Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mussolini and Alexander The Great all suffered from which phobia?

Ailurophobia is known to have affected many well-known personalities including some of the most famous names of history – Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mussolini and Alexander The Great.

The phobia manifests itself in different ways. For most people it is less about fear than about loathing, similar to the reaction many people have to snakes or rats. Some people experience it almost all the time, others just in response to direct stimuli. Some possible situations that can trigger the loathing of cats are hearing purring, seeing a cat in real life, imagining the possibility of a cat touching or rubbing against one, the thought of meeting a cat in the dark, seeing the staring eyes of a cat, cats in pictures and on television, and cat-like toys and cat-like fur. Big cats such as lions or tigers can also trigger the stimuli associated with the phobia.