Did they number the Amenhoteps, or did we?
Maybe they just liked having “the” as a middle name! We used to play a game on long trips – name people whose middle name is “the”.
Vlad the Impaler
Jimmy the Greek
Smokey the Bear
Jack the Giant-Killer
Bob the Builder
Bozo the Clown
and so on…
As for the Shakespeare history plays, checking with the original quarto and folio editions shows that the definite article was certainly used, eg The Tragedy of King Richard the Third (title page of First Quarto). If actors occasionally say Richard Three, it is abbreviation, no more.
oh, you guys are serious about this…
Billy the Kid, Catherine the Great, Jack the Ripper, Ivan the Terrible, Oscar the Grouch…
Did I kill this thread?