Great rulers of ancient times appeared all over the world, from Africa to America to the European civilizations whose heroes and heroines are taught far more than their counterparts across the Atlantic or Mediterranean. Some rulers are more widely known than others, but all have shaped their homelands and in some cases, the whole course of human history.

What makes a ruler great? As Shakespeare put it in "The Twelfth Night," "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, some have greatness thrust upon them." Back in the days when the monarchy was pretty much assumed, a lot of notable people ended up in the first and last category. But, when the opportunity presented itself, a few managed to achieve it. For example, pre-imperial Rome's democracy, limited in its freedoms though it was, created an opportunity for a smart person with facility for language to enrich himself and make quite an impact. Among the Iroquois tribes of North America, a great man could introduce democracy to a society whose egalitarian mindset made it ready to hear his message and created something that informed the creation of the USA as a nation of equals. In other countries, being born royal was the only real way to take a shot at greatness, but since not all rulers did, those who did manage to make their mark deserve a certain amount of credit. Let's see which ruler you are most like.