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What is your favorite historical character. Either politically or militarily. My personal favorite would have to be Hannibal. He delivered the Romans their worst defeat in the republics history. He marched elephants across the continent of Europe. He was a great military genius.
I'de have to go with FDR or Henry V there my favorites.
Robert E Lee
With all my devotion to the Union and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore resigned my commission in the Army, and save in defense of my native State, with the sincere hope that my poor services may never be needed, I hope I may never be called on to draw my sword...
I find Alkiviades (Alkibiades) of Athens the most intriguing personality of the ancient world, and maybe of all times. Extremely capable, political genious, unlimited potential, great "behind the scenes" person, very able military commander, was also a serious case of degradation, decadence, hedonist, self-loathe, immoral bastard... an extremely complicated personality, but with a sole aim: his own well beeing. He pretty much shaped the history of the Greek world, by determining by his actions the outcome of the pelopponesian war.
Has to be Oliver Cromwell - maybe he wasn't a laugh a minute, but he was a military genius and the political consequences of his victories and subsequent rule of England is the basis of our parlimentary democracy. His one black mark - his Ireland campaign - sucessful, but bloody. However his New Model Army is the basis of the current day Royal Army - an army which created the largest Empire the world has ever seen.
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus - consummate diplomat, strategist, tactician and politician. He was also very well versed inthe psychological aspects of warfare, and he learned from the mistakes of others (he defeated Hannibal by learning from him, and by depriving him of his Numidian cavalry through diplomatic measures - he also bloodied his troops against Hannibal's when Hannibal wasn't there beforehand, so his men would begin to believe they could win). He was surprisingly benevolent to those he conquered, preferring to make a new ally, rather than foster discontent.
Finally, he was offered Dictatorship of Rome, but declined, believing that ultimate power vested in one man would inevitably lead to corruption.
GW "First in war, first in peace, and first in the heart's of his countrymen."
Scipio.
T.E. Lawrence
W.T. Sherman
Henry V
George Washington.
Wellington.
Nelson.
Simon Bolivar.
Jan Zizka.
Heron of Alexandria.
Charles Darwin.
H.G Wells.
Douglas Adams.
And many, many more.
Otto von Bismarck.
"An appeal to fear will find no echo in German hearts!"
Hetman John Carol Chodkiewicz
Great commander and great polish patriot. This men never lost battle.
He crushed 4 times stronger swedish army at Kircholm and several smaller battles. In 1620 leading 48000 men he stopped turkish empire close to city Chocim. Poles prepared fortified camp and held long siege. Hetman died during battle (cause he got 80 years :2thumbsup: )from natural reasons but commanders didn't tell it soldiers. When winter came Turks (who got big casualties) had to agree on peace.
He has been so famous that Poles awarded his family like hardly any into our history. Their were given "count" title as one of 3 families ever (there were no "counts" or "princes" title into Poland).
For me he is ideal of warrior - he can win even after his death.:shame:
Hector. My idol when it comes how to lead my life \o
Cyrus the Great. Conquered vast tracks of land to equal Alexander, plus was the first in history to propose that all humans had a set of inaliable rights. What a man <o
Epaminondas. A military genius, he was also a good philosopher, orator, statesman, and immune to bribery and all that normally brought men like him down in the world of ancient Greek politics.
Philip II. Great statesman, great general. And only one eye to boot! ~;)
Khusrau Anushirvan. Reformed Persia and gave it a professional army. Made the state powerful enough to reconquer -- however briefly -- all territory once held by the likes of Darius the Great.
Heraclius. Soldier-Emperor and brilliant statesman. Breathed a life into the ailing Eastern Roman Empire that would later catapult it to its lofty apogee.
Muhammad, Prophet of Islam. That rare combination of great mystic and great statesman. Forged from a group of warring polytheist tribes the beginnings of an empire that would span the world. Meanwhile was an honorable and just man, from what I've read.
Chingis Khan. Those of you who have seen me debate here before probably know all about why him, ad nauseam even. Therefore, no comment. ~;)
Amir Temur, otherwise known as Tamerlane or Timur-i-Lenk. So brilliant yet so extraordinarily cruel and bloodthirsty, he's just a very interesting character.
Babur. His life story is just awe-inspiring, plus he was an intellectual. Again, what a man <o
Prince Maurits of Orange, Stadhouder of the United Provinces. Pwnd the Spaniards and a military genius. Did have a bit of an extreme view regarding religion, though ~;)
Michiel de Ruyter. We still own your flagship, Englishmen, do you perhaps want it back? :D
Voltaire. I feel there is no need to explain why. _o_
Theodor Herzl. Founder of what is now known as Zionism. I need not say more.
Theodore Roosevelt. "Speak softly and carry a big stick, and you will go far in life." Wise, wise words indeed, ol' Teddy. <o
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Forged from an unindustrialized, semi-feudal and thoroughly corrupt state an entirely new and much more modern state. Next to that he was a rather interesting character. Bit too much a conservative and statist for my tastes, however.
