2. Phalaris
Phalaris was a ruler and tyrant of Acragas (present-day Agrigento) in Sicily from 6th century BC. He invented a cruel torture and execution device called brazen bull; a hollowed bull-shaped metal container where a victim was told to enter and a large fire was kindled beneath. An uprising led by Telemachus successfully overthrew him and Phalaris was given a final taste of his own instrument of torture. The brazen bull was brought to Carthage as a work of art and the Romans returned it to the then-renamed Agrigentum at then end of the 3rd Punic War.
