Editing Assassination (section)

===Ancient to medieval times===
Assassination is one of the oldest tools of [[power politics]]. It dates back at least as far as recorded history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Makhanda |first=Sivenathi |title=The History of Assassinations |website=Print, Digital and Broadcast Youth Media |url=https://pdby.co.za/the-history-of-assassinations/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |language=en-ZA}}</ref>

The Egyptian pharaoh [[Teti]], of the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]] [[Sixth Dynasty of Egypt|Sixth Dynasty]] (23rd century BCE), is thought to be the earliest known victim of assassination, though written records are scant and thus evidence is circumstantial. Two further ancient Egyptian monarchs are more explicitly recorded to have been assassinated; [[Amenemhat I]] of the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] [[Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth Dynasty]] (20th century BCE) is recorded to have been assassinated in his bed by his palace guards for reasons unknown (as related in the ''[[Instructions of Amenemhat]]''); meanwhile [[Judicial Papyrus of Turin|contemporary judicial records]] relate the assassination of [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] [[Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt|Twentieth Dynasty]] monarch [[Ramesses III]] in 1155 BCE as part of a [[Harem conspiracy|failed coup attempt]]. Between 550 BC and 330 BC, seven Persian kings of [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Dynasty]] were murdered. [[The Art of War]], a 5th-century BC Chinese military treatise mentions tactics of Assassination and its merits.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Withington |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-9sBEAAAQBAJ&q=history+of+assassination |title=Assassins' Deeds: A History of Assassination from Ancient Egypt to the Present Day |date=2020-11-05 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1-78914-352-2 |language=en}}</ref>

In the [[Old Testament]], King [[Jehoash of Judah|Joash]] of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]] was assassinated by his own servants;<ref>2 Kings 12:19–21</ref> [[Joab]] assassinated [[Absalom]], [[King David]]'s son;<ref>2 Samuel 3:26–28 RSV</ref> King [[Sennacherib]] of Assyria was assassinated by his own sons;<ref>2 Chronicles 32:21</ref> and [[Jael]] assassinated [[Sisera]].<ref>Judges 4 and 5</ref>

[[Chanakya]] ({{circa|350}}–283 BC) wrote about assassinations in detail in his political treatise ''[[Arthashastra]]''. His student [[Chandragupta Maurya]], the founder of the [[Maurya Empire]], later made use of assassinations against some of his enemies.<ref>{{cite journal |author-link = Roger Boesche | first = Roger | last = Boesche |date=January 2003 | title = Kautilya's ''Arthaśāstra'' on War and Diplomacy in Ancient India | journal = The Journal of Military History | volume = 67 | issue = 1 | pages = 9–37 | doi = 10.1353/jmh.2003.0006 | s2cid = 154243517 | url=http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/journal_of_military_history/v067/67.1boesche.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/journal_of_military_history/v067/67.1boesche.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live| doi-access = free }}</ref>

Some famous assassination victims are [[Philip II of Macedon]] (336&nbsp;BC), the father of [[Alexander the Great]], and Roman dictator [[Julius Caesar]] (44&nbsp;BC).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kloWAAAAYAAJ&q=famous+assassinations |title=Famous assassinations of history&nbsp;... |date=March 3, 2008 |access-date=October 27, 2010|last1=Johnson|first1=Francis}}</ref> [[Emperors of Rome]] often met their end in this way, as did many of the Muslim [[Shia Imam]]s hundreds of years later. Three successive Rashidun caliphs ([[Umar]], [[Uthman Ibn Affan]], and [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]]) were assassinated in early civil conflicts between Muslims. The practice was also well known in ancient China, as in [[Jing Ke]]'s failed assassination of [[Qin (state)|Qin]] king [[Qin Shi Huang|Ying Zheng]] in 227&nbsp;BC. Whilst many assassinations were performed by individuals or small groups, there were also specialized units who used a collective group of people to perform more than one assassination. The earliest were the [[sicarii]] in 6 AD, who predated the Middle Eastern [[Order of Assassins|Assassins]] and Japanese [[shinobi]]s by centuries.<ref>Pichtel, John, ''Terrorism and WMDs: Awareness and Response'', CRC Press (April 25, 2011) pp. 3–4. {{ISBN|978-1439851753}}</ref><ref name="Ross">Ross, Jeffrey Ian, ''Religion and Violence: An Encyclopedia of Faith and Conflict from Antiquity to the Present'', Routledge (January 15, 2011), Chapter: Sicarii. 978-0765620484</ref>

In the [[Middle Ages]], [[regicide]] was rare in Western Europe, but it was a recurring theme in the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]]. Strangling in the bathtub was the most commonly used method. With the [[Renaissance]], [[tyrannicide]]—or assassination for personal or political reasons—became more common again in Western Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Veronesi |first=Gene |title=Chapter 1: The Italian Renaissance and Western Civilization |url=https://pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu/italian-americans-and-their-communities-of-cleveland/chapter/chapter-1/ |journal=Italian Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland}}</ref>