Favourite Historical character

[Odin]

Subutai, pehaps the best general of the middle ages.

[El Diablo]

With out wanting to court controversy I would say Rommell.

A GENERAL (not a nazi) who was well respected by both sides.

Granted he fought in the Desert where there was little "collateral" damage in the way of civillians I but I have always though him a gentleman as well as a general.

Does that sound strange?

[Kadagar_AV]

rommel was damn good...

montgomery, his enemy, is heavily overestimated though... He only won against rommel when the german armies were next to non-existant and heavily outmanned and outgunned.

Montgomery then proceeded to plan operation market garden, one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) military disaster of all times...

Look it up on the web if you havent allready, a fun read:)

[IrishArmenian]

St. Vartan: Lead a hopeless force against the Persians, managed to give the Persians a hard time enough to force them to allow Armenians to practice Christianity.
Nerses: Took over for Belisarius well into old age and established the Byzantines in Italy once again.
Smbat Bagaratuni: Lead 40,000 Armenians to victory over 80,000 Arab invaders.
Andranik Toros Ozanian: Lead the Van resistance against the forces aiming to continue the Genocide.

[Out]

Well, I asked my friend who my favorite should be, and his response was: "Montezuma. He had lots of gold and was a fool." With this advice ringing in my ears, I attempted to think of a REAL ancient hero to idolize...

I'm going to go with Solomon, of Israel. My reasons: whatever your faith, the man was an intelligent ruler, and he did lead the nation of Israel through it's glory period. During his reign they controlled the Middle East religiously, economically, and militarily.

[dknight]

I would choose Genghis Khan, the same preference as greaterkhaan. But my reason is slightly different.

Compare to others, Alexander, Ceasar, Wellingtong etc., the Golden Horde has a very difficult start up. While they are a warrior society, they lack the unity of other countries/cultures. Living in hash condition, with a hasher background (He was without tribe at first, after the death of his father), it's a wonder that Genghis Khan have time and mental capacity to dream of a united Mongols, then goes on to achieve that. I must note that his education would be largely about survival, not about commanding army or leading people, but he managed to learn/rediscover all the necessary skills to build/manage a huge empire.

[Charge]

Well,

The first roman general to lose a WHOLE legion in an ambush? The same general who fled from his own troops? The general who handled night-fights so badly he was adviced never to attempt it again (fun fact: in his first night-fight he was ONLY saved because the enemy overestimated him, they thought NO ONE could be so stupid so they assumed he had an ambush prepared and thus didnt follow through with their counter-attack).

interesting, and where did you find this??

Caesar was a good politician and MASTERED the art of propaganda

How do you think he can win war without it, being SUCH outnumbered? 50 000 against 2 000 000 ,ah ?
He inspires his troops like no other, he fight himself in battles (and without horse!).And you think that he is bad general? Pompeius - looser.All knows it.

Genghis Khan, yea, with his hordes it quite difficult not to win.
Alexander? There is any glory in fighting such coward like Darius and his slaves? NO!

[Veho Nex]

rommel was damn good...

montgomery, his enemy, is heavily overestimated though... He only won against rommel when the german armies were next to non-existant and heavily outmanned and outgunned.

Montgomery then proceeded to plan operation market garden, one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) military disaster of all times...

Look it up on the web if you havent allready, a fun read:)

I aggree bigggggg time with that one... stupid Ike... dumb general to choose montgomery over patton....

Any ways favorite historical charater would have to beeeeeee... Dun Dun Diddle Un...... PATTON.

Just because he believed in reincaranation hated the Ruskies and french and wanted more than anything in the world to fight rommel... pooor patton and his dumb ars driver... crashing into a ditch what a way to go huh?

[Jasper The Builder]

rommel was damn good...

montgomery, his enemy, is heavily overestimated though... He only won against rommel when the german armies were next to non-existant and heavily outmanned and outgunned.

Montgomery then proceeded to plan operation market garden, one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) military disaster of all times...

