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Remember that the Caesars saved Rome from collapse; Octavian (Augustus Caesar) was one of the most influential and successful people in history. For the fall of

Remember that the Caesars saved Rome from collapse; Octavian (Augustus Caesar) was one of the most influential and successful people in history. For the fall of the Western Empire, see The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization, but even then remember that the Roman Empire continued in the east until 1453. I don't know why you condemn the Great Man theory while talking about Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan -- two of the clearest-cut examples of how the Great Man theory isn't entirely wrong.

rustynails 10y ago
Genghis is also an excellent example of why the article's title is incorrect. Cooperation is far more important than friendliness. I found the article difficult to digest as it switched its focus between cooperation and friendliness while attempting to treat them as the same thing.
FullMtlAlcoholc 10y ago
Ghengis, and the Mongol Empire in general, is the most exceptional empire in history. What I mean by exception is that it broke all the rules...circumstances that doomed any other empire didn't have the same effect on them. I'm not going to discount Alexander's successes. From all sources, he was very talented, if impulsive, cavalry calendar Greece's climate and proximity to the coast made it one of the wealthiest areas in the world at the time due to exports of olive oil and wine. This allowed the free citizenry to be outfitted with the finest armor available at the time. That the Hoplites were free citizens, and not slaves, endowed them with a greater amount of morale than a number of other militaries at the time. Also, I believe his father was the one who created the phalanx formation. Put simply, he inherited the greatest fighting force at the time while being extremely well-funded. The Great Man theory isn't entirely wrong, Napoleon springs to mind as another person who had an outsized influence on history. It's just that much of the history taught in US schools is about singular individuals and dates. They don't really go into the overall conditions of the times and that history is also the result of the decisions of everyday people like you and I

rustynails 10y ago

Genghis is also an excellent example of why the article's title is incorrect. Cooperation is far more important than friendliness. I found the article difficult to digest as it switched its focus between cooperation and friendliness while attempting to treat them as the same thing.

FullMtlAlcoholc 10y ago

Ghengis, and the Mongol Empire in general, is the most exceptional empire in history. What I mean by exception is that it broke all the rules...circumstances that doomed any other empire didn't have the same effect on them. I'm not going to discount Alexander's successes. From all sources, he was very talented, if impulsive, cavalry calendar Greece's climate and proximity to the coast made it one of the wealthiest areas in the world at the time due to exports of olive oil and wine. This allowed the free citizenry to be outfitted with the finest armor available at the time. That the Hoplites were free citizens, and not slaves, endowed them with a greater amount of morale than a number of other militaries at the time. Also, I believe his father was the one who created the phalanx formation. Put simply, he inherited the greatest fighting force at the time while being extremely well-funded. The Great Man theory isn't entirely wrong, Napoleon springs to mind as another person who had an outsized influence on history. It's just that much of the history taught in US schools is about singular individuals and dates. They don't really go into the overall conditions of the times and that history is also the result of the decisions of everyday people like you and I