The custom of employing eunuchs—men who have been castrated—as servants in wealthy or royal households dates back millennia. In ancient China and the Middle East, eunuchs acted as guards in harems and as chamberlains to kings. The confidential position enabled them to exert considerable influence over their masters. Use of eunuchs in royal courts peaked during the Byzantine Empire and faded with the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Whose assassin’s killer castrated himself to avoid sexual temptation? Discuss