9 Savage Quotes From Historical Conquerors

The context:In hisAlexander's lifePlutarch recounts what happened the night before the Battle of Gaugamela (331 BCE), the clash between Alexander's Macedonians and Darius III's Persian forces. Seeing the Persians' campfires and knowing his troops were outnumbered, some of Alexander's lieutenants suggested a night move. Alexander, having finished ritual sacrifices before the fight, scornfully gave the quote as a reply.

The next day, the Macedonians and Persians fought in daylight on an open field, and Alexander won. The Achaemenid Empire, which controlled the Middle East for two centuries, ended.

"O people, know that you have committed great sins, and that the great ones among you have committed these sins. If you ask me what proof I have for these words, I say it is because I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.""O people, know that you have committed great sins, and that the great ones among you have committed these sins. If you ask me what proof I have for these words, I say it is because I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you."

The context:In 1220, Genghis Khanlaid siegeBukhara, a Central Asian city, a center for Islamic learning on the Silk Road in modern Uzbekistan. After resistance, the city surrendered. The Mongols looted it andfinished off the male residentswho "stood higher than the butt of a whip." A Persian historical text provides this.the Tarikh-i Jahangushay("History of the World Conqueror"), Genghis Khan gave this quote to the people of Bukhara to explain his actions.

The context:Ancient historian Plutarch wrote this quote.a short biographyof the Roman generalGnaeus Pompeius Magnus("AKA Pompey the Great"). Pompey, who later rivaled Julius Caesar, was sent to Sicily by dictator Sulla to calm the area and capture Sulla's opponent, Marcus Perperna Vento.

Pompey usually allowed order to return to the Sicilian cities. But when Messina's elders defied him, citing old rules, an annoyed Pompey said this. (It translates as "What! Will you never stop talking about laws to us that have swords by our sides?")

The full quote:"We have no other resource than destruction and flame. Remember that the soil soaked without sweat must not give our enemies the smallest food. Tear up the roads with shot; throw dead bodies and horses into all the fountains; burn and destroy everything, so those who reduced us to slavery can see the image of hell they deserve."

The context: Toussaint Louverture, now seen as the founder of Haiti, led the main figures of theHaitian RevolutionEnslaved people rose up against French colonial masters and took the country for themselves. This revolution lasted over twelve years, from 1791 to 1804. It was the most successful slave uprising in history; it created an independent state ruled by the formerly enslaved.

The above quote is from a letter written in 1802Louverture wrote this letter to his comrade Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who became the first ruler of an independent Haiti. The letter shows the desperate situation of the conflict then. Louverture did not live to see his dream happen. He was captured that year and died in a French prison the next year.

The context:Octavian, laterAugustus CaesarHe was the first Roman emperor. His drive to unite and rule the Roman world led him to Egypt. There, in 31 BCE, he defeated his rival, Mark Antony, at theBattle of Actium. Ancient biographer Seutonius says Augustus visited Alexander the Great's tomb in Alexandria then. (It is now lost.)

After honoring Alexander, Augustus asked if he wanted to see the tomb of the Ptolemies—the Greek rulers who governed Egypt for nearly three centuries.As Seutonius writes, Augustus gave the sharp quote above as a reply.

The full quote:"All authority is in the throne; and what is the throne? This wooden frame covered with velvet? No, I am the throne."

The context:The quote comes from Napoleon'sAddress to the Legislative BodyNapoleon gave this address in December 1813. He felt increasingly attacked then. His enemies—Prussia, England, and Russia—were moving, and soon he would lose power. This address mainly attacked disloyal people inside the French government, especially politician Joseph Lainé, who strongly criticized Napoleon.

The context:One founder of modern Italy,Giuseppe Garibaldiwas a military leader. He used daring campaigns to bring different parts of Italy under one kingdom during the Risorgimento. One of Garibaldi's final campaigns was called the "Expedition of the Thousand" in 1860. He and about 1,000 volunteers landed in Sicily trying to bring the island into the new Italy.

The first fight of the campaign happened at Calatafimi. Garibaldi's force faced a Neapolitan army nearly twice its size there. Garibaldi gave the quote above to his lieutenant Nino Bixio while speaking to him, asrecounted in a bookby Giuseppe Cesare Abba, who took part in the campaign.

(Spoiler alert: they made Italy.)

The full quote:"Seeing that I am young and rich and favored by fortune, I intend to surpass Caesar and Alexander and Xerxes by far."

The context:Florentine merchant, spy, and writer Benedetto Deimet with Mehmed IIThe Ottoman sultan was in Constantinople in 1460. Mehmed had conquered the city then, ending a thousand years of Byzantine power. This moved the Ottoman capital right to Europe's doorstep. Dei thought Mehmed planned to invade Italy, but he tried to change his mind. Mehmed's reply showed he was not deterred. He never made that invasion, though.

The full quote: "I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters, the son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anšan, grandson of Cyrus, great king, king of Anšan, descendant of Teispes, great king, king of Anšan, of an eternal line of kingship, whose rule Bêl and Nabu love, whose kingship they desire for their hearts' pleasure.""I am Cyrus, king of the world, great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters, the son of Cambyses, great king, king of Anšan, grandson of Cyrus, great king, king of Anšan, descendant of Teispes, great king, king of Anšan, of an eternal line of kingship, whose rule Bêl and Nabu love, whose kingship they desire for their hearts' pleasure."

The context:Cyrus II of Persia, better known asCyrus the Great, founded theAchaemenid EmpireThis empire took control of the Middle East from the Neo-Babylonian Empire. It grew its borders to the Balkans in the west and the Indus Valley in the east. It was the largest empire in world history then. It set up the stage for Classical Greece for two centuries.

This quote comes from theCyrus CylinderThis clay cylinder was made around 539 BCE.It was made to commemorateCyrus's conquest of Babylon and to show off his accomplishments.