Quote:
Originally Posted by smrk2
Take out Augustus for sure.
Don't be to quick......
Augustus' reign laid the foundations of a regime that lasted for nearly fifteen hundred years through the ultimate decline of the Western Roman Empire and until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. Napoleon's reign lasted a few years, and two of the greatest military stumbles of all were both under Napoleon's command when he Invaded Russia and of course Waterloo.
Napoleon's career mirrored Julius Cesar. But, I would put Cesar well ahead of Napoleon for many reason's beyond the scope of this post, most notable that Cesar did not have losses like Napoleon did in Russia and Waterloo.
By the year 13, Augustus boasted 21 occasions where his troops proclaimed "imperator" as his title after a successful battle. By the end of his reign, the armies of Augustus had conquered northern Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal), the Alpine regions of Raetia and Noricum (modern Switzerland, Bavaria, Austria, Slovenia), Illyricum and Pannonia (modern Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, etc.), and extended the borders of the Africa Province to the east and south.
He had his losses. A prime example of Roman loss in battle was the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, where three entire legions led by Publius Quinctilius Varus were destroyed with few survivors by Arminius, leader of the Cherusci, an apparent Roman ally. Augustus did not lead this battle and Varus was clearly the blundering general. Augustus retaliated by dispatching Tiberius and Drusus to the Rhineland to pacify it, which had some success although the battle of AD 9 brought the end to Roman expansion into Germany.
I think Augustus's legacy was not his innovation as a military leader but his talents as a military leader of empire. The reign of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana (The Roman Peace). Despite continuous wars or imperial expansion on the Empire's frontiers and one year-long civil war over the imperial succession, the Mediterranean world remained at peace for more than two centuries.
Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanded possessions in Africa, expanded into Germania, and completed the conquest of Hispania. Beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states, and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. He reformed the Roman system of taxation, developed networks of roads with an official courier system, established a standing army, established the Praetorian Guard, created official police and fire-fighting services for Rome, and rebuild much of the City during his reign.