Saladin

Military Leader · 356 BC – 323 BC

Alexander the Great was the king of Macedon who built one of the largest empires in history by his early thirties, spreading Greek culture across three continents.

• Conquest of Persia
• The Hellenistic Age

Why A model conqueror to whom great medieval commanders like Saladin were compared.

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 Another commander from outside Europe long remembered for brilliance against a powerful foe.

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 A near-contemporary empire-builder reshaping the medieval world from a different direction.

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 sultan & ruler · 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 ruler & 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 ruler & 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 ruler & 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 & ruler · 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 ruler & military leader · Comparable historical impact

Pharaoh · 1303 BC – 1213 BC

Ramesses II was the most powerful pharaoh of Egypt's New Kingdom, whose 66-year reign brought military campaigns, colossal building projects and a prosperity that earned him the title Ramesses the Great.

• Battle of Kadesh
• Abu Simbel temples

Why Also a ruler & military leader · Comparable historical impact

Empress · 1729 – 1796

Catherine the Great was Empress of Russia for more than three decades, an enlightened despot who expanded the empire, modernized its administration, and made her court a brilliant centre of art and learning.

• Expansion of the Russian Empire
• Enlightened despotism

Why Also a ruler · 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

Pharaoh · 1380 BC – 1334 BC

Akhenaten was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty who launched a religious revolution, replacing Egypt's many gods with the worship of a single deity, the sun-disc Aten — one of the earliest experiments with monotheism.

• Worship of the Aten
• City of Amarna

Why Also a ruler · Comparable historical impact

Emperor · 304 BC – 232 BC

Ashoka was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire who, after a devastating war, embraced Buddhism and non-violence, becoming one of history's most remarkable rulers.

• Spreading Buddhism
• The Edicts of Ashoka

Why Also a ruler · Comparable historical impact

Emperor · 63 BC – 14

Augustus was the first Roman emperor, the heir of Julius Caesar who ended a century of civil war, established the Roman Empire, and inaugurated the Pax Romana.

• First Roman emperor
• The Pax Romana

Why Also a ruler · Comparable historical impact

Ruler · 69 BC – 30 BC

Cleopatra VII was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, a shrewd and learned monarch whose alliances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony placed her at the center of Roman politics.

• Last pharaoh of Egypt
• Alliance with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony

Why Also a ruler · Comparable historical impact

Queen · 1533 – 1603

Elizabeth I was Queen of England from 1558 to 1603, whose long and stable reign — the Elizabethan era — saw a golden age of culture, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, and England's rise as a sea power.

• The Elizabethan golden age
• Defeating the Spanish Armada

Why Also a ruler · 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 ruler · Comparable historical impact

Pharaoh · 1507 BC – 1458 BC

Hatshepsut was one of the few women to rule ancient Egypt as pharaoh in her own right, a peaceful and prosperous reign marked by ambitious building projects and far-reaching trade.

• Female pharaoh
• Expedition to Punt

Why Also a ruler · Comparable historical impact

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 · 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 ruler & military leader · Active in the same era

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 · Active in the same era

Emperor · 1280 – 1337

Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire at its height in the 14th century, remembered as one of the wealthiest individuals in history and famed for a lavish pilgrimage to Mecca that announced West Africa's riches to the world.

• Pilgrimage to Mecca (1324)
• Legendary wealth

Why Also a ruler · Active in the same era