Underrated valuable generals in ancient history
So as I've read a lot of historiography about the ancient time, I notice that there are many people very well known for their deeds in military campaigns: Themistocles, Alexander, Caesar etc. but generals who instead deserve equal if not more praise than them have never been heard of in common culture because they didn't seize power for a prolonged time or do something extravagant to be remembered by, so to make sure that at least someone knows about them, I'll cite those who I can actually recall:
Quintus Sertorius: 123 B.C.- 72 B.C. The only high ranking Marian to outlive Sulla and the only partially successful Roman rebel in the Republican time.
Lucius Licinius Lucullus: 118 B.C.- 55 B.C. Pompeius might have won Mithridates, but it was Lucullus who paved the road to victory.
Gneus Domitius Corbulo: 7 A.D. - 67 A.D. The main reason why Nero's campaigns in the Eastern front didn't turn into a disaster
The Roman emperor Majorian: 420 A.D - 461 A.D. The last real Roman Emperor, after him they were all puppets in the hands of a barbarian.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa: 63 B.C. - 12 B.C. The one guy who made the Pax Romana militarly possible.
Eumenes of Cardia: 362 B.C. - 316 B.C his greatest weakness was to be a Greek in a world ruled by the Macedonians.
Marcus Claudius Marcellus: 268 B.C. - 208 B.C. He was called the Sword of Rome for a reason. (Suggested by Virgil_Caine)
Publics Ventidius Bassus: 90 B.C. - 27 B.C. While Mark Anthony was too occupied thinking of Cleopatra, Ventidius was out there kicking the Parthians' asses and basically doing the job for Anthony.
Li Mu: Unknown - 229 B.C. Qin Shi Huang (The guy who had the Great Wall and the Terracotta Army built) had to get rid of him by intrigues to seize China under his rule (suggested by Ousen)
Bai Qi: Unknown - 257 B.C. never lost a battle and killed around two milion people along with his army, of course, he also got killed due to intrigues, too dangerous to keep alive.(suggested by Ousen)
If you think of any others that are undeservingly unknown please post their names in a comment and let me know what you think of my list.
Comments
Good list. I would add Marcus Claudius Marcellus
I agree, considering the defense of Nola, the siege of Syracuse, the campaigns in south Italy. There would have been no Zama without him. I'll add him on the list.
I would add Marcus Licinius Crassus, his legacy was so dictated by his defeat and death by Parthian hands that most people forget his campaign against Spartacus and credit that victory to Pompey.
Wow, this is way above my history nerd pay grade, sorry to say.
Pompey was one of the most overrated generals of his time, he stole credit for many victories: the war against Sertorius (Metellus Pius), the war against Spartacus (Crassus), the third war against Mithridates (Lucullus) and at the end, despite the great advantage, he totally lost the civilian war against Caesar. As for Crassus, I thought about him, but I didn't add him because he wasn't that "valuable". Spartacus had no chance to win, Rome had already endured two slave wars before this one, and I don't think that what Crassus did was remarkable, also considering his good but not extraordinary campaigns while being Sulla's lieutenant. He was a decent general, not a valuable one, but if others agree with you, I'll add him on the list.
Added Publius Ventidius Bassus.
Only Roman generals or from other parts of the World as well ?
All over the world, they just have to be born before 476 A.D.
In China and asia these generals are well known but i dont think they are in the rest if the world so i dont know if they are qualified for the list. Li Mu, Bai Qi, Wang Jian and Lian Po are considered as the best generals of the warring states period. To be honest the only thing i know about them is what i read on wikipedia and a manga called kingdom so my knowledge is limited to say the least.
Uhmmm.... Interesting. Since I don't know any of them I'll make some researches and see who are good for the list and who aren't.
I've examined all four, Li Mu was a real pain in Qin Shi Huang's ass, and I believe that if he weren't sentenced to death the Qin state would have taken longer to unify China or maybe somebody else would've. That's praise worthy, so I'll add him. Bai Qi was a total badass, he sealed the Zhao state's fate and solidified Qin's strenght by destroying entire enemy armies, I'll add him. Wang Jian conquered the Chu state, but the only reason it wasn't conquered before was because the other generals were arrogant and foolish, so i won't add him. I couldn't find much about Lian Po, and so I see no reason to add him on the list.
Thank you for bringing these generals to my attention Ousen, we Western guys don't usually know much about Chinese history, and that's a real shame.
Wang Jian also led the invasion of Zhao and Yan. Lian Po had a defensive strategy against Bai Qi but that was not liked by the Zhao king so he was replaced by the general Zhao Kuo that attacked with full force which resulted in a crushing loss for Zhao. Bai Qi also gave the order to murder 400,000 war prisoners so he earned the name the human butcher.
Bai Qi was not a guy to be messed with.
About Lian Po, unfortunately he's never had the chance to prove his abilities at the utmost, since he was replaced by someone else in a crucial moment.
I'd like to no more about Wang Jian, is there any first hand written source for that time as far as you know?
Unfortunately no as i said my knowledge about it is very limited. Lian Po had some victories but like Li Mu and Bai Qi he fel victim for lesser men, they all deserved better.