tyrannicide

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Tyrannicide literally means the killing of a tyrant, or one who has committed the act. Typically, the term is taken to mean the killing or assassination of tyrants for the common good. The term "tyrannicide" does not apply to tyrants killed in battle or killed by an enemy in an armed conflict. It is rarely applied when a tyrant is killed by a person acting for selfish reasons, such as to take power for themselves, or to the killing of a former tyrant. Sometimes, the term is restricted to killings undertaken by people who are actually subject to the tyrant.^[1] The term is also used to denote those who actually commit the act of killing a tyrant: ie, Harmodius and Aristogeiton are called 'the tyrannicides'.^[2]

Tyrannicide can also be a political theory.^[3] The Monarchomachs in particular developed a theory of tyrannicide, with Juan de Mariana describing their views in the 1598 work De rege et regis institutione.^[4] The Jesuistic casuistry developed a similar theory, criticized by Blaise Pascal in the Provincial Letters.^{[citation needed]} Before them, the scholastic philosopher John of Salisbury also legitimised tyrannicide, under specific conditions, in the Policraticus, circa 1159.^[5] The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates by John Milton in 1649 also described the history of tyrannicide, and a defense of it when appropriate.^[6]

Notable tyrannicides

Throughout history, many tyrants have died by tyrannicide. Other leaders considered by their assassins to be tyrants have also been killed under the pretext of tyrannicide. Some examples of those who have died by tyrannicide include (arranged by date):

Statue of Harmodius and Aristogeiton

• Hipparchus, a ruler of Athens, stabbed in 514 BC by Harmodius and Aristogeiton, the original tyrannicides.^[2]
• Julius Caesar, Roman Dictator, stabbed in 44 BC by Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus, and numerous others (Liberatores).
• Caligula, Roman Emperor, stabbed in 41 by Cassius Chaerea and other Praetorian Guards.
• Commodus, Roman Emperor, strangled and poisoned in 192 by Narcissus and his mistress Marcia.
• Gustav III, King of Sweden, shot in 1792 by Jacob Johan Anckarström.
• Mehmed Talat, Minister of Interior Affairs and then Grand Vizier of the Ottomon Empire, killed by Soghomon Tehlirian in 1921.
• Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and the acting Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, assassinated in 1942 by Czechoslovak soldiers.
• Benito Mussolini, Italian Fascist and Duce, executed in 1945 by Walter Audisio and other Italian partisans.
• Anastasio Somoza García, dictator of Nicaragua, shot in 1956 by Rigoberto López Pérez.
• Rafael Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic, shot in 1961 by Antonio de la Maza with the aid of ten other conspirators.
• Park Chung-hee in South Korea, shot in 1979 by Kim Jaegyu.

As there exists no objectively defined criteria for "a tyrant", many rulers and heads of state had been considered as such by their enemies but not by their adherents and supporters - correspondingly making debateable the definition as "Tyrannicides" of those who killed them. Such debateable cases include:

• The the execution of Saddam Hussein in 2006, is sometimes compared to Tyrannicide.^[7] Similarly, the execution of Nicolae Ceauşescu, Communist dictator of Romania, on Christmas Day 1989 is compared to tyrannicide.

• From John Wilkes Booth's words during his shooting of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Booth seems to have considered Lincoln a tyrant for his treatment of the South, making the assassination "a tyrannicide" - though posterity in general did not regard Booth's action as such.

Tyrannicides in fiction

Tyrannicide is a popular literary trope. Many works of fiction deal with the struggle of an individual or group of individuals to overthrow and kill an unjust tyrant. Often the tyranny is caused by an usurper to a royal throne, where the conclusion restores the proper heir. Children's literature frequently deals with the subject. Folk tales like The Nutcracker include the act, as do some video games series, like The Legend of Zelda. Classical examples in Disney animation include The Lion King or The Little Mermaid which both involve the tyrannical takeover of a monarchy. Fantasy works like The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Star Wars, or Harry Potter all deal with killing tyrants. V for Vendetta is a popular comic and film to deal with tyrannicide. Besides Julius Caesar, a number of William Shakespeare's plays deal with the subject, including Hamlet, Macbeth, and The Tempest.^[8]

See also

Benjamin Franklin's suggestion for the Great Seal of the United States include the phrase "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God."

• Regicide
• Right of revolution
• Selective assassination
• Sic semper tyrannis

References