Pythagoras (c. 570–495 BCE) is best known for his work in mathematics, but he also led a secretive and highly disciplined society. His followers, known as Pythagoreans, believed that numbers held the key to understanding the universe. Their devotion went far beyond study—they lived by strict, often unusual rules, including:

• Swearing loyalty and maintaining secrecy

• Following a vegetarian diet

• Refusing to eat or even step through fields of beans

• Sharing all possessions communally

• Avoiding actions as specific as stirring fire with iron

Pythagoras’s influence grew powerful, but not everyone welcomed it. In Croton, tensions flared, and a mob attacked a Pythagorean meeting house. Pythagoras is said to have escaped, thanks to followers who stayed behind to delay the attackers.

His escape, however, was short-lived.

As the story goes, Pythagoras fled to the outskirts of the city but found his path blocked by a bean field. 

Bound by his own teachings, he refused to cross it. Stalled in place, he was caught and killed by his pursuers.