Ok, I'll keep it rolling. My 5th round pick: Mauro German Camoranesi Errrr...sorry. Wrong draft again Here goes….. My 5th round pick: IMPERATOR CAESAR MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS AUGUSTUS (Better known as HELIOGABALUS) He looks a bit like Camoranesi, doesn't he? Here is a very detailed account of his rule: http://www.livius.org/he-hg/heliogabalus/heliogabalus.htm I am a big fan of Roman history, and back when I was in college I used to have some interesting conversations with my history teacher about the Caesars, because I always found them fascinating. I picked this guy not because he was the worst tyrant of Rome from our 21st century point of view. Yes, he was cruel, he was a megalomaniac, and he committed lots of atrocities, especially by our standards. But obviously he wasn't the only Roman ruler who was guilty of such actions. And, he didn't rule for long and was assassinated by the Praetorian guard when he was still very young. But I chose him because the Ancient Romans themselves would probably have chosen him as the worst of their tyrants. He was reviled by his contemporaries and considered the worst of Roman tyrants by the Roman historians, because he disregarded and basically stood against everything that was considered a Roman virtue in those days, in terms of Roman tradition, culture and religion. In fact, it is believed that the historians probably exagerated the stories of his cruelties, because he was hated so much. It is like if a president of the US would come to power and in a short time violate every single value that is important to Americans. I am very curious about what Nice thinks of my choice. I think he’s one guy who knows more about Ancient Roman history even than my old history teacher.
Does 7 years 2 months and 21 days count as 'a short time'? If so I have to re-evaluate an earlier pick. I predict more Romans to come. A fascinating lot those Romans.
I'm interested as well, I've always thought of Aurelius as a "good" emperor. IIRC he was deified after his reign and is considered by roman historians as the last of the "Five good Emperors".
Four years, I think. (218 to 222 AD, but I'm not sure about the months). I was thinking more in terms of him dying so young, and also it's a short time in relative terms compared to other Roman Caesars who might be candidates for this draft. But I don't think a long time in power is necesarily a requirement, although it helps. I picked 'The Pashas' and they didn't stay in power that long either.
He's not THE Marcus Aurelius. He is a later Caesar who took his name. He's better known as Heliogabalus.
Some good selections. So far I'm liking ASF, nice, and blackjack. DoyleG is not that far off, either.
Round 5 Starting pick times based on ASF's pick to start round 5 which was at 1.15pm eastern... argentine soccer fan - picked nicephoras - 3.15pm 4/10 The Big Ticket - 5.15pm 4/10 Dirt McGirt - 7.15pm 4/10 through 9.15am 4/11 blackjack - 9.15am 4/11 DoyleG - 11.15am 4/11 SoFla Metro - 1.15pm 4/11 CrewDust - 3.15pm 4/11 JeremyEritrea - 5.15pm 4/11 HerthaBerwyn - 7.15pm 4/11 through 9.15am 4/12 dogface - 9.15am 4/13 spejic - 11.15am 4/13 GringoTex - 1.15pm 4/13 BudWiser - 3.15pm 4/13 Panfilo - 5.15pm 4/13 IntheNet - 7.15pm 4/13 through 9.15am 4/14 ElJefe - 9.15am 4/14 Matt in the Hat - 11.15am 4/14 soccernutter - 1.15pm 4/14 peledre - 3.15pm 4/14 YankHibee - 5.15pm 4/14 dogface - missing picks from round 2, 3, and 4. He could pick at any time. BudWiser - missing picks from round 2, 3, and 4. He also could pick at any time. Panfilo - missing pick from round 4. PM was (will be) sent to everybody. Let see if nice has fixed his PM problem.
Bugger. I was wondering why I hadn't seen him recently. Oh well. In that case, I'll take Peter Griffin of the glorious nation of Petoria. Err, anyway, I'll take Ivan the Terrible. I mean, come on people, he was nicknamed The Terrible, for God's sake!
