Young

So you know his story doesn't end well. The 13-year-old Sultan ascended to the throne at the expense of his uncle Mustafa

who was declared mentally unsound for political reasons, and confined to a room in his palace

Meanwhile, Osman wasn't terribly impressed with the performance of the Janissaries, the elite personal guard of the Sultan

and decided to replace them with an entirely new army raised from peasants

He also wanted to move the capital of Constantinople to Damascus. But once they got wind of the scheme

the Janissaries, led by Pasha, moved swiftly to topple the teenager. Osman was seized and dragged through the city like a common thief

and the hostile crowd had little sympathy for their ruler's plight. Mustafa was restored to the throne

and Pasha was rewarded with the plum position of Grand Vizier in the new regime

Pasha ordered Osman's execution, but was a little too zesty in doing so

because he did it without Mustafa's approval. He was promptly arrested and given a taste of his own medicine

Pasha's time at the top, and his life, was over in a matter of weeks

Marcus Junius Brutus might be the most famous backstabber outside of Fredo Corleone

He played a key role in one of the best-known conspiracies in recorded history

The assassination of Julius Caesar in March 44 BCE. He was also a fantastic juggler, but nobody ever mentions that

A coalition of conspirators was formed to stop Caesar from destroying the Roman Republic

While some may have been motivated more by personal ambition than lofty ideals

the group that struck down Caesar viewed themselves as liberators. Or at least that's what they said

Caesar was ultimately stabbed 23 times. Though who struck the killing blow

and whether or not Caesar's last words were quite as dramatic as Shakespeare would have you believe

is not known. However, Brutus made the mistake of leaving Caesar's right-hand man, Mark Antony

alive, and the conspirators misread how stoked the public would be about Caesar's demise

The Senate House was burned down, and the liberators were forced to flee the city

Brutus and Cassius raised an army in Greece, but were defeated by the combined forces of Mark Antony

and Octavian, Caesar's nephew and named heir. And the most unkindest cut of all

the very thing the conspirators wanted to save, the Roman Republic, was finished off by Octavian

who took the name Augustus after he prevailed in a power struggle with Mark Antony

A too cruel irony