Statesman

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

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

President · 1809 – 1865

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, who led the nation through its Civil War, preserved the Union, and abolished slavery before his assassination in 1865.

• Leading the Union in the Civil War
• The Emancipation Proclamation

Statesman · 1918 – 2013

Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary and statesman who, after 27 years in prison, became the country's first democratically elected president and a global symbol of reconciliation.

• Ending apartheid
• 27 years in prison

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

Inventor · 1706 – 1790

Benjamin Franklin was an American polymath — a founding father, scientist, inventor, writer and diplomat — whose work on electricity and statesmanship made him one of the most admired figures of the 18th century.

• Founding Father
• Experiments on electricity

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)

Statesman · 106 BC – 43 BC

Cicero was a Roman statesman, orator and philosopher whose speeches and writings defined Latin prose, transmitted Greek philosophy to Rome, and championed the values of the Roman Republic.

• Roman oratory
• Defending the Republic

Philosopher · 1469 – 1527

Niccolò Machiavelli was a Renaissance Italian diplomat, political philosopher and writer whose treatise The Prince founded modern political science and gave his name to ruthless statecraft.

• The Prince
• Founding modern political science

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