10 Influential Leaders of the Ancient World
From military might to philosophical insights, these ancient leaders shaped how we live today.
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If one common thread connects all leaders throughout history, it’s that they eventually stop being leaders. They are either deposed, defeated, resign, or simply just die. In many cases, their names and legacies are lost to time, as famously illustrated by the Percy Bysshe Shelley poem “Ozymandias.” But a rare few leaders have had such an impact that their memory endures—a feat all the more impressive for the men and women who ruled over parts of the ancient world.
These ancient world leaders are still studied, and in many cases, admired and emulated to this day. Some, like Alexander the Great, were military leaders. Others, like Confucius, were thought leaders. And more still, such as philosopher emperor Marcus Aurelius, straddled both worlds.
Whether history remembers them as inspirations or cautionary tales, these ancient leaders are united in the fact that their influence extends beyond their region, beyond their era, and into the world we inhabit today. Here are 10 leaders of the ancient world who helped shape the world as we know it.
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Alexander the Great
King of Macedonia
Ruled from 336–323 B.C.E.
When Alexander III of Macedon (now Greece) ascended to the throne, he was only 20 years old. The young king didn’t have decades ahead of him to rule and conquer; he would die in 323 B.C.E., just 37 days shy of his 33rd birthday.
But in that time, he seized control of the Corinthian League at Thermopylae; defeated and conquered the Achaemenid Empire (also known as the Persian Empire); and expanded his own empire beyond Greece. His realm stretched as far as parts of India and the Middle East.
Alexander, a student of Aristotle, left a legacy of more than just military might. His dominance spread ancient Greek culture to the edges of the vast empire’s borders and beyond. Some of the cities which bore Alexander’s name, like Alexandria in Egypt, became major centers of culture and education. Look no further than the famed, and later incinerated, Library of Alexandria).
Augustus Caesar
Roman Emperor
Ruled from 27 B.C.E.–14 C.E.
There are many ancient leaders who sought to be remembered for their acts of war. But the man born as Gaius Octavius wished instead to be remembered for peace, and so he was.
The first emperor of the Roman Empire is associated with the period known as the Pax Romana, a largely peaceful era for the Romans that saw little armed conflict. The concept of bringing peace is frequently evoked in the emperor’s memoir, Res Gestae, as he boasts of having “restored peace to the sea” and to Gaul and Spain.
But all was not peaceful in the life of Augustus Caesar. Thrust into a power struggle when he was named heir to his late great-uncle Julius Caesar, Augustus formed the Second Triumvirate with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus in 43 B.C.E. only to find himself battling Antony’s forces when conflict broke out between Egypt and Rome. Augustus was victorious in that fight, after which he became the first Roman emperor.
Confucius
Philosopher
Lived from 551–479 B.C.E.
Not every influential leader of the ancient world is one who spread their ideology by force. A teacher and philosopher born in Qufu, China, whose familial circumstances remain a subject of debate, Confucius never sought to rule and never conquered anyone by means of force.
Instead, his principles of the Sangang Wuchang—including the virtues of ren (humaneness), yi (justice), li (ritual), and zhi (wisdom)—were put into writing by his disciples and grew in esteem as new dynasties took power in China. Confucius was born amid warring Chinese states under the Chou empire. Four centuries later when the first Han Dynasty took hold, Confucianism had become the guiding philosophy under which all of China’s political machinations were guided.
Ashoka the Great
Emperor of Mauryan Empire
Ruled from c. 268–232 B.C.E.
Ashoka the Great is remembered, especially after the Brahmi scripts which chronicled his rule were deciphered in the 19th century, as an example of early ethical governance. During his rule over the Mauryan Empire, which spanned much of South Asia, he implemented his Edicts to promote nonviolence and tolerance and focused his efforts on social welfare through planting trees, digging wells, and establishing medical facilities.
Remarkably, Ashoka’s ethical leadership was born of brutal bloodshed. He oversaw the conquest of Kalinga, a region in modern-day India between the Ganges and Godavari rivers. One Edict reports the death toll of the conflict reached 100,000. Although some ancient leaders would treat such carnage as a calling card, Ashoka was horrified by the violence.
What occurred at Kalinga inspired him to pursue governance through the Buddhist principles of dharma. There is debate as to whether Ashoka was a Buddhist before the battle or if the bloody conquest made him a convert, but what is inarguable is that the leader’s devotion to dharma caused Buddhism to spread and flourish in the region, even beyond the bounds of his vast empire. Missionaries sent out on Ashoka’s behest spread the message through Sri Lanka, Central Asia, and even the Mediterranean.
Qin Shi Huang
First Emperor of China
Ruled from 221–210 B.C.E.
Through his military might, Qin Shi Huang conquered his rivals during the Warring States period and unified China. Through his tyrannical authoritarian rule, he introduced a uniform culture to the empire. His dynasty collapsed not long after his death, but his enduring impact on the region is undeniable.
Under the name of King Ying Zheng, he dominated the other warring states of Chu, Han, Qi, Wei, Yan, and Zhao, consolidating power as he went. He chose to forsake the title of king in favor of branding himself emperor. Under his leadership, Qin Shi Huang implemented a singular cultural system, demanding the entirety of the vast empire adhere to a single system of measurements, currency, and even a uniform system of Chinese characters (though regional dialects remained).
Qin Shi Huang is also responsible for many of the titanic architectural works that still draw millions to China every year. Under his leadership, the walls that once divided the states were destroyed, but a new, stronger wall was order to be constructed on the empire’s northern border. The barrier served as a precursor to the famed Great Wall of China. And of course, his massive mausoleum, which took 38 years to build, features the sprawling terracotta army.
Hatshepsut
Egyptian Pharaoh
Ruled from 1479–1458 B.C.E.