Winston Churchill. Need I say more? <o
Sidartha Gautama......Buddha
......Orda
Winston Churchill
Henry II
Henry IV&V's
Wellesley
Nelson
Napoleon
Trotsky
Frederick Abberline (I just love the way he is always portrayed in Movies)
Alexander
Augustus Octavian Ceasar
Marcus Brutus
Cicero
Archamides
Plato
Socrates
Pericles
Aethelsatn and Alfred of Wessex
Harold Godwineson
Edward III
Jesus Christ
Muhammad
Kublai kHAN
Attila
many many more...:dizzy2:
Wow, is that the first ever post by SFTS that does not contain any spelling or grammatical errors?:book:Quote:
Originally Posted by strike for the south
My favourite characters would include:
Aelfred the Great of Wessex
Athelstan
Harold II
Alexius Comnenus I
Robert Guiscard
Bohemond of Taranto
King Stephen
John Comnenus
Manuel Comnenus
Frederick Barbarossa
Edward I
Frederick II "Stupor Mundi"
Michael VIII Paleologus
Edward III
Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince
Henry V
Prince Rupert of the Palatinate
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Malborough
James Wolfe
Frederick the Great
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by King Henry V
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Richard the Lionheart!!!
Wow, and another one! What have you done with the real Strike for the South? You're a Northener, aren't you?:laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by strike for the south
Abraham Lincoln and Socrates.
Do I need to post reasons? ~D
Basil II Bulgaroctonus... Byzantine Emperor. :book:
I can`t believe that no one said Julius Caesar, probably the greates political and military mind of all times. From almost unknown politician he rose to the stature of roman dictator, completely reformed the heavilly corrupted republic and built foundations for the roman empire to become what it became...
So, my voice go to Caesar without a doubt.
After him:
Otto von Bismarck and Peter I the Great
I vote for Octavian Augustus. This cunning man really knew how to build an
extremely strong empire.
Others
From medieval times:
William the Conqueror,Philip II Augustus Sallah-ad-din, Genghis khan and special attention to byzantine emperors: Alexius Comnenus and John III Doukas Vatatzes (Basil II was an excellent emperor but I can not forgive him conquering Bulgaria :no: )
And at the end some Bulgarian rulers: khan Krum (the beginning of IXth century), tzar Kaloyan (1197-1207) and Ivan Asen II (1218-1241)
Later on:the emperor of Spain and HRE Charles V, Elizabeth I of England, Maria Teresia, Peter the Great and the prussian king Friedrich-Wilhelm I
Scipio Africanus, Alkibiades, Cyrus, Caesar and Hadrian top my list.
... No. He made use of Republican structures and trappings like Sulla before him, and Augustus more skillfully after him. I agree with you on his rise -- which was not as dramatic as you claim it was, seeing as he was a member of the ancient patrician clan of the Julii Caesares -- but furthermore, his actions weren't all that interesting. Good general? Yes. Good politician? I suppose. Great visionary? Nope.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarmatian
I think he was a great visionary. It was his idea that rome should be a monarchy again. You must understand the general opinion the romans had about monarchy at that time. Sula was a power-freak, but caesar worked methodically toward his goal. He was a member of an ancient patrician family, but with little assets. If you understand roman politics at that time, you know that no one could become a senator if he didn`t have enough money.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Wizard
HA! You forgot a dot at the end of the E!Quote:
Originally Posted by strike for the south
Not 100% sure if that's required though...
I've always found him fascinating because he showed what the Roman system would produce when its characteristics of personal honour and loyalty to the state in the most extreme possible way. Admittedly the same could be said of Marius and Sulla; perhaps they just didn't get enough press.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Wizard
This is where I dissagree with the wizard. What distinguished Caesar from Marius and Sulla was his vision. He had a vision what Rome should be. Sulla was a power freak and Marius was more of a day-to-day politician, although he was probably better general than Caesar.Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffrey S
What . after the e? Lies to undermine my perfect grammer!Quote:
Originally Posted by evil_maniac from mars
That's grammar. He means Robert E. Lee, I think.
If Sulla was a power freak he would not have abandoned politics the way he did, would he?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarmatian
Tokugawa Ieyasu was a pretty fascinating guy but I like the inventors too, like Leonardo Da Vinci or Heron of Alexandria.
Otto Von Bismarck is my personal favorite. He unified germany and made it 1 nation.
after him would be in no order:
Fredrick the great
Richard the lion heart
Saladin
Teddy Roosevelt
Neoplone
Friedrich Babarosa
Nelson
ghengas kahn
William wallace
And how did he abandon politics? I thought he died a dictator...Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffrey S
Nah. He was a dictator for a while, during which time he did his best to remove the Gracchi reforms, limit the power of the tribunes and restore authority to the senate. After that, around 80 BC I think, he was elected consul and retired during that consulate. All in all, despite being elected dictator for life in 82 BC he only used that for about two years; once he'd set Rome back on what he deemed the right path he abandoned politics all together, as far as he was concerned it seems he thought he'd done all he could. He lived out the rest of his years in his country villa, where he died a couple of years later, possibly due to excessive drinking.
Lao Tzu, one of the Taoist masters...RESPECT out!!!! (Rocker since 400 b.c.)
