I was recently watching a history of the last Seige of Constantinople on the history channel when one of the contributors made possibly one of the most bizarre judegements on any person i have ever heard; Constantine was a leader more worthy than his cause. The man went on to say that Constantine devoted himself to the survival of the city only to be blocked at every effort by the actions of the very people he ultimately sacrificed himself for, even to the point that one of the most likely final causes for the fall of the city was the opening of a postern gate by traitors.
i wonder how many other Great Leaders were more worthy than the cause they were given to fight; the number of twentieth century examples are legion but how many from further back can you suggest?

ehhh, he didnt really sacrifice himself, he was trampled to death. he also wasnt the commander of the defenders, as a man named Giovanni Giustinniani was. main reason for loss was the loss of Giovanni as he was killed by an arrow. (source is a book called Historys Greatest Battles, Masterstrokes of Wars). a great cause with an even greater commander, in my opinion, would be Leonidas (spelling wrong) at Thermopylae (spelling probably wrong again).

Originally Posted by bren122

I was recently watching a history of the last Seige of Constantinople on the history channel when one of the contributors made possibly one of the most bizarre judegements on any person i have ever heard; Constantine was a leader more worthy than his cause. The man went on to say that Constantine devoted himself to the survival of the city only to be blocked at every effort by the actions of the very people he ultimately sacrificed himself for, even to the point that one of the most likely final causes for the fall of the city was the opening of a postern gate by traitors.
i wonder how many other Great Leaders were more worthy than the cause they were given to fight; the number of twentieth century examples are legion but how many from further back can you suggest?

Well after a bit of thinking about this I will go with Hannibal and even though he was probably his own worst enemy I think it fair to say that he was ignored, shunned and even betrayed by the leaders of Carthage even when he had Rome on the ropes.