Storytelling throughout the ages is full of bitter and often deadly father-son rivalries. Think of Zeus rebelling against Chronos in Greek myth, or Pavel Smerdyakov killing Fyodor Karamazov and framing his half-brother Dmitri in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov. Think also of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in Star Wars or Tyrion and Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones.

Many of these explosive family dynamics are based on infamous real-life father-son rivalries from history, where differences in personality and beliefs mixed with ambition and paranoia to produce generational conflicts that in some cases changed the course of history itself. Here are some of the most famous.

1. Augustus and Tiberius
2. Domitian and Vespasian
3. Henry II and His Sons
4. Ivan IV and Ivan Ivanovich

Augustus and Tiberius

Roman emperor Tiberius was the adopted son of Augustus by his wife Livia. A talented general and a capable administrator, Tiberius was groomed by his mother to inherit the imperial title from Augustus. Augustus, however, doesn’t seem to have liked Tiberius, who, in contrast to his own jovial and highly social demeanor was known to be morose and withdrawn.

Though opinions differ, some historians have long believed that Livia poisoned Augustus’s other, preferred heirs to ensure Tiberius’s place on the throne, a fate which he himself may have preferred to avoided.

Domitian and Vespasian

Roman emperor Vespasian, who succeeded Nero after a civil war and established a new imperial dynasty, had two sons: Titus and Domitian. During his reign, he placed all of his eggs in Titus’s basket, teaching him the ropes of government while leaving Domitian in the cold.

Constantly passed over, it’s believed that Domitian grew to resent both his brother and his father, and when he himself became emperor after the deaths of both Vespasian and Titus, had his revenge by proving himself a capable if authoritarian ruler.

“I have made but one mistake,” Titus allegedly said on his deathbed. At the time, some believed this mistake was naming Domitian as his heir. 

Henry II and His Sons

Not unlike Domitian, Henry II—who ruled England from 1154 until his death in 1189—is said to have been an autocrat who micromanaged every aspect of governance. Also not unlike Domitian, this micromanagement made him unpopular with other members of the elite, including his own sons Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey, who rebelled against him during the Great Revolt of 1173-1174 alongside their mother Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Although Henry II won this confrontation, Henry and Geoffrey would launch another revolt in 1183, while another son —Richard—rebelled in 1189. Clearly, it seems Henry II was the common denominator here.

Ivan IV and Ivan Ivanovich

Better known as Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV was Russia’s very first czar, ruling the massive country from 1547 until his death in 1584. He started the czardom off on a strong note, being feared and later remembered for both his cruelty and paranoia.

Though he greatly expanded his empire by conquering khanates in the East, at home his fury gave way to tragedy when—in a fit of rage—he is said to have beaten his own son (also named Ivan) so badly that he died. The moment, shrouded in mystery and speculation, was retrospectively immortalized in a powerful painting by the Ukrainian-Russian artist Ilya Repin, which shows a wide-eyed Ivan IV cradling his son’s unconscious body, horrified by what he’s done. 

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