1-152-562 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Bull of Phalaris, tyrant of Agrigentum, Sicily, c570 BC (16th century). Phalaris commissioned Perillus of Athens to make a brazen bull in which to execute criminals who were shut up in it then baked alive when fires were lit underneath. Phalaris tested out the vile invention on Perillus who became the first victim of his own ingenuity. Phalaris was eventually overthrown by a popular uprising and he in turn met his end inside the bull.