In world history, the leaders in previous eras have put a lot of significance in religion. Whenever an emperor or king changed their faith, the subjects took notice. For this reason, the link between the states and the church was strong, and in many instances, nations followed their ruler when it came to religion and faith. Two of the most recognizable and important religious conversions made by rulers were those of Ashoka and Constantine. In this current paper, these two leaders will be compared and contrasted, thereby presenting their similarities and differences in leadership, as well as showcasing their attributes.
From a political point of view, both of these ancient male rulers sought for ways to unify and enlarge their inherited empires. As such, their situation were similar. For instance, Constantine found out that in his era, the Roman Empire was in decline ( Kelly, 2006) . On the other hand, Ashoka was expanding his empire by relying on the large bureaucratic administration to keep it together ( Albinski, 1958) . With these large bureaucracies, Ashoka’s empire was considered as inherently unstable. Even so, the two leaders, Ashoka and Constantine, possessed large and powerful empires and strived to keep them together. However, their kingdoms did not last for long after they died. Both of them tried to prevent it, but it was inevitable as none succeeded. Even so, both tried to keep their empires by trying to recognize them through their new faith. Constantine was inclined to Christianity while Ashoka forged his empire with Buddhism. For this reason, both leaders are similar because they capitalized on the religious landscape to establish their legacies. In their lives and even after they died, both were religious legends. They were religious heroes and their lives were to be imitated even by other monarchs. As such, their legends were not only used for evangelistic purposes, but also as representations of what ideal leaders were supposed to be like.
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Constantine’s methods of ruling were less oppressive. For example, he was the first emperor to stop any instances of Christian persecution. He also legalized Christianity, as well as other cults and religion in the Roman Empire ( Kelly, 2006) . He developed the Edict of Milan with Licinius, which stated that Christians were to be allowed to follow their faith without oppression. He outlawed gladiatorial shows and forbade Jews stoning to death their fellow Jews who had converted to Christianity ( Kelly, 2006) . On the other hand, Ashoka also used non-violent means, which is in similarity to Constantine, to promote Buddhism in his empire. However, as opposed to Constantine, he did not support other religious affiliations. For example, according to Albinski (1958) , he erected rock pillars only on Buddhist holy sites but failed to do so for the other religions. However, he emphasized respect for all other religions. Ashoka implemented the principles of ahimisa, which sought to ban hunting and other violent sports that ended up in forced labor. In essence, according to Draper (1995), thousands of people from the war-ravaged Kalinga had been forced into servitude and forced labor. By outlawing these practices, Ashoka’s mode of leadership and practices were similar to that of Constantine.
In addition after Ashoka won the Kalinga war he was not involved in other warfare. He had not been converted to Buddhism before the war, which means that after the religious conversion, Ashoka’s leadership was based on peace. Unlike Ashoka, Constantine, even after conversion, was involved in war, such as the war against Maxentius and the war against Licinius after he violated the terms presented in the Edict of Milan. All these wars were bloody, which means that Constantine’s era was marred with lack of peace. On the other hand, Ashoka after the Kalinga war never fought another war, hence evidencing the fact that his era was rather peaceful. For instance, Ashoka’s name “Asoka” means painless and without sorrow, and thus, this means that he desired good in everyone (Draper, 1995).
In Constantine’s era, the cultural environment was fluid, open, and sociable as Constantine could mix with pagan and Christian intellectuals. In similarity, Ashoka also mixed with people of other religion, meaning that the two leaders did not discriminate others based on religion. A well notable difference between the two leaders is that Constantine regarded Christianity as a doctrine that could essentially serve as a cultural foundation for establishing political unity while Ashoka regarded this to Buddhism. Both cultures are similar in that leaders had to conquer enemies and other kingdoms to enlarge their kingdoms. For instance, Constantine had to win the war against Maxentius and Licinius (Elliott, 1996). On the other hand, Ashoka, through battle, conquered more land and added it to his empire, and had to win the Kalinga war to strengthen his kingdom.
As such, these two military leaders were effective in leading their kingdoms. The qualities orchestrated in their leadership can be reiterated in the world of modern business modern politics. For instance, both before conquering their enemies had to have prior knowledge about them. As such, to be effective leaders in modern society, understanding subordinates is important as it inspires confidence and respect. Leaders who know their jobs will be successful. Also, because the two ancient leaders had courage to defeat their enemy, it is a strong quality that can be used in modern leadership. A leader with courage will not fear criticism and will act properly to a threatening situation. In addition, formulation of a strategy is important. Ashoka and Constantine had to have an effective strategy to win their battles and leading their people. As such, modern leaders should be able to formulate strategies for gaining a competitive advantage over their leaders. As such, it can be derived that Ashoka and Constatantine’s leadership traits and qualities can be replicated in modern society to embrace success.
References
Albinski, H. S. (1958). The Place of the Emperor Asoka in Ancient Indian Political Thought. Midwest Journal of Political Science , 2 (1), 62-75.
Draper, G. I. (1995). The contribution of the Emperor Asoka Maurya to the development of the humanitarian ideal in warfare. International Review of the Red Cross , 35 (305), 192-206.
Elliott, T. G. (1996). The Christianity of Constantine the Great . Scranton, PA: University of Scranton Press.
Kelly, C. (2006). Constantine: Britain's Roman Emperor. History Today , 56 (7), 25.
