Military Commanders

What in your opinion is the greatest military leader of our history? Perhaps not in the success of the nation its overall power, but in terms of cunning, ingenuity, and the ability to inspire their men. I would have to Go with Alexander, and to a lesser extent his father Philip the Second, because they managed to use brilliant tactics and new weapons to bring Macedonia from the backwater of Greece to the reigning power of the Mediterranean.

However, though he was not as successful, I'd have to say Julius Caesar, one of my personal heroes. He was brutal, cunning, a political genius, commanded complete control and obedience of his men, and made complete asses of the Roman senate. There are two specific events I'd like to detail for you:

One is his incarceration by pirates. Before Caesar became the general of the Roman army and later Emperor, he was a seafaring captain, and his ship was ransacked by pirates. He was taken prisoner, and they demanded a ransom for his freedom. The roman government gave the money, but Caesar convinced the pirates to turn down the sum because he felt that he was worth more than the current ransom. Later, after being freed after being incarcerated for ten years, he vowed to return to the island and kill every last pirate. After becoming emperor, he returned and had every last one pushed off a cliff, one by one, onto the rocks below.

The second is just one example of a battle he fought against a barbarian tribe during his conquests in Northern Europe. After learning a massive barbarian force was coming at his heels, he rushed to the barbarian's undefended capitol, filled with their wives and children. However, they were entrenched, and he couldn't escape so he had a second set of walls built around the city and his men, preventing the barbs from entering or leaving. He held this for for months and eventually begun to starve the women and children inside. However, instead of hear their plea for mercy, Caesar entered the city, picking up the dead bodies, and threw them over his own wall at the barbarian soldiers, crushing their morale, and eventually their bones in their impending defeat.

Tl;dr? I'd pick Caesar, but please read because I want to to understand what a bad-ass he is. And because I just spent a while typing.

Man, i'd have to go with Leonidas king of Sparta.
How many other commanders can say they took just 300 men, and fought off literally thousands of enemies.

Dude this is a great read. c: If I had to pick in all honesty it would be Hitler. Yes I know its a bit off to choose a E.V.I.L *Every, Villain, Is, Lemons* but, lets all be honest. The guy was a great leader with ideas that he could have made happen but, his generals did not listen to him, and Hitler kind of well... ended like Mafia Boy did. He bragged to much and that got him in the butt.

Dude this is a great read. c: If I had to pick in all honesty it would be Hitler. Yes I know its a bit off to choose a E.V.I.L *Every, Villain, Is, Lemons* but, lets all be honest. The guy was a great leader with ideas that he could have made happen but, his generals did not listen to him, and Hitler kind of well... ended like Mafia Boy did. He bragged to much and that got him in the butt.

Very true.
Though Hitler's allies also played a role in his downfall.
I honestly think if Japan wouldn't of attacked pearl harbor the war would've turned out different.

Dude this is a great read. c: If I had to pick in all honesty it would be Hitler. Yes I know its a bit off to choose a E.V.I.L *Every, Villain, Is, Lemons* but, lets all be honest. The guy was a great leader with ideas that he could have made happen but, his generals did not listen to him, and Hitler kind of well... ended like Mafia Boy did. He bragged to much and that got him in the butt.

Very true.
Though Hitler's allies also played a role in his downfall.
I honestly think if Japan wouldn't of attacked pearl harbor the war would've turned out different.

Its very true.
Hitler was smart, he was waiting for the right time to attack. He was getting everyone to be like, its fine its fine, we are not any harm or danger. We are coooool brooooo.

Then Japan goes, FUCK IT YOLO!!!!!!

And the other guy, did some shit and GG poor Hitler was left alone.

Man, i'd have to go with Leonidas king of Sparta.
How many other commanders can say they took just 300 men, and fought off literally thousands of enemies.

Leonidas died. :P Though yeah, I'd have to agree, it was easily one of the greatest acts of heroism in all time.

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Very true.
Though Hitler's allies also played a role in his downfall.
I honestly think if Japan wouldn't of attacked pearl harbor the war would've turned out different.

Its very true.
Hitler was smart, he was waiting for the right time to attack. He was getting everyone to be like, its fine its fine, we are not any harm or danger. We are coooool brooooo.

Then Japan goes, FUCK IT YOLO!!!!!!

And the other guy, did some shit and GG poor Hitler was left alone.

I'd agree with this, without the US to turn the tides, Europe wpuld have been pretty fucked. Though, I don't agree with you. Hitler was probably one of the greatest polirical leaders of all time; he was convincing, cunning, and strong. His military tactics on the other hand weren't always up to par, and many of his battle were fought by generals.

Genghis khan, that man dominated everything (not literally.)
He killed so many people, and he knew how to expand the Mongol empire and he did it quickly and well.

Genghis Khan, founder of Mongolia. He proclaimed himself to be the king and United the fragmented nomads of the grasslands and managed to conquer from the pacific to the black sea. The size of Russia, in the 13th century.

Ah yes, Genghis and Attilla has massive sucess with their conquests throughout the western worlds. I hadn''t even considered them when I created this. Both were able to crush the world's strongest empires using roughly collected bands of of nomads.

Man, i'd have to go with Leonidas king of Sparta.
How many other commanders can say they took just 300 men, and fought off literally thousands of enemies.

I agree with you on this one.
That man and his men were legendary.