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.