Warrior Kings Who Led Their Own Armies

The unstable Caracalla, son of Septimius Severus, was known for his savagery and erratic behavior. His contemporaries are said to have considered him a soldier first, an emperor second, and he increased army salaries and granted his troops other benefits. He waged war against the Alamanni, a confederation of Germanic tribes, at one point unaccountably massacring a group of German allies, and later launched expeditions against the Parthians in Persia that were largely unsuccessful.

Emperor Maximinus, known as Thrax (“the Thracian”) after his birthplace, ruled for just three years. He became emperor after the previous monarch, Alexander Severus, was assassinated for refusing to fight the Germanic tribes, angering the army. A physically imposing man, sometimes described as a “brute,” Maximinus had no qualms about engaging with the tribes. He moved deep into Germany, plundering villages along the way. His troops suffered heavy losses at a battle near Wurttemberg, but he restored peace in the region. Maximinus’s drive into Germany was costly, draining Rome’s finances and harming his reputation among the citizenry.

Emperor Valerian, whose ascent to the throne averted a civil war, inherited an empire that was becoming increasingly difficult to rule. Threats came from Goths in the east who sacked Athens during Valerian’s reign. Valerian’s troops marched into Mesopotamia where plague ravaged his troops. He sought a peace treaty with Persia after a devastating defeat at the Battle of Edessa in modern-day Turkey, and planned to meet with the Persian king Shapur. It was a trap. Valerian was taken prisoner – the only Roman emperor ever captured – and became a slave for the rest of his life.

The first Chinese ruler to claim the title of emperor, Qin Shi Huang led his army in conquering six warring Chinese states, and built the first centralized empire in Chinese history. He began building the Great Wall, constructed a national road system, and built himself an immense mausoleum, guarded the world-famous life-sized terracotta army, which took 700,000 laborers 39 years to create.

Macadeonian King Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, was an accomplished general who learned military strategy as a youth after he was sent as a hostage to the Greek city of Thebes. Among the strategies he employed as general was the concept of the phalanx in which soldiers were formed in a tight, cohesive rectangle and acted as one. He also doubled the size of his infantry and cavalry and gave bonuses to deserving soldiers. Philip led his armies to conquer all of Greece and planned to invade Asia Minor, but was assassinated before he could put his plans into action.