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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Gavin Richardson, post: 2695596, member: 83956&quot;]I think the OP question presents us with the Mussolini problem. Mussolini made the trains run on time. But I&#039;m not sure I would enjoy a glass of wine with him. Diocletian proved an administrator capable enough of ending that long third-century period of chaos. He was also a ruthless persecutor of Christians. Why does Constantine delay his baptism until his deathbed? Because he knows an Emperor, by virtue of the office, has a lot of sinning to do. Even the <i>pater patriae</i> Augustus has his (adoptive) half-brother Caesarion killed as one of his first imperial actions. <i>Admire </i>might be a tough word for us to apply to an emperor, really, given the commonplace brutality that was part of the ancient world. Maybe the philosopher Emperor Marcus Aurelius indeed might the best bet here. At least he is seems intentional about crafting some kind of coherent ethical vision, and he was a capable administrator. Do we know to what extent he actually tried to live by his philosophy?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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