There is glorification of those who have been ‘great’ in their capacity to organise groups of men to risk their lives in the endeavour to destroy other groups of men. Alexander the Great, Caesar and Napoleon devoted their lives to extending their power and yet are honoured in memory. Julius is a name shared by a month, one of my uncles and Groucho Marx. My uncle preferred to call himself Leon, and Julius Marx called himself Groucho. Perhaps we can rename July Darwin. Delicious items of food and drink such as Caesar salad, Napoleon brandy, Napoleon pastry and Brandy Alexander are named after these monsters. Their names even corrupt our literature. An Alexandrine is a line of poetic meter comprising 12 syllables. Alexandrines are common in the German literature of the Baroque period and in French poetry of the early modern and modern periods. Drama in English often used alexandrines before Marlowe and Shakespeare, by whom it was supplanted by iambic pentameter (5-foot verse).

The glory of Athenian democracy disappeared with the conquest of Athens. The Roman Republic ended with Caesar. The promise of the French Revolution was buried with the assumption of the mantle of empire by Napoleon. Napoleon even used the rhetoric of freedom to enslave the French and others in his drive for power.

Many do not think of these monsters as monsters but regard them as heroic figures. It might put matters in better perspective to realise that some that we recognise as bloody monsters are revered in other cultures as heroic figures. Attila is a common name for Hungarian boys. Genghis is a common name for Mongolian boys.

Let us recognise Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon as the bloody monsters they were.

Dear David F.,

The subject of "Bloody Monsters," may exemplify the
arguments of those who insist there is no such thing
as "objective history." In discussing historical
leaders much will probably depend on the point of view of
any interpreter viewing their historical legacy.

Great men are seldom good men but equally not all great
men are equally bad. There are always - pros and cons.
It all depends on one's point of view. As is the
ability to look critically at the times in which these
leaders lived and -
things like motivation, circumstances, context, or
any other such considerations should come into play
to be able to make a fair assessment

Quite right, Foxy, they should be judged in the context of their times.
Our own dear old Sir Henry Parkes should be remembered as 'The Father of Federation' rather than as a womanizing sectarian bigot with at least one judicial murder to his credit.

Unless man was restless to change things we would still be living in caves. These men in their mind believed in a better world.

'morning David f,

I think you might find that the statute of limitations has expired on these cases?

Dear spindoc,

Generally, a statute of limitations does not apply to murder.