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Alina Dougan

Janice Esau

Honors English Language Arts

19/3/2018

Reign

In the times before republics and democracies, absolute authority rested in the hands of

single individuals in nearly every nation on earth. Many Kings and emperors have left their mark

on history for good or for evil. These monarchs changed their world in many distinct ways.

Some monarchs left behind a legacy of horror and cruelty. These individuals were known

for inventing new kinds of barbarity. They were feared throughout their entire nations and

beyond. One of the most notorious terror monarchs was Vlad the Impaler, the prince of the tiny

kingdom of Wallachia which formed a part of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century as it

penetrated Europe. He was nicknamed for his practice of impaling entire armies of individuals

alive on tall stakes throughout an endless field of blood and gore. His victims would often kick

and scream in agony for days on end before they finally succumbed. Vlad’s rampage exacted a

death toll around 100,000. His thirst for blood was so great he became the inspiration for the title

character of the Brom Stoker classic novel … Dracula (Thomas).

Vlad wasn’t the only monarch who enjoyed a good show of blood; another prime

example is Nero, one of the most infamous of the Caesars of Rome. The victims of his chronic
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paranoia were only exceeded by those of his extravagant bloodlust. He sacrificed hundreds of

Christians in the arenas for sport as scape goats blamed for the Great Fire of Rome. Tradition

suggests that he killed Peter and Paul two of the most famous New Testament apostles of the

Church. He also crucified many Christians, but the women and children were often reserved for

the lions. At time he would burn Christians as human torches to light his parties at night. He even

killed several members of his family including his mother (Paul).

Other great monarchs were known for their prodigious conquests. Some of these rulers

swept their armies across the entire known world of their day. The most famous of all these

monarchs was Alexander the Great. By the age of 25 Alexander had not suffered a single defeat

and had become King of Macedonia, Pharaoh of Egypt, Overlord of Asia Minor, King of Persia,

and King of the Greeks (BBC). It has been said of him when he reached the height of his power

“When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to

conquer.” (Hans Gruber, Die Hard). Throughout his life he founded over 70 cities and his empire

stretched across three continents (BBC). This man was truly perseverant, courageous and a

brilliant military strategist.

Julius Caesar is another example of the world’s great conquerors. He was able to take

over the entire Roman Republic and all its conquered lands. He was elected as one of the two

proconsuls, but he achieved power primarily through his governorship of Gaul (modern day

France) where he commanded four legions to enforce power. Through his complete subjection

Gaul, he won a lot of popularity and influence in the government and among the people (Chuck).

Then he crossed the Rubicon with an army. The Rubicon was a river close to Rome. It was

illegal for a general to bring his army into Rome. When he did this, he was essentially declaring

war on Rome itself. He fought and defeated Pompey, his son in law and fellow proconsul,
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winning himself absolute power over Rome (Doug). While his career was cut short by

assassination his conquests laid the foundation for the establishment of the Roman Empire under

his adopted son Octavian who later became known as Augustus Caesar.

Religion has been central to the rise and maintenance of other great empires. Some of the

greatest examples for this type of legacy are the Egyptian monarchs because they were

considered sons of the Sun god, Ra. But outstanding of all of these was Pharaoh who led Egypt

in a completely different religious path. His name was Akhenaten, the husband of Nefertiti and

father figure of Tutankhamen. His reign over Egypt was one scandalous of the time because he

determined to supplant the traditional polytheistic religion with an essentially monotheistic

belief. He was hated over all of Egypt and in the years following his death he was labeled a

heretic and his name was removed from the official kings list of Egypt (Alister). This man was

very revolutionary for the time, although his ideas were not accepted into Egyptian culture.

Another of the greatest religious movements in history was the Islamic empire. It all

started with a poor man named Muhammad in an Arabian city called Mecca. At 40 years old, he

received the first pieces of scripture from the Angel Gabriel while he was praying in a cave. He

started preaching in Mecca to his family and random people out in the streets. When the religion

started to grow in Mecca the people in power went after Muhammad. And he was forced to flee

to the nearby city of Medina where he was accepted with open arms. The people of Medina

wholeheartedly followed Muhammad in anything he said. After a while friction started between

Medina and Mecca, when Muhammed ordered the people of Medina to start rob Mecca’s supply

caravans to satisfy their own food shortage. War started between the two cities; eventually,

Muhammed took his growing Islamic armies and conquered his native city. He became the king,

prophet and judge of the Muslims. He didn’t stop at Mecca, though, he went on to conquer all of
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the Arabian Peninsula (Bauer, pg. 67-81). He founded one of the most successful religious based

empires in history.

A rarer type of legacy among monarchs is the peaceful legacy. These usually follow

particularly successful conquerors after all opposition has been vanquished. One of the greatest

peace-time rulers ever was Augustus Caesar. When he finished conquering the rest of the known

world for the first few years of his reign, he ushered in the Pax Romana, to the Roman Peace. For

the first time the entire known world was connected and people could travel freely on the Roman

roads without fear from one end of the empire to the other. This allowed the Christian religion to

spread quickly in its early years. This period of peace and prosperity lasted for more than 50

years (Donald). Augustus was so beloved among the people that they worshiped him as a god

after his death.

Another example of a great peacetime monarch was Solomon the son of Kind David of

Israel. Solomon’s reign was known as the golden age of Israel. In the peace of Solomon’s reign

commerce flourished and Jerusalem became one of the wealthiest cities on earth. Silver was so

plentiful it was considered of little value. Solomon was known as one of the wisest men in

history, his reign was typified by the growth of the arts and literature. With the construction of

the Temple the Jewish religion became firmly established. The Bible tells us that David was

explicitly instructed not to build the Temple because he was a man a war and his successor

Solomon would be a man of peace.

Clearly all these monarchs left their mark for very different reasons. The stories of their

legacies were written down so they would be remembered. Thus, we learn what past rulers did

right and wrong. What legacy will our current world leaders leave to posterity?
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Work Cited

Alister Sook, Akhenaten: Mad Bad or Brilliant, The Telegraph, 9/jan/2014,

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/10561090/Akhenaten-mad-bad-or-brilliant.html\, March

20th , 2018

Bauer, Susan Wise, The Story of the world, volume 2; The Middle Ages, Peace Hill Press, 2003

BBC, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), History, 2014,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/alexander_the_great.shtml, March 18th 2018

Chuck Lyons, Julius Caesar at War, HISTORYNET, 19/7/2017,

http://www.historynet.com/julius-caesar-war.htm, March 19th 2018

Donald L. Wasson, Pax Romana, Ancient History Encyclopedia, December 8th 2015,

https://www.ancient.eu/Pax_Romana/, March 21st 2018

Doug Welch, Why did Caesar Cross the Rubicon and why was it Illegal?, Quora, Oct. 5th 2016,

https://www.quora.com/Why-did-Caesar-crossed-the-Rubicon-and-why-was-it-illegal, March

19th 2018

Paul L. Maier, Flames Over Rome, 1995

Thomas Swan, 25 Facts About Vlad Tepes the Impaler, Owlcation, November 30th 2016,

https://owlcation.com/humanities/25-Facts-about-Vlad-Tepes-the-Impaler