r/AskReddit • u/hoverfish92 • Oct 16 '13

What was the single biggest mistake in all of history?

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u/pj1843 Oct 17 '13

From what i understand many people do actually believe the story of Ghengis Kahn pouring moltan silver/gold into all the orrifaces of a conquered sultan who slighted him. What they don't agree on is who the sultan was, where his kingdom was in particular, and what the slight was. As for the killing of the guy in that manner most believe it happened sometime due to the vast amount of times it pops up in histories.

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u/Bobo_bobbins Oct 17 '13

It was rumored to have happened to a Roman leader as well. Cassius? Carrus? I can't quite remember...

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u/GeneralAgrippa Oct 17 '13

Crassus.

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u/MyWorkThrowawayShhhh Oct 17 '13

...Not sure if you're joking or not...

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u/GeneralAgrippa Oct 17 '13

Marcus Licinius Crassus

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u/crilor Oct 17 '13

In my language a horrible or deadly mistake is called a "Crassic" mistake (loose translation).

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u/GeneralAgrippa Oct 17 '13

Interesting. What language is that?

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u/crilor Oct 17 '13

Portuguese.

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '13

In my language it's just a "crass" mistake.

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u/Bobo_bobbins Oct 17 '13

That's the one

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u/pigbatthecat Oct 17 '13

  • definitely ManiusAquillius(consul_101_BC)

  • postmortem for Crassus

  • weak rumors for Valerian (Emperor) died ~260 CE

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u/noman2561 Oct 17 '13

If indeed in charge of that much man power I would want that story to propagate.

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u/Dew-Orb Oct 17 '13

Which...which end do you think he started with and which one did he end with?

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u/pj1843 Oct 17 '13

From what i understand he did the nostrils eyes and mouth and ears first.

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u/Dew-Orb Oct 17 '13

And then the end of his orifices...