In all honesty, he probably wasn't the worst tyrant of the short Syrian dynasty. Of the Emperors the Romans would have considered tyrants, none have been drafted. Caligula comes close, but he was a fairly innocuous weirdo at the end of the day. Augustus's worst acts took place long before he was Emperor. Caesar is the least justifiable pick, in my opinion. Other than his unsavory actions at the last sieige of the Gallic war, its hard to think of what tyrannical acts he undertook. I can't even think of a single Roman Caesar ordered executed! With regard to Heliogabalus, I think the Romans would mostly remember him for being an utterly useless pervert. I have to be honest, I don't think he merits a pick.
Crap! Well, a useless pervert can be also a tyrant. BTW, I see Hertha was refering to George Bush when he was talking about whether 7 years counted as a short time, I missunderstood his comment.
With my 5th pick I select: from the Republic of China (aka Taiwan), Chiang Kai-shek In his defense, he did kill a lot of Communists.
It's hard. I originally wanted to pick some, but starting with my hazy memory of a Western History college class a decade ago and then doing some research now, I've found that most of the ones with reputations might not actually deserve them. There are just too few sources, and facts get swamped with personal hatreds from the historians. And then you have the whole problem with customs. Wiping out cities and getting yourself called a god is outrageous now, but might have been normal operating procedure back then. I like sticking with people alive since the birth of photography. Or at least sunglasses.
Nice pick he was my next choice. Plus half his defeated army fled to the Golden Triangle and militarized the opium business.
Queen Isabella I of Castile Lot's of evil where to start? How about unleashing Columbus on the indigenous population of the Americas and being the corporate sponsor for the Inquisition.
My fifth round pick is... Louis XIV of France Nicknamed the Sun King for his belief that France should revolve around him as the Earth revolved around the Sun, Louis XIV brought some of the most vicious religious persecution ever seen in Europe. Through the first part of his reign, he bribed Protestants into converting to Catholicism and often threatened death to those who refused his offers. In 1685 he revoked Henri IV's 1598 Edict of Nantes. This banned Protestantism in France, and forced the Huguenots into hiding in the Massif Central. Some 200,000 of them chose to flee the country instead. He then laid siege to many cities in the south where Protestants were known to be hiding. His taxation policies as carried out by Finance Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert were also excruciatingly harmful to the lower classes. Royal revenue tripled as food shortages broke out across the countryside. He ruled France with a disdain for all who disagreed with him and his divine right to be king, and is seen as largely responsible for giving rise to the conditions which necessitated the Revolution 100 years leater.
Staying in Europe for the Fifth Round.... Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. Dictator of Portugal from 1932-1968 -Established the "Estado Novo" in Portugal, which brought him into line with the ideas of European Facisim. -Held an iron gip on his country throughout his rule. A supposed incident during that rule became a spark that formed what is now Amnesty International. -Gave an important launching platform for the Nationalists to take power in Spain. - Played both sides in World War II. Sold natural resources to the Germans while allowing the Allies to use the Azores as a military base. - Made Portugal into an original NATO member, the only non-democratic country in the alliance at the time. - Last great colonial ruler. The decline of the Portuguese Empire marked by constant conflict during his last years. - Helped fuel many of the conflicts in Africa such as the wars in Rhodesia and Nigeria while giving support to South Africa's Apartheid regime.
God damn it, this is way too hard to do on a blackberry. Peter the Great then, unless he's been picked too?
In the 5th round, I select Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus Highlights: - Considered "Europe's last dictator." - Came to power in an election that "failed to meet international voting standards." Has since greatly increased his power through phony or fraudulent referendums, most notably a 1994 referendum that eliminated presidential term limits (international observers note that the 79.42% of voters who voted in favor of the referendum may have been swayed by the fact that the ballots were pre-marked). - When one referendum was found unconstitutional, he held a parliamentary assembly that was closed to those not allied with him. - Closed the parliamentary building for "remodeling," in effect denying the opposition a place to meet - Friendly with Vladimir Putin and Slobodan Milosevic. - Helped aides of Saddam Hussein acquire Belarussian passports following the first Gulf War. - Refuses to move into the 21st Century, building relationships with leaders of the former Soviet Union during his first two terms in office. - Has been banned from 14 European Union countries due to his human rights record. - Power base is "the elderly and middle-aged generations who are nostalgic for the Soviet Union." - Accused of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli comments. - Blatant comb-over
For my 5th round pick: General Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar, CUBA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulgencio_Batista