Ashoka the Great - the Best Ruler EVER?

Started by Martinus, May 31, 2009, 04:02:07 AM

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Valmy

#15
June 01, 2009, 09:02:55 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 01, 2009, 08:58:47 AM
Saint-Louis remains the greatest leader of all time.

Yeah that Crusade to Egypt will always be a model for glorious leadership.
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

The Minsky Moment

#16
June 01, 2009, 09:04:24 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 01, 2009, 08:58:47 AM
Saint-Louis remains the greatest leader of all time.

If one defines "great" in terms of maximizing the number of your troops you can get to die ghastly deaths in a desert, then he is running a close second behind Saddam Huessein.
The purpose of studying economics is not to acquire a set of ready-made answers to economic questions, but to learn how to avoid being deceived by economists.
--Joan Robinson

garbon

#17
June 01, 2009, 09:30:24 AM
Quote from: Valmy on June 01, 2009, 08:52:32 AM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on June 01, 2009, 08:46:34 AM
Everything good he ever did he learned from the Byzantines.

:lol:

That's who really gets the shaft, the original Byzantines. :(
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."

I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Grey Fox

#18
June 01, 2009, 10:19:22 AM
You can't expect people of the 1200 to understand Dysentery.
Colonel Caliga is Awesome.

Siege

#19
June 01, 2009, 10:19:31 AM
Martinus The Great will be the greatest ruler ever.


"All men are created equal, then some become infantry."

"Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't."

"Laissez faire et laissez passer, le monde va de lui même!"

Siege

#20
June 01, 2009, 05:41:45 PM
I retract my last post.



"All men are created equal, then some become infantry."

"Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't."

"Laissez faire et laissez passer, le monde va de lui même!"

Razgovory

#21
June 01, 2009, 05:54:02 PM
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 01, 2009, 08:58:47 AM
Saint-Louis remains the greatest leader of all time.

He has a City named after him that reflects that greatness.



This is actually one of the nicest photos I found of the city.  These building might have people living in them.  Most pictures depict burnt out, abandoned, or collapsed buildings.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

Faeelin

#22
June 01, 2009, 05:57:10 PM
Quote from: The Minsky Moment on June 01, 2009, 09:04:24 AM
Quote from: Grey Fox on June 01, 2009, 08:58:47 AM
Saint-Louis remains the greatest leader of all time.

If one defines "great" in terms of maximizing the number of your troops you can get to die ghastly deaths in a desert, then he is running a close second behind Saddam Huessein.

Surely Rommel's gallavanting around the desert with an impossible strategic goal makes him a worthy contender?

PDH

#23
June 01, 2009, 05:59:48 PM
I think, by all rights, William Henry Harrison is the best ever - at least elected ruler.
I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
-Umberto Eco

-------
"I'm pretty sure my level of depression has nothing to do with how much of a fucking asshole you are."

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Ed Anger

#24
June 01, 2009, 06:00:26 PM
Quote from: PDH on June 01, 2009, 05:59:48 PM
I think, by all rights, William Henry Harrison is the best ever - at least elected ruler.

:D
Stay Alive...Let the Man Drive

Faeelin

#25
June 01, 2009, 06:00:55 PM
Quote from: Valmy on June 01, 2009, 08:52:32 AM
Ashoka is the most legendary leader of India.  Incredibly, for a ancient political leader, he has an almost saintly image.

I'm not sure how unusual that is. The Persian emperoers get a pretty good rep in the Old Testament, after all.

But Marti's post ignores the ruthless conquest of Kalinga, which led to, ostensibly, Ashoka's conversion.

Queequeg

#26
June 02, 2009, 01:47:22 AM
Quote from: Faeelin on June 01, 2009, 06:00:55 PM
Quote from: Valmy on June 01, 2009, 08:52:32 AM
Ashoka is the most legendary leader of India.  Incredibly, for a ancient political leader, he has an almost saintly image.

I'm not sure how unusual that is. The Persian emperoers get a pretty good rep in the Old Testament, after all.

But Marti's post ignores the ruthless conquest of Kalinga, which led to, ostensibly, Ashoka's conversion.

Yup.  Cyrus didn't have much to attone for, and he didn't go in for pussy-ass insane FUCK-REALITY Buddhism but rather life, sex, charity and family affirming Zoroastrianism. 
Quote from: PDH on April 25, 2009, 05:58:55 PM
"Dysthymia?  Did they get some student from the University of Chicago with a hard-on for ancient Bactrian cities to name this?  I feel cheated."

Delirium

#27
June 02, 2009, 03:06:54 AM
I think the point is that Ashoka was an extremely liberal guy for being a leader in those times and nothing indicates otherwise so far.
Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen, and keep your eyes wide the chance won't come again; but don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin, and there's no telling who that it's naming. For the loser now will be later to win, cause the times they are a-changin'. -- B Dylan

Solmyr

#28
June 02, 2009, 05:50:15 AM
Quote from: Martinus on May 31, 2009, 04:02:07 AM
People who played Civ4 may have heard of him, as well as others with an interest in Asian/Indian history. His wikipedia entry seems slightly fanboish but he seems like a really unique ruler, way beyond his time and culture (He apparently allowed female education, introduced religious tolerance, banned slavery, death penalty, and even regulated hunting, fishing and deforestation being apparently the first environmentalist).

Was he gay too? :P

Scipio

#29
June 02, 2009, 05:56:55 AM
no, but he felt guilty about it.
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