Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

39

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King Gwanggaeto the Great

광개토대왕 (고구려 광개토왕)

China

0374 – 0413 (39 years old)

Nineteenth monarch of the ancient Korean kingdom of Goguryeo (391–413 CE) whose posthumous name means 'Broad Expander of Territory', who conquered sixty-four walled cities and 1,400 villages, transforming Goguryeo into a grand imperial power across Manchuria and the Korean Peninsula.

Ji'an (Jilin), China

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

30

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Gwanggaeto the Great of Goguryeo

광개토대왕 / 廣開土大王

China

c. 374 CE – c. 413 CE (39 years old)

Nineteenth monarch of Goguryeo whose brilliant military campaigns forged a vast empire spanning Manchuria, northern Korea, and Maritime Siberia.

Ji'an, China

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

28

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Theodosius I (Theodosius the Great)

Flavius Theodosius Augustus

Roman Empire (Spain)

0347 – 0395 (48 years old)

Last emperor to rule both the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman Empire, who established Nicene Christianity as state religion.

Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

38

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Samudragupta (Napoleon of India)

समुद्रगुप्त

India

c. 315 CE – c. 380 CE (65 years old)

Greatest conqueror of the Gupta Empire whose undefeated military campaigns and patronage of arts and music ushered in India's Golden Age.

Prayagraj (Allahabad), India

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

30

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Shapur II

شاپور دوم (شاهپور ذوالأکتاف)

Iran

0309 – 0379 (70 years old)

Tenth King of Kings of the Sasanian Empire (309–379 CE) whose reign spanned seventy years—having been crowned before birth—who defeated Roman Emperor Julian at the Battle of Samarra and expanded the Sasanian golden age from Mesopotamia to Central Asia.

Kermanshah, Iran

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

11

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King Harsiotef

Harsiotef

Sudan

c. 430 BCE – c. 369 BCE

4th-century BCE King of Kush who reigned for thirty-five prosperous years from Meroë and Napata, whose monumental 161-line hieroglyphic victory stele at Jebel Barkal details campaigns securing Kushite trade routes and temples.

Nuri, Sudan

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

25

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Julian (Julian the Apostate)

Flavius Claudius Julianus Augustus

Roman Empire (Turkey)

c. 331 CE – 0363 (32 years old)

Roman Emperor, intellectual, and philosopher-general who was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire.

Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

31

🕯️ 1,340

Flavius Valerius Constantinus (Constantine the Great)

Flavius Valerius Constantinus

Serbia

27 February 272 CE – 22 May 337 CE (65 years old)

Transformative Roman Emperor who legalized Christianity with the Edict of Milan (313 CE), convened the Council of Nicaea (325 CE), and relocated the capital of the Roman Empire to New Rome (Constantinople).

Nicomedia (İzmit), Turkey

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

36

🕯️ 880

Philip II of Macedon (Father of Alexander)

Φίλιππος Β΄ ὁ Μακεδών

Greece

c. 382 BCE – October 336 BCE

Visionary King of Macedon and father of Alexander the Great. Revolutionized Greek warfare by inventing the sarissa-armed Macedonian phalanx and united the fragmented Greek city-states under the League of Corinth.

Aegae (Vergina), Greece

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

26

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Diocletian

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus

Roman Empire (Croatia)

0244 – 0311 (66 years old)

Roman emperor who ended the Crisis of the Third Century, instituted the Tetrarchy, and was the only Roman emperor to voluntarily abdicate.

Split, Dalmatia, Croatia

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

21

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Ptolemy II Philadelphus

Πτολεμαῖος Φιλάδελφος

Greece

c. 308 BCE – January 28, 246 BCE

Second Ptolemaic monarch of Egypt whose golden reign transformed Alexandria into the supreme center of Hellenistic commerce, science, and poetry, celebrated for completing the Pharos Lighthouse and commissioning the Greek Septuagint translation.

Alexandria, Egypt

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

14

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Berenice II of Egypt

Βερενίκη

Libya

c. 266 BCE – 221 BCE

Formidable Hellenistic Queen of Egypt and Cyrene who won Panathenaic and Nemean chariot races, unified Libya and Egypt through her marriage to Ptolemy III, and whose sacrificed hair inspired the constellation Coma Berenices.

Alexandria, Egypt

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

27

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Caracalla

Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus

Roman Gaul

April 4, 188 CE – April 8, 217 CE (29 years old)

Roman Emperor of Libyan Punic and Syrian descent who transformed the social fabric of the classical world by issuing the Edict of Caracalla (Constitutio Antoniniana) in 212 CE, granting Roman citizenship to all free inhabitants of the empire.

Rome, Italy

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

23

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Publius Septimius Geta

Publius Septimius Geta

Italy

March 7, 189 CE – December 26, 211 CE (22 years old)

Roman Emperor who ruled jointly with his father Septimius Severus and elder brother Caracalla from 209 to 211 CE before falling victim to dynastic rivalry in their mother Julia Domna's apartments.

Rome, Italy

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

23

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Septimius Severus

Lucius Septimius Severus

Libya

April 11, 145 CE – February 4, 211 CE (65 years old)

Formidable Roman Emperor born in Leptis Magna who emerged victorious from the Year of the Five Emperors, founding the Severan Dynasty, reforming the imperial army, and transforming his Libyan birthplace into a magnificent imperial metropolis.

Rome, Italy

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

32

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Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus

Roman Empire (Italy)

0121 – 0180 (58 years old)

Last of the 'Five Good Emperors' of Rome, Stoic philosopher whose private journals Meditations remain a literary monument of duty and virtue.

Rome, Italy

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

30

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Antoninus Pius

Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius

Roman Empire (Italy)

0086 – 0161 (74 years old)

Roman Emperor of the Antonine Dynasty whose 23-year reign was the most peaceful in the entire history of the Roman Empire.

Rome, Italy

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

30

🕯️ 990

Publius Aelius Hadrianus (Emperor Hadrian)

Imperator Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus

Spain

24 January 76 CE – 10 July 138 CE (62 years old)

Third of the "Five Good Emperors" celebrated as the empire's supreme traveler, architect, and lover of Greek culture. Built Hadrian's Wall across northern Britain, reconstructed the Pantheon in Rome, and fortified imperial frontiers.

Baiae, Italy

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