Category Ancient World\’s Commanders

             Alaric was a Gothic prince, born into a tribe that had settled south of the Danube in Roman territory. He became King of the Visigoths in 394. Upon gaining command of the Visigoths, Alaric immediately overran Greece. The Eastern Roman Emperor was too weak to resist him, and called upon Stilicho, the general in charge of the Western Empire, to aid him in driving out Alaric. Then, Alaric escaped to a province of Greece that lay on the east side of the Ionian Sea.

              Alaric next launched an invasion of Italy. In fact, the rest of his days would be spent fighting and negotiating with emperors of Rome for his people’s livelihood, or attacking Roman territories when negotiations fell through. In 410, during his third attack on Italy, Alaric led the Visigoths in a sack of the city of Rome. This event is sometimes considered the beginning of the Middle Ages. 

         Flavius Stilicho was one of the most powerful men in the Roman Empire during the reigns of Theodosius I and Honorius. When Theodosius died in 395, he left the empire divided between his two young sons, the West going to Honorius, with Stilicho as Regent. The Empire was immediately threatened by the Visigoths, under Alaric, who led them into Greece. Stilicho forced them to withdraw.

          In 400, Alaric invaded Italy. Stilicho called to his aid the Roman legions from Gaul and Britain, and the Visigoths were driven out in 403. In 405, a barbarian horde that poured into Italy from the north was almost wiped out by Stilicho’s forces.

           Later, a minister of Honorius’ named Olympius convinced the young emperor that Stilicho wanted to depose him, and put his own son on the throne. Honorius believed this, and ordered for Stilicho’s arrest. He later beheaded Stilicho. Alaric immediately invaded Italy again, and captured Rome. 

Chandragupta II (380-415 AD) was the son of Samudragupta. He defeated the Sakas, and annexed Gujarat and Sourashtra. He was also known as Vikramaditya, which means ‘one who is equal to the Sun God in valour and strength’. It was during Chandragupta’s time that the Chinese Pilgrim Fa-Hien visited India, and wrote a detailed account on India. An Arab merchant Sulaiman and a Venetian traveler, Marco Polo, have both recorded that Chandragupta II was an ideal ruler.

              Theodosius was Roman Emperor from 378 to 395. He was the last emperor to rule over both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. He established Christianity as the state religion, and successfully defended it against paganism, and the religion known as Arianism. He founded a dynasty which ruled in the east and west until 450 and 455 respectively. Theodosius brought peace to the east with diplomacy, and defended this with a rebuilt military.

                Theodosius carried on a successful war with the Goths, whom he encouraged to become the allies of the Romans. The Eastern Empire was strengthened with the creation of separate military commands reporting directly to the Emperor. During his reign, Theodosius successfully fought two brutal civil wars against usurpers Maximus and Eugenius. As the defender of Christianity, Theodosius defeated pagan forces in 394. This is considered by many to be his greatest achievement. 

     Samudragupta (330-380 AD) was a great emperor belonging to the Gupta dynasty who ushered in the Golden Age in India. He was a benevolent ruler, a magnificent warrior, and a patron of arts. He was the son of Chandragupta I, and inherited a fairly small kingdom. However, once he came to the throne, Samudragupta began dramatically expanding his frontiers. He did not rest until he conquered almost the whole of India. His rule in fact, may be described as a vast military campaign. His territories extended from the Himalayas in the north, to the River Narbada in the south, and from the Brahmaputra River in the east, to the Yamuna River in the west. His greatest achievement can be described as the political unification of most of India.

               Samudragupta was not just a great general – he was a great human being too. He was compassionate towards those whom he defeated, and gave various tribal states autonomy under his protection. His court was full of poets and scholars. He had a keen interest in music and arts as well. Is it any wonder that he was known as both ‘the Napoleon of India’, and ‘the king of kings’? 

             Flavius Claudius Julianus, known to history as ‘Julian the Apostate’, was one of the most interesting Roman Emperors. He was the nephew of Constantine the Great, and was brought up as a Christian. However, he was educated in Greece, and this made him a supporter of the pagan religion of Hellenism, even though Christianity had been established as a major world religion. Julian attempted to stop the growth of Christianity, and to restore Hellenism through essentially non-violent means.

              Julian was also a skilful general. He took over the command of all Roman forces in Gaul, and carried raids across the Rhine River. He became emperor following the death of Constantine in 361. However, he was killed just two years later, fighting against the Persians. He will be remembered as a great general, a man of learning, and a fine writer, possessing many of the qualities of a wise and energetic ruler. 

             Marcus Aurelius Carus had an extensive and successful military career under the Emperor Probus. In 282 AD, when he was inspecting troops in preparation for Probus’ campaign against the Persians, the discontent of the soldiers with their emperor boiled over, and they hailed Carus the new ruler.

              During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Samaritans along the Danube frontier with success. He campaigned against the Sassanid Empire and sacked their capital, but died shortly thereafter.

          Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Christian Roman emperor. Constantine defeated the emperors Maxentius and Licinius during civil wars. He also fought successfully against the Franks, Alamanni, Visigoths, and Sarmatians during his reign. He transformed the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium into a new imperial residence, Constantinople, which would be the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire for over 1000 years.

Continue reading “What is the Emperor Constantine best known for?”

                Diocletian was a Roman emperor at the end of the third century AD. He was chosen emperor by his troops on the 17th of September 284. In order to restore order in Gaul, and to prevent competition for the throne, he named his friend Maximian as coregent, and placed the western part of the empire under his rule.

                 Diocletian continued to directly govern the Asiatic part of the empire, and Egypt. He secured the state borders, and implemented a new territorial partition of the empire. He separated the military from civilian administration, and reconstructed the inner organization of the army and state bureaucracy. Diocletian took away from the Senate their former rights. Rome was no longer the capital. Then, in AD 293, Diocletian took another huge step into the unknown by founding the ‘Tetrarchy’, the rule of four. This new idea of imperial government meant that four emperors would rule the empire. But, this system eventually collapsed, leading to civil war. 

              Zhao Yun was an important commander of the civil wars of the late Han dynasty, and the Three Kingdoms period of China. For most of his career, Zhao Yun served the warlord Liu Bei, playing a part in the establishment of Shu Han.

                 In 192, Zhao Yun became a subordinate of Liu Bei, who was serving as a major under Gongsun Zan. Then later, when Liu Bei formed his own personal army, Zhao Yun was his right hand man, and followed him in his battles. In 208, Zhao Yun distinguished himself at the Battle of Changban against the forces of the powerful Cao Cao. After this battle, Zhao Yun single-handedly saved Liu Bei’s only infant son, slaying numerous enemy soldiers along the way.

                     After the Battle of Red Cliffs, Zhao Yun played a major role in conquering additional territories for Liu Bei. He gained fame as one of the five tiger generals of the Shu Kingdom – a term used to refer to the five best military generals serving under one ruler.