Top Ten Most Influential People

Top Ten Most Inﬂuential People

Samantha Wall Ten - Mansa Musa I

● Ruler of the Mali Empire (1312 - 1337) ● Controlled territories rich in copper and gold ● Brought back scholars and architects from his pilgrimage to Mecca who built mosque and universities ● Army around 100,000 men helped him double the territory of Mali (second in size to the Mongol Empire at that time)

Mansa Musa is ten because I wasn’t convinced that he did much to influence those after him. Most only know him for being the richest man and giving gold to the poor. Nine - Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)

● Italian polymath of the Renaissance ● Painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper ● Had groundbreaking studies on optics and perspective ● Fused science and art to create works that become part of humanity’s story ● He designed helicopter screw and things for ﬂying machines

Da Vinci is ninth because his work is still being studied today. Whether it‘s his paintings or his machine designs. He’s one of the most known painters of his time. Eight - Joan of Arc (1412-1431)

● Peasant girl living in medieval France ● Believed that God had chosen her to lead France to victory in its long-running war with England ● Joan was captured by Anglo-Burgundian forces, tried for witchcraft and heresy and burned at the stake ● Symbol of French unity and nationalism ● Known as the Maid of Orléans

Joan of Arc is eight because she helped win the Hundred Years War. She was able to accomplish so much even though she was only nineteen. Seven - Hammurabi

● King of Babylon ● An avid warrior and a shrewd Administrator ● Provided unity and stability to his empire by compiling a code of laws that applied to all his subjects ● The code governed domestic disputes as well as crimes committed outside the home ● “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”

Hammurabi was a harsh ruler, but he inspired future law codes. Today, you can see the resemblance between different countries laws and the laws he made. Six - Constantine

● Made Christianity the main religion of Rome ● Founded Constantinople which became the most powerful city at the time ● His rule was a signiﬁcant pivot point between ancient history and the Middle Ages ● Constantine met with Licinius and together they issued the Edict of Milan ● The edict granted “to the Christians and others full of authority to observe that religion which each preferred”

Constantine changed the capital so it was centrally located for trade. He made Christianity the main religion in his empire, too. Christianity might not be as big as a religion today without him. Five - Pericles

● Leader of the Athenian Golden Age ● Brilliant general, orator, patron of the arts and politician— “the ﬁrst citizen“ of democratic Athens, according to Thucydides ● Transformed his city’s alliances into an empire and graced its Acropolis with the famous Parthenon ● His policies and strategies also set the stage for the devastating Peloponnesian War

He built the Parthenon. Athens wouldn’t have had a golden age without him. They wouldn‘t have been able to pull themselves out of the destruction that the Persian War caused. Four - Pope Urban II

● Makes perhaps the most inﬂuential speech of the Middle Ages ● Giving rise to the Crusades by calling all Christians in Europe to war against Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land ● Urban showed himself to be an adept and powerful cleric ● Seized the opportunity to unite Christian Europe under him as he fought to take back the Holy Land from the Turks ● At the Council of Clermont, in France, several hundred clerics and noblemen gathered to hear him deliver his speech that ultimately started the Crusades

He gave the speech that started the Crusades. Three - Alexander the Great

● Ancient Macedonian ruler ● One of history’s greatest military minds who, as King of Macedonia and Persia, established the largest empire the ancient world has ever seen ● Inspired such loyalty in his men that they would follow him anywhere and, if necessary, die in the process ● Inﬂuence on Greek and Asian culture was so profound that it inspired a new historical epoch— the Hellenistic Period ● Aristotle sparked and fostered Alexander’s interest in literature, science, medicine and philosophy Alexander conquered and influenced a great part of the Middle East. He spread Hellenistic culture throughout, influencing empires to come. Two - Augustus

● First Roman emperor ● Augustus led Rome’s transformation from republic to empire during the years following the assassination of his great-uncle and adoptive father, Julius Caesar ● Combined military might, institution-building and lawmaking to become Rome’s sole ruler, laying the foundations of the 200-year Pax Romana ● He died in A.D. 14, his empire secured and at peace ● Antony (Augustus‘ rival for power) committed suicide, leaving Augustus as Rome’s undisputed ruler Augustus Cont.

● Last reported words were twofold: to his subjects he said, ”I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble,” but to his friends who had stayed with him in his rise of power he added, “Have I played the part well? Then applaud me as I exit.” ● The Roman Senate declared their departed emperor, like Julius Caesar before him, to be a god

Augustus was a powerful leader that started the Pax Romana. He brought peace to the Roman Empire. One - Hippocrates

● He was born on the Greek island of Kos in the 5th century BCE, and became the most famous physician in antiquity ● Established a medical school on the island, and wrote many treatises on medical matter, and is, through his systematic and empirical investigation of diseases and remedies, credited with being the founder of modern medicine ● Details of his life were speculated upon even in ancient times ● Plato mentions Hippocrates in his Protagoras, suggesting that he worked for fees and believed the body should be treated as a whole Hippocrates Cont.

● The Roman scholar and medical writer, Cornelius Celsus, claims that Hippocrates was the ﬁrst to separate medicine from philosophy ● Other ancient sources also suggest that he believed in the importance of diet and exercise for a healthy body ● Hippocrates has long been credited with writing a large number of ancient treatises, speeches, and letters on medicine ● Hippocratic Oath appeared after Hippocrates’ lifetime and was reserved for a select group of doctors

Without him there wouldn’t be modern medicine. We wouldn‘t have vaccines to prevent deadly diseases like we have today. Honorable Mentions

Julius Caesar King Henry

Justinian Machiavelli

Aristotle Sir Thomas More

Plato Asoka

King John Charlemagne

Philip II Siddhartha Gautama

William the Conqueror Abraham Citations

Mansa Musa - https://www.ancient.eu/Mansa_Musa_I/

Da Vinci - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/11/leonardo-da-vinci-genius-walter-isa acson/

Joan of Arc - https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/saint-joan-of-arc

Hammurabi - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/people/reference/hammurabi/

Constantine - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/people/reference/constantine/ Citations

Pericles - https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/pericles

Pope Urban II - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pope-urban-ii-orders-ﬁrst-crusade

Alexander the Great - https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/alexander-the-great

Augustus - https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/emperor-augustus

Hippocrates - https://www.ancient.eu/Hippocrates/