| Korvessa | 29 May 2014 7:40 a.m. PST |
Who decides when someone is called "The Great?" Specifically, Alexander, Alfred, Peter & Frederick. Did any of them hear it in their lifetime?
Or did it come later? |
| Great War Ace | 29 May 2014 7:51 a.m. PST |
Later, in every single case. You forgot Charles…. |
| Great War Ace | 29 May 2014 7:53 a.m. PST |
Oh, and then we have Bobby Lee. A school teacher of my best friend once said: "Some of you may recall that I believe Robert E. Lee to be the greatest man to walk this earth. But I must remind you that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ also walked this earth"…. |
| Cyrus the Great | 29 May 2014 8:04 a.m. PST |
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| yoakley | 29 May 2014 8:11 a.m. PST |
I believe Pompey was known as Pompey the Great during his lifetime though many in the Senate thought this unjustified. |
| 21eRegt | 29 May 2014 8:17 a.m. PST |
I'm sure they heard it during their lifetimes: "you are the greatest general/king/tyrant in history!" Later on it caught on. Of course, if you already have people calling themselves William the Conqueror it is not such a far reach to think it was common in court or in the ranks. Alfonso II "the Fat"
Louis V "the Indolent"
Eric II "the Memorable" (never heard of him)
Eric XI "the Stuttering and Lame" |
| MajorB | 29 May 2014 8:27 a.m. PST |
Oh, and then we have Bobby Lee. Yes, but he has never been referred to as "Gen. Robert E. Lee the Great", has he? So I don't think he counts… |
Skeets  | 29 May 2014 9:49 a.m. PST |
I believe that Costain said in his history of the Plantagenets something like "a king goes through three phases, first he is the king, then he is the old king and after he dies he becomes the good king". |
| MajorB | 29 May 2014 10:03 a.m. PST |
and after he dies he becomes the good king". Nah, that was Wenceslas!  |
| korsun0 | 31 May 2014 3:49 a.m. PST |
Sargon, Darius, Xerxes, Gwanggaeto, Xu, Kanishka, Shapur II and Umar, the Great amongst others… Seems it became passe' after a while…..:) |
| Great War Ace | 31 May 2014 8:18 p.m. PST |
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wonders if he can use his 3Dprinter to make markers.
