Alexander the Great

Philosopher · 384 BC – 322 BC

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath whose writings on logic, ethics, biology, politics and metaphysics shaped Western thought for over two millennia.

• Formal logic
• Virtue ethics

Why Aristotle was Alexander's personal tutor during his adolescence.

Military Leader · 1162 – 1227

Genghis Khan was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, a military genius who united the nomadic tribes of the steppe and forged the largest contiguous land empire in history.

• Founding the Mongol Empire
• Largest contiguous land empire

Why Also a military leader & conqueror · Comparable historical impact

Emperor · 748 – 814

Charlemagne was the King of the Franks who united much of Western Europe and was crowned Emperor in 800 AD, reviving the idea of a Roman empire in the West and sparking a cultural revival.

• Uniting Western Europe
• Coronation as Emperor in 800 AD

Why Also a king & military leader · Comparable historical impact

Ruler · 600 BC – 530 BC

Cyrus the Great was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, the largest empire the ancient world had yet seen, remembered for his military genius and his tolerance toward conquered peoples.

• Founding the Persian Empire
• The Cyrus Cylinder

Why Also a king & military leader · Comparable historical impact

Military Leader · 247 BC – 183 BC

Hannibal Barca was a Carthaginian general regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history, famed for crossing the Alps with war elephants to invade Italy during the Second Punic War.

• Crossing the Alps
• The Battle of Cannae

Why Also a military leader · Comparable historical impact

Military Leader · 100 BC – 44 BC

Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman whose conquest of Gaul and victory in civil war made him dictator of Rome, ending the Republic and paving the way for the Empire.

• Conquest of Gaul
• Crossing the Rubicon

Why Also a military leader · Comparable historical impact

Military Leader · 1769 – 1821

Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose during the French Revolution, crowned himself Emperor, and dominated European affairs for over a decade.

• Napoleonic Wars
• The Napoleonic Code

Why Also a military leader · Comparable historical impact

Military Leader · 1137 – 1193

Saladin was a Kurdish Muslim sultan who founded the Ayyubid dynasty, united Egypt and Syria, and famously recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders, earning renown even among his enemies for his chivalry.

• Recapturing Jerusalem
• The Battle of Hattin

Why Also a military leader · Comparable historical impact

Emperor · 1542 – 1605

Akbar was the third Mughal emperor, who expanded the empire across much of the Indian subcontinent and is remembered for his administrative reforms, religious tolerance and patronage of the arts during a long and powerful reign.

• Expansion of the Mughal Empire
• Religious tolerance

Why Also a military leader · Comparable historical impact

Statesman · 1732 – 1799

George Washington was the commander of the Continental Army in the American Revolution and the first President of the United States, whose leadership and restraint shaped the new republic.

• Commanding the Continental Army
• First U.S. President

Why Also a military leader · Comparable historical impact

Ruler · 1810 BC – 1750 BC

Hammurabi was the sixth king of Babylon who united Mesopotamia under his rule and issued the Code of Hammurabi, one of the earliest and most complete written law codes in history.

• The Code of Hammurabi
• Uniting Mesopotamia

Why Also a king · Comparable historical impact

Emperor · 259 BC – 210 BC

Qin Shi Huang was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China, who standardized the state, began the Great Wall, and built the Terracotta Army.

• First unification of China
• The Great Wall

Why Also a military leader · Comparable historical impact

Sultan · 1494 – 1566

Suleiman the Magnificent was the longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire, who led it to the height of its power through military conquest, legal reform and a brilliant flowering of art and architecture.

• Ottoman golden age
• Legal reforms (the Lawgiver)

Why Also a military leader · Comparable historical impact

Emperor · 350 BC – 295 BC

Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Maurya Empire, who united most of the Indian subcontinent for the first time and established one of the ancient world's great states.

• Founding the Maurya Empire
• Unifying northern India

Why Also a military leader

Conquistador · 1485 – 1547

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that overthrew the Aztec Empire, bringing much of Mexico under Spanish rule and inaugurating centuries of colonial domination.

• Conquest of the Aztec Empire
• Capture of Tenochtitlan

Why Also a military leader

Military Leader · 1412 – 1431

Joan of Arc was a peasant girl who, believing herself guided by divine visions, led French forces to crucial victories in the Hundred Years' War before being captured, tried and burned at the stake — and later made a saint.

• Lifting the siege of Orléans
• Turning the Hundred Years' War

Why Also a military leader

Mathematician · 287 BC – 212 BC

Archimedes was an ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and inventor, widely regarded as the greatest mathematician of antiquity and a founder of mathematical physics and engineering.

• Archimedes' principle
• Calculating pi

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Mathematician · 325 BC – 265 BC

Euclid was an ancient Greek mathematician, the "father of geometry", whose treatise the Elements is the most influential mathematics textbook ever written.

• The Elements
• Euclidean geometry

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Physician · 460 BC – 370 BC

Hippocrates was an ancient Greek physician regarded as the father of Western medicine, who established medicine as a rational discipline distinct from superstition and inspired the Hippocratic Oath.

• Father of medicine
• The Hippocratic Oath

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Poet · b. 800 BC

Homer was the legendary ancient Greek poet to whom the great epics the Iliad and the Odyssey are attributed, foundational works of Western literature.

• The Iliad
• The Odyssey

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Philosopher · 428 BC – 348 BC

Plato was a Greek philosopher who founded the Academy in Athens, wrote the foundational dialogues of Western philosophy, and developed the influential theory of Forms.

• Theory of Forms
• The Academy

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Mathematician · 570 BC – 495 BC

Pythagoras was an ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher who founded the Pythagorean school and is remembered for the Pythagorean theorem and the idea that number underlies the cosmos.

• Pythagorean theorem
• Pythagoreanism

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Philosopher · 470 BC – 399 BC

Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher credited as a founder of Western philosophy, famous for the Socratic method of questioning and for his trial and execution in Athens.

• Socratic method
• The examined life

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization

Philosopher · 334 BC – 262 BC

Zeno of Citium was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded Stoicism, teaching that virtue and reason are the path to a good life, in lectures given at the Painted Porch (Stoa) in Athens.

• Founding Stoicism
• Teaching at the Stoa

Why Active in the same era · From the same civilization