Cleopatra typically gets all of the attention when it comes to female rulers of Egypt, but there’s an earlier woman who proved her enduring might. The accomplishments of Hatshepsut have never truly faded from history, despite the dogged efforts of her successor Thutmose III.
The longest-reigning female pharaoh in Egypt, Hatshepsut took power after the death of her husband, Thutmose II, and reigned for 20 years. In an effort to “legitimize” her authority in the eyes of a patriarchal ancient society, Hatshepsut styled herself in a “male” fashion, including donning a fake beard.
Her attire was traditional, yet her leadership style eschewed some of the more aggressive acts that are common for new rulers trying to prove themselves. Rather than rule by war, Hatshepsut favored trade and diplomacy, including the famed expedition to Punt in the ninth year of her reign, which yielded “gold, ivory and myrrh trees” for Egypt. More focused on improving her empire than adding to it with more land, Hatshepsut’s legacy is bolstered by the building and restoring of temples and other public works projects.
Marcus Aurelius
Roman Emperor
Ruled from 161–180 C.E.
It’s common, even today, for powerful leaders to feel the need to publish their philosophies. If you like, you can thumb through Muammar al-Gaddafi’s The Green Book or a romance novel by Saddam Hussein. But what is uncommon is for one of these works to endure as a literary classic for millennia. Yet judging by how many people today still read Meditations, that’s exactly what Marcus Aurelius achieved.
If there has ever been a leader who fit the profile outlined in Plato’s The Republic of the “Philosopher King,” it’s Marcus Aurelius. From a military standpoint, Aurelius fended off both Germanic and Parthian forces to preserve the Roman Empire. From a governing standpoint, Aurelius maintained stability within Rome even amid the scourge of the Antonine plague.
In terms of influence, nothing Aurelius did with political power or military might compares to what he achieved with an author’s pen. Written during his military campaigns, Meditations outlines the tenants of the Stoic philosophy to which he adhered, focusing on rationality and the removal of sensory indulgences from one’s life. Meditations has influenced many world leaders across the centuries, even having been a favorite of U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Bill Clinton.
Cyrus the Great
Founder of the Achaemenid Empire
Ruled from c. 550–530 B.C.E.
Cyrus II, also known as Cyrus the Great, oversaw the birth of the Achaemenid, or Persian, Empire. By the time his conquests concluded—after campaigns that conquered Media, Lydia, and Babylon—Cyrus’s empire was the largest in the history of humanity at that point in time.
But Cyrus isn’t just revered for the size of his empire; his system of governance is also lauded. Future empires of this scale would have been entirely untenable were it not for the innovations in infrastructure he pioneered, primarily the formation of a multi-state system, where semi-autonomous regions known as satrapies would answer to a single central government overseen by Cyrus in the capital city.
Cyrus also endeared himself to his people through compassion. His famed Cyrus Cylinder promotes Cyrus as a leader willing to oversee a state comprised of multiple nationalities and faiths, and the Hebrew Bible maintains that it was Cyrus who permitted the Jews to repatriate to Judah after the conquest of Babylon.
Attila the Hun
Chieftain of the Hunnic Empire
Ruled from 434–453 C.E.
Attila the Hun has endured in our collective memory as such a fearsome and dominant warrior-king that his name is often evoked in pop culture as a shorthand for ruthlessness. But to simply speak of the viciousness of Attila the Hun understates how remarkable what he achieved in his short life truly was.
Attila managed to unite the disparate war bands that were the Huns into a fierce and formidable military force. Consolidating power, Attila often deployed his forces for swift but devastating raids throughout Europe, intimidating even the most powerful empires. Although Attila never succeeded in conquering key Roman cities like Constantinople or Rome, his acts of annihilating terror on the Balkans, Gaul, and Italy echoed throughout ancient history, earning him the nickname Flagellum Dei, or “Scourge of God.”
Julius Caesar
Roman Emperor
Ruled from 60–44 B.C.E.
The reign of Julius Caesar reshaped ancient Rome in ways that still reverberate in our modern world. Even colloquial phrases in our lexicon like “crossing the Rubicon” and “beware the Ides of March” originate, in some sense or another, with Caesar.
His first major achievement was the conquest of Gaul. From 58 to 50 B.C.E., Caesar conquered the lands comprising modern day Belgium, France, and parts of Germany up to the Rhine. Caesar’s tactical brutality, which included depriving his opponents of water and purposefully mutilating them, made him a celebrated general.
Caesar was initially part of the First Triumvirate, alongside Crassus and Pompey. But after Crassus death, tensions between Caesar and Pompey came to a boiling point. Rather than submit to Pompey’s demand that Caesar disband his army, Caesar took his army across the Rubicon and marched on Rome, ultimately defeating Pompey’s forces and seizing sole control of the Roman Republic.
It would be, under Caesar, a Republic no more. Caesar oversaw the government’s transformation into the Roman Empire, with he, himself, at the top. He implemented a wave of changes to the practices of the empire: centralizing power, expanding the Senate, and even implementing the Julian calendar.
That the intensity of his power grab matched that of his military conquests caused concern within the newly-restructured empire. The seemingly-untouchable emperor was ultimately felled by his own allies, including Brutus and Cassius, on the Ides of March in 44 B.C.E.
Michale Natale is a News Editor for the Hearst Enthusiast Group. As a writer and researcher, he has produced written and audio-visual content for more than fifteen years, spanning historical periods from the dawn of early man to the Golden Age of Hollywood. His stories for the Enthusiast Group have involved coordinating with organizations like the National Parks Service and the Secret Service, and travelling to notable historical sites and archaeological digs, from excavations of America’ earliest colonies to the former homes of Edgar Allan Poe.
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