Rule the World for a Day and We'll Tell You Which Historical Monarch You Were in a Past Life

Zoe Samuel

6 Min Quiz

Image: Shutterstock

About This Quiz

Reincarnation is said to take souls not just from body to body but from species to species. Still, there are only so many species, so eventually, you'd come around to being a human again. So what are the odds that you were someone famous?

According to the beliefs around reincarnation, we spend our lives playing out the conflicts of our previous lives, making choices in line with those we made before, for generations and generation, until we finally get things right. If you were a doctor, perhaps you'd spend your next human life trying to help people. If you were an artist, you might spend your next human life trying to express the song in your heart more perfectly.

What are the odds you weren't a Russian cobbler or an Italian house painter but were, in fact, a nation-conquering monarch? What decisions could you make now that would paint an accurate picture of your royal past? Simply put, you must show your mettle by ruling the world for a day as an absolute monarch, making life and death decisions for billions of subjects. Sit back, relax, and make some world-altering decisions, and we'll identify which historical monarch you once were.

Where would you set up your temporary capital?

The middle of some wasteland

The Tower of London
Versailles

Washington, D.C.

What language would you force everyone in the world to speak?

Mongolian

English
French

Chinese

What party would you throw to celebrate your global rule?

I would throw a huge games event, like the Olympics.

I would have a feast with jousting and tennis.
I would have a party just for my friends, which would last for days.

I would order private celebrations all over the world.

What infrastructure project would you order?

A massive transit artery linking Europe and Asia

I would expand all of the world's ports.
I would build huge canals that would connect the world.

A massive tomb for me!

What public works project would you order?

A huge wall with murals depicting my achievements

I would transform dormant regions of the world into manufacturing centers.
I would build myself a palace.

I would build a navy to keep the peace on the high seas.

What food would you make the national dish of the whole world?

Khorkhog

Shepherd's pie
Potatoes dauphinoise

Yáng ròu pào mó (mutton stew)

What would you do vis-à-vis your marital situation?

I would take several spouses and many lovers.

I would divorce my spouse at all costs.
I would marry and remain married, though I'd have an official mistress or some such, of course.

I would not officially marry because I don't like the sound of that, but I would have many lovers.

What would you order of the world's space programs?

Colonize Mars

Learn everything it can about deep space, for the sake of science
Shut them down. It's pointless.

Conquer the moon!

What would you do to nations that rebel against you?

Crush them utterly and make examples of them, brutally

Burn their houses of worship
Starve their people

Make them disappear from history

What would you do to stop terrorism?

Lay siege to the areas they control, cut them off and let nature take its course.

Smother the regions inhabited by terrorists with so many soldiers, escape is impossible.
Do nothing. I haven't been touched by them.

Find leverage on them to get them to come out of their caves.

How would you handle climate change?

I would order anyone in a rural area to switch to horses, obviously.

I'd give James Dyson a black check to solve it.
Who cares? I don't.

I would announce a ban on all fossil fuels to take effect in five years.

What public health policy would be your number one?

Everyone has to work out.

Everyone needs to learn to use a bow.
No cake for anyone

New sewers for all

What transportation system would you impose on the world to fix our daily commutes?

Ring roads around every city, especially ones that might disobey me

New, well thought out roads
Build more cities, further apart from each other, so none get too crowded

Build massive new highways, changing the landscape where necessary

How would you end world hunger?

Mass produce a super food

Breed a kind of wheat that will survive anywhere
Let them eat cake

Get cup o' noodles to everyone

How would you regulate the banks?

I would station swordsmen at every bank, and when someone broke the law, they would be... punished.

Any bank that broke the law would be burned to the ground.
Any banks that broke the law would become fully my property.

I'd create a new network of sensible laws that change the even playing field.

How would you discourage unhealthy habits, like smoking?

I would set fire to all tobacco fields, and replant with food.

I would force cigarette makers to put poison in cigarettes.
I would encourage the culture to embrace excellent wine, rather than the two buck chuck so many people get drunk with.

I would not.

What sort of government would you encourage for after your day of absolute rule was over?

A dynasty of my descendents

A new state with church and state as one
I wouldn't mind, so long as I'm comfortable.

A network of city states

What cultural touchstone would you force everyone in the world to imbibe?

Aristotle's "Poetics"

The complete works of William Shakespeare
The works of Jean-Luc Godard

Sun Tzu's "The Art of War"

How would you unite mankind for your principle pet project?

I would send people to massive boot camps to get them trained and psyched up.

I would make each piece of the grand plan a point of national pride.
I wouldn't bother.

I would order everyone to get on board on pain of death.

How would your rearrange world's borders?

I'd start by establishing a kingdom I could take over after my rule ends.

I would link nations from across the world, so everyone would have a stake in everyone's business.
I'd protect the borders of my home nation and my home.

I'd eliminate all borders and make everything one nation, under my rule.

What would you do with powerful people who have somehow avoided justice, like oligarchs who steal their nations' natural resources?

I'd execute them and leave them at major crossroads.

I'd have them burned at the stake.
I'd expel them to Spain.

I'd make them simply disappear.

What would be your solution to reducing the world's prison population?

Release all prisoners into a work program, and build monuments

The really dangerous prisoners would be executed and the other prisoners become slaves
Just build bigger prisons

Find some way to reintegrate them into society, and take a long hard look at the laws that put them away

How would you instill a general belief in the social contract?

Show everyone what a win-win looks like by arranging trade pacts that benefit everyone

Force everyone to engage in lane discipline by punishing people with jail time
What's "the social contract"?

Launch global team sports programs that encourage sportsmanship and teamwork

What forms of art would you encourage of the world?

None

Theater
Oil painting

Sculpture

What would you do if on your day of rule, you discovered that aliens were invading the Earth?

I would mobilize the world's armies and launch everything we had at them.

I would trot out the world's navies and make a show of force.
I wouldn't notice, as I'd be too busy having fun.

I'd turn to science to develop the perfect weapons to take on the alien menace.

How would you bring peace to the world's current war zones?

I would issue a warning, then burn the first city that doesn't do as I ask and issue a second warning.

I'd encircle them and let the wars burn themselves out.
I would not.

I'd overwhelm them with armies to keep the peace.

What would you do about the refugee crisis?

I'd conscript them into my armies, train them up, and send them home as peacekeepers.

I'd conscript them as workers and send them to the 3rd world nations that need a labor force.
I'd just let them in.

I'd let them in, and turn them into trained spies, then send them back out again.

How would you encourage free trade?

I'd establish safe trading routes to conflict zones.

I'd spread the reach of the world's empires.
I wouldn't bother.

I would unite the world under a single currency.

What pet project would you order of the whole world?

Build a giant statue of yours truly

Build a huge university the size of Luxembourg
Build a palace for me

Build a train track uniting all six inhabited continents

What project would you undertake to commemorate your day of rule for future generations?

I would endow a scholarship.

I would issue currency with my face on it.
I would name an important invention after myself.

I would create new national identities for the major nations of the world.

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