The symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder which Alexander the Great displayed throughout his life. A military genius Alexander had both physical bravery and leadership abilities which people recognized yet he thought about others in binary terms. He demonstrated opportunist traits and showed little or no emotion at the loss of his men. His pursuit of victory stemmed from his need to achieve his impressive life goals.
Cleopatra (70/69–30 BCE)
Cleopatra who ruled Egypt suffered from NPD. She was a beautiful and dynamic woman who enjoyed great power in a world dominated by men. Cleopatra possessed a proud and complicated personality because her narcissistic nature caused her to commit suicide after her defeat.
Herod the Great (c. 72–c. 4 BCE)
Historians have suggested that Herod was a narcissist according to their research. Herod was a vain man who showed jealousy and sought power while he displayed extreme obsession with his own achievements. He executed massive construction projects across Judea while he became known as the biblical figure who commanded the Massacre of the Innocents.
Caligula (12–41 CE)
The Roman Empire had its most irrational emperor in Caligula who ruled as an emperor from 37 to 41 CE. The historical record shows him as a sadistic tyrant who demanded divine worship from his subjects. He ordered that all major religious statues should have their heads removed so they could display his own likeness instead. He built a golden statue of himself which stood at life-size inside a Roman temple and required that its clothing should match his daily outfits.
Nero (37–68 CE)
Nero who ruled as Roman emperor from 54 to 68 CE displayed megalomania and lacked any moral conscience while demonstrating complete self-absorption which prevented him from feeling empathy toward others. The last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty killed his mother who opposed his relationship with Poppaea Sabina and he received blame for initiating the Great Fire of Rome which destroyed three of the city's 14 districts while inflicting major damage to seven other districts.
Vlad the Impaler (c. 1428–c. 1477)
People start to notice an individual needs help when Dracula serves as the basis for their character design. The 15th-century Prince of Wallachia was a malignant narcissist. The man exhibited standard NPD symptoms through his lack of emotional attachment combined with his psychopathic tendencies and sadistic behavior and his paranoid mental state. The mass murders that Vlad conducted through his ruthless and violent methods together with his disturbing practice of impaling enemies on stakes serve as evidence of his twisted mental state.
Henry VIII (1491–1547)
Henry VIII who ruled England during his reign has been given the title of King of Narcissism. His mood swings together with his need for control over others show his narcissistic tendencies which became worse when he gained more power. Throughout his reign Henry used shouting as a way to control his advisors and courtiers while he spent money on extravagant things to satisfy his feelings of inferiority. He showed his extreme need for a male heir by marrying six women, two of whom he had executed.
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821)
Many psychologists believe some of the positive aspects of NPD—for example, the adoption of a self-confident attitude and the ability to assume positions of leadership—may have driven the success of Napoleon in campaigns during the Revolutionary Wars. He displayed grandiosity through his self-coronation as emperor in 1804 which he used to begin his mission to achieve further military victories. His already unstable personality became more problematic because the Napoleonic Wars brought multiple setbacks with the 1812 Russian retreat disaster and the 1815 Waterloo battle defeat.
Ma Barker (1873–1935)
Kate "Ma" Barker led her family of Midwestern American criminals who committed their crimes during the 1920s and early 1930s. She raised her four sons through an educational process that involved her to create conflicts between them while she provided no signs of love or compassion to her children. The entire family of Ma Barker faced their inevitable destiny when they all died through violent and bloody means.
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945)
Mussolini's arrogant posturing through his chin-out and hands-on-hip stance showed his inflated self-image. The Italian dictator established fascism as his main political ideology which combined extreme right-wing beliefs with authoritarian rule and ultra-nationalist tendencies.
Duke of Windsor (1894–1972)
The diagnosis of Edward VIII William Edward Montagu who became Duke of Windsor was proposed to have Narcissistic Personality Disorder according to researchers. His unwavering commitment to wed Wallis Simpson whom he loved caused him to lose his royal status because he exhibited extreme behavior that went against traditional norms. His attempts to create a partnership with Nazi Germany worsened his situation because he met Adolf Hitler and spent time with top officials of the Third Reich.