Look it up on the web if you havent allready, a fun read:)

The British was outnumbered for two hole years in North Africa and big mighty Rommel couldn't defeat the 8th Army even though he had more tanks better tanks and more manpower. I think you Americans are just jealous because the British Army defeated Rommel and the yanks never did, But no shock really, What Military history does America have? None thats worth thinking about, Every time you have more manpower and just bully your way to victory.

When we re-armed after 2 full years of defending the Egyptian border regions we started a counter-offensive, With the biggest Artillery bombardment by the British Army since the Great War, Thousands of troops march to the bagpipes into German positions and over-ran them, Within a couple of weeks Rommel had his back in Germany after a defeat by the tactics and courage of one man Bernard Montgomery.

As for Market Garden, Don't just easily blame Montgomery,. And as for it being the biggest military disaster of all time, . It was Americans that went ahead with the plan even though a British Officer told them a Panzer Division was around the target of Arnhem Bridge but the gung-ho Americans went ahead never the less.

[Mithrandir]

a lot of great posts so far.

If you disagree with some piece of historical information someone posts, be constructive in your reply.

As for great people from the past...how about the person who discovered bacteria? Thanks to him medical care could take giant leaps...

My favourite historical character is a person whose name I do not know.
It's the person who invented toiletpaper. Gotta love it.

[Mithrandir]

a lot of great posts so far.

If you disagree with some piece of historical information someone posts, be constructive in your reply.

Again :

If you disagree with some piece of historical information someone posts, be constructive in your reply.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on who they like best from history, no need for an argument on it.

[Ramses II CP]

Apologies for my part in derailing the thread, I'll stop putting out bait now.

[imb39]

The British was outnumbered for two hole years in North Africa and big mighty Rommel couldn't defeat the 8th Army even though he had more tanks better tanks and more manpower. I think you Americans are just jealous because the British Army defeated Rommel and the yanks never did, But no shock really, What Military history does America have? None thats worth thinking about, Every time you have more manpower and just bully your way to victory.

As a Brit I find that a rather bizarre statement indeed... Yes, America has a good military pedigree. The highlight, for me, would be the Pacific campaigns in WW2. You mention bullying tactics - erm, Midway? Coral Sea? In terms of naval warfare, America has produced a series of outstanding admirals quickly caught up with Japan. Admittedly, Japan's hegemony was always going to be limited, but even Yamamato was optimistic given the startling performance of the remaining American fleet. Don't deride a military that has earnt a good deal of merit for wielding an advantage it has, either.

When we re-armed after 2 full years of defending the Egyptian border regions we started a counter-offensive, With the biggest Artillery bombardment by the British Army since the Great War, Thousands of troops march to the bagpipes into German positions and over-ran them, Within a couple of weeks Rommel had his back in Germany after a defeat by the tactics and courage of one man Bernard Montgomery.

Monty did well, it was the first reversal for the Axis in Europe. The last 'honourable' fighting took place in this campaign...

As for Market Garden, Don't just easily blame Montgomery,. And as for it being the biggest military disaster of all time, . It was Americans that went ahead with the plan even though a British Officer told them a Panzer Division was around the target of Arnhem Bridge but the gung-ho Americans went ahead never the less.

You cannot blame the Americans for this. At the end of the day it ws a poorly conceived/planned/executed plan. very high risk and high gain. Very atypical of Monty, to be fair - he always sought the minimal of casualties to his army - something to be applauded.

[sapi]

You cannot blame the Americans for this. At the end of the day it ws a poorly conceived/planned/executed plan. very high risk and high gain. Very atypical of Monty, to be fair - he always sought the minimal of casualties to his army - something to be applauded.

I've always been told that Market Garden was a result of Monty feeling pressured to prove himself after loosing his primary leadership position in the allied armies; the mistake here was, I'm told, born of frustration, and not really a reflection of his (usually great) skill as a commander.

[imb39]

Well, hence the 'atypical' part...