Subedei, military genius ending up writting (average) poems in the Chinese mountains after 40 years of constant batteling.....
Raynald Du Chatillion for being so symbolic for the crusades: wicked, stupid and mean....man he was a badass & his story always makes me smile a bit...U keep on asking yourself: "How could he?!?!?"
lawrence of arabia
vlad tepes
churchill
king arthur?
Yeah, you`re right. But Sulla`s reforms were backward. Caesar is widely accepted among historians as the most important person for a transition from roman republic to roman empire.Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoffrey S
Uesugi Kenshin, Honor and war.
I'd have to go with Otto von Bismarck. "Better pointed bullets than pointed words." And a great number of other quotes all came from him and he was a brilliant statesman.
:shrugs: I never claimed otherwise, nor did Sulla.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarmatian
sun tzu what a legend 'the art of war' is amazing it explains tatics in a amazing way he is brilliant guy
What? Where did this go wrong? Augustus was the man that took the Republic and turned it into the Principate, essentially using the old Republican positions but concentrating them into the hands of a single dynasty. This entire system held until Diocletian finally acknowledged the truth and simply had himself called Dominus et Deus -- the beginning of the Dominate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarmatian
Caesar, on the other hand, did nothing of the sort. While Augustus brought peace and prosperity at last, and turned the entire Republican system into his own puppet, Caesar did not dare take that step. You mention something about him wanting to turn Rome back into a monarchy. Eh? You've either been watching too much of Rome or been reading too much slander on ol' Caius, since the entire idea was to make the populace revile him by depicting him as the tyrant king in the mold of Tarquinius, trying to take away their hard-fought-for power.
I think his only motive was power, not some far-sought idea of a renewed monarchy. The entire idea is ridiculous. Why do you think Augustus retained the trappings of the Republic? Because if he hadn't and had had himself crowned king in the Hellenistic mold, his support amongst the entire Roman people would've been gone in an instant. Same for Caesar. It would've been tantamount to political (if not real) suicide. No such thing as turning Rome back into a monarchy.
His legacy goes further than that. When the Spartans received a prophecy from Delphi saying that they would fall if there was a crippled kingship, the throne was not going to go to the lame Agesilaus, but to someone else (forgot who). However, the other king (Laomedon?) wanted Agesilaus for his own personal benefit, and so spread the word that the other contender to the throne was conceived when Alkibiades visited Sparta and had an affair with the heir's mother. This of course meant that Alkibiades became the king. He then spelled doom for Sparta, pretty much starting the Corinthian War on his own when a lot of respect was given to Thebes during a meeting. This sparked off the war that lead to Leuktra and the crushing of the Spartan military superiority and lifestyle.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rosacrux redux
EDIT: almost forgot.
Sun Tzu - The art of war is still the best military book there is.
Sun Yat Sen - unified and modernised China, kicking out the Manchu.
Zhu Ge Liang - in one brilliant stroke he destroyed an army of hundreds of thousands by burning their ships and drowning them.
Hannibal - military genius, bold, quick thinking leader.
Pythagoras - brilliant mathmetician, philosopher and thinker.
Hippocrates - pretty much started the science of medicine, wrote the Hippocratic Oath and greatly influenced later medical thinkers such as Galen and Avicenna.
Avicenna - a child prodigy who learned medical theory at a young age, greatly advanced medical knowledge and treated the poor for free. Re-wrote the interpretations of Galen and Hippocrates by other Muslims, who had lost most of the meaning of their work through their translations. Great doctor, mathmetician, philosopher, physics, astronomer, thinker and even musician.
I'll go with Abu Al-Walid Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Ahmad Ibn Rushd, otherwise better known as Averroës. His translations and commentaries on Aristotle influenced Aquinas and many others, and could be considered a cornerstone for the post-medieval philosophical rebirth which led to the Renaissance and everything after.
And, of course, I'm fond of the revolutionaries like the great one in my sig. ~;)
Splendid choice Aenlic....he was very important, but often forgottrn [esp. by Western civs]Quote:
Originally Posted by Aenlic
They always come back....:laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by Aenlic
Anyway. Yalls chocies are wrong https://img88.imageshack.us/img88/70...glee3ez.th.jpg
They always come back....:laugh4:Quote:
Originally Posted by Aenlic
Anyway. Yalls chocies are wrong https://img88.imageshack.us/img88/70...glee3ez.th.jpg
That's an impressive stutter.
On the tactical side, at least in modern times, I would have to say that General "Dutch" Cota, of WWII fame was one of the best. His taking direct charge of the debacle of Omaha Beach and getting the stalled attack going in his sector was instrumental to the outcome. Coupled with his outstanding leadership of the 28th Infantry Division, the Bloody Bucket, during the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge, leave him at the top of the class IMHO. If it where not for his decision to defend Clervaux at all costs, I believe that Bastogne would have fallen because sufficient reinforcements were not in position to reach there in time had the 28th folded. It was his firm, stobborn personality that gave his men the confidence to hold out. Not a bad performance from them considering the turnover of personnel during the Hurtegen Campain.