Everybody Wants to Rule the World — 72 of Them Actually Did

Tears for Fears released it in 1985. Four minutes and eleven seconds, and the title turned out to be a decent summary of Roman politics.

Because 72 men actually did rule the world — or the part of it Rome cared about — from Augustus in 27 BC to a teenager named Romulus Augustulus in AD 476. Set their portraits to the song and each one gets about three and a half seconds. Roughly two years of Roman history per second of playback.

Watch the middle of the video. That’s where the faces start coming fast, and it isn’t an editing choice — it’s the Crisis of the Third Century. Rome went through six emperors in the year 238 alone. Gordian I and II lasted 21 days. Balbinus and Pupienus lasted 99, and they have to share a frame on the poster because they ruled together.

Everybody wanted to rule the world. Roughly seven in ten of them died by murder, battle, or their own hand.

Fair warning for the comment section: the count is genuinely contested. Co-emperors, usurpers, and the Eastern line after 476 all move the number. 72 is what’s on this poster.