His role in atrocities in the Congo Free State have led some to speculate that Rom served as an inspiration for the character of Kurtz in Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness.

Léon Auguste Théophile Rom was born on 2 April 1859 to a poor family in Mons, Belgium, and joined the Belgian Army at the age of 16.

According to contemporary reports from the travel-writer and journalist Edward James Glave written on February 21st 1895, Rom had used the severed heads of 21 Congolese, who resisted having their family members stolen, to decorate the flower beds of his house at Stanley Falls.

[5] It has been argued that Rom served as the inspiration for the character of Mr. Kurtz, an ivory trader who features prominently in Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness.

[7] Rom notably features as the main antagonist in the 2016 film The Legend of Tarzan, in which he is portrayed by the Austrian actor Christoph Waltz.