Title: 10 Surprisingly Benevolent Dictators - Toptenz.net
Headings: 10 Surprisingly Benevolent Dictators
10 Surprisingly Benevolent Dictators
10. Peisistratos
9. Ashoka
8. Marcus Aurelius
7. Khosrow I
6. Frederick the Great
5. Simón Bolívar
4. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
3. Douglas MacArthur
2. Sir Seretse Khama
1. Abdullah II
Not all people in power are quite so warm and cuddly.
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Content: Despite this, Marcus is regarded as being a good ruler, due to his ability to put the needs of the people of Rome before his own aspirations of glory, something most emperors failed to do. 7. Khosrow I
The Lakhmid ruler Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Nu’man asking for Khosrow I Anushirvan’s aid against the Byzantines. Khosrow was a Persian king, who ruled the Sasanian Empire from 531 to 579 CE. Little more than legends exist of his early life, but what we do know is that once Khosrow rose to power, he began reforming the declining empire. His most important reform was his tax reform, which created a system that was both fairer and yielded higher gains for the empire, creating a more stable economy. Khosrow was also a patron of culture – astronomy flourished in his court, and when the ancient academy of Athens closed, several Greek philosophers migrated to the Sasanian Empire and were well received by Khosrow. 6. Frederick the Great
Frederick II was the third kind of Prussia, and is credited with making Prussia one of the Europe’s great states of the time. He was crucial in spreading and strengthening the ideas of enlightened government, the age of reason.