Ancients Behaving Badly is an American documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 series that aired from November to December 2009 on The History Channel

The History Channel

History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...

. The show focuses on the misdeeds of famous historical figures using forensic investigation, cartoon sequences, and historian interviews.

Format

Narrated by Tom McCamus

Tom McCamus

Tom McCamus is an award-winning Canadian film and theatre actor who is most widely known for his work on the science-fiction television show Mutant X....

, each episode features a new historical leader who "behaved badly." The person's life story is explored through cartoon sequences and historian interviews. The historical figure is then placed on an "Ancients Behaving Badly Psychograph." The X axis rates them from "goal driven killer" to "psychopathic murderer" while the Y axis measures individual pathologies.

Episodes

• Caligula
  Caligula
  Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
  
   
• Attila the Hun
  Attila the Hun
  Attila , more frequently referred to as Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in 453. He was leader of the Hunnic Empire, which stretched from the Ural River to the Rhine River and from the Danube River to the Baltic Sea. During his reign he was one of the most feared...
  
  
• Julius Caesar
  Julius Caesar
  Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
  
   
• Alexander the Great 
• Nero
  Nero
  Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
  
   
• Hannibal 
• Genghis Khan
  Genghis Khan
  Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
  
   
• Cleopatra (the only female mentioned in the show)