Historical Who Am I Riddles

[Søren]

Emperor Meiji seems like he would fit the clues there quite well.

[Kilo11]

Ah, Soren, you are very close. But Meiji didn't really wield the sword, did he? Who could it be?

[Søren]

Winter came with smoke.
By spring, with blade, I restored
The sun its true home.

So I was thinking of the Boshin War, starting in January 1868 (winter); smoke either gunpowder, industrialisation or both; and Spring the fall of Edo Castle in April and the rest of the city more fully by May/June. 'The sun its true home' being the transfer of effective power from the Shogunate to Emperor Meiji.

I was taking the 'blade' very metaphorically at first, but as he was probably literally wielding a sword and also in effective command on the ground, Saigo Takamori seems like a better candidate than Meiji then?

Otherwise, I could be completely off, the smoke could be an eruption of Mt Fuji, which I believe was active during the Sengoku period, and it's a figure from that time instead perhaps.

[Kilo11]

No Soren, you are definitely not off. You got every single element of it spot on, and even brought some meaning in there that I had not intended (at least not consciously, but maybe my brain was doing something without my knowledge). It is indeed Saigo Takamori, the man who is often thought of as "the last samurai". And the floor is now yours!

Unfortunately, I cannot rep Soren just yet, so if someone could give him his just deserts for sleuthing so sleuthily, I would much appreciate it.

[Søren]

Excellent riddle! Enjoyed working that one out, and nicely phrased.

I'm a bit short on time so forgive the style, but the clues are all here:

How could a young boy
Bundling sticks for the fire
In a desolate location
Rise beyond this station
To lead a great Empire?

Acclaimed by men of stately birth,
Driving my acrid legions east and west,
Eleven years of hills and sands,
Until, as Caesar did, I met my end.

But what care I to be unloved,
Can any paradise above,
Unstained by martial toil and blood,
Entice my sword from silken glove.

No king may safely sleep today,
In wine and girls immersed.
I make my bed below the stars —
But of them all stand first.

[Flinn]

Unfortunately, I cannot rep Soren just yet, so if someone could give him his just deserts for sleuthing so sleuthily, I would much appreciate it.

[Kilo11]

Just probing a bit with this one Soren, but when you say "Driving my acrid legions east and west", do you mean actual legions?

[Søren]

This character lived in the last 500 years, so legions are more figurative there.

[Kilo11]

To keep this going, do you have any hints you might be able to give us, Soren? General region where the person was born or lived maybe? Just something to narrow down the starting point (since histories of kings is really not my strong suit).

[Søren]

Sure. This character lived east of Jaffa but west of Lhasa.

[Abdülmecid I]

Nader Shah? All the hints, including the date, the duration of the reign, the location, the military exploits (vanquished the Mughals in India, the Ottomans in Iraq and the Afghans) and the humble origins, seem to match.

[Søren]

Very well done! The ‘Napoleon of the East’.

The reference to paradise is from a (perhaps apocryphal) conversation:

"Are there such things as war and victory over the enemy in paradise?" When the man answered negatively, Nader replied: "How can there be any pleasure then?"

[Abdülmecid I]

Thanks, I doubt it's genuine, but that quote is definitely in-character!

Born under the shade of olive trees,
where the songs of love used to breeze.
By the great poetress so heavily inspired,
how could the land of Parnasse not have admired?
To the palaces of sultans, emperors and caliphs I traveled,
my fleet in the black seas caused dynasties to unravel.
And yet here in the purple coast I stand,
where Europe the advances of the ox could not withstand.
Upon the huge cedar trees,
hand a few juicy fruits.
Be it dates, figs and pomegranates
or maybe a bunch of local magnates?
Everything is lost, Sappho, Cadmus and Gilgamesh,
but I have escaped from this mess.
As the star rises and the moon bleeds,
I have fled to the land of the Golden Fleece.

[Gyrosmeister]

Cadmus, Sappho, land of Parnasse and the muses. Could we have some Theban/Boiotian in hiding here?

[Abdülmecid I]

Not a Theban/Boeotian. His place of birth is heavily hinted in the beginning and essentially given away in the end. But does he really belong to the Antiquity? Check out the spelling of Parnasse, that's not normally how the mountain in Phocis is written in English. That and the next two lines can be very helpful in dating the century the historical figure in question was active in politics.

[Sar1n]

Without checking the actual facts, it somehow conjured the image of Hayreddin Barbarossa. Checking...born on Lesbos, died in Istanbul...close enough. Going with that for now.

[Abdülmecid I]

You're getting much closer and you correctly identified one hint. Unlike Barbarossa, however, and despite being in charge of his country's fleets, he never commanded any warships in battle (or in peace). As hinted in the riddle, our mysterious individual traveled to many different lands, but the region in which he gained his notoriety is described in the middle part of the riddle. Also, he actually didn't manage to get away, his Hubris led to Nemesis and eventually to Tisis. These words were not chosen randomly...

[Søren]

I'd guess it's a Georgian, or someone who's associated with that place at least, but we might need an extra hint here I'm afraid... Great riddle though!

[Abdülmecid I]

He only fled to Georgia, but, like Phrixus, that's where he died, not his place of birth. Not many hints left, but, to give one last analogy with ancient history, the pinnacle of his career could be compared to that of Lepidus or even better with Crassus, with whom there's also common ground in geography. So, to summarize, our mysterious man was born in Lesbos (there goes Sappho), was fond of Parnasse's country (check the spelling, but keep in mind that's a relatively trivial part of his life, it will simply help you confirm the identification), commanded the Navy, traveled to cities, where sultans, emperors and caliphs resided (they are not that many...) and most importantly, he's mainly famous or notorious (see the tree's fruits hint) for his actions in the "purple coast", where Europe was kidnapped, from where Cadmus set sail to look for his sister and where there's a particular tree growing. Despite his efforts, the lands associated with Sappho, Gilgamesh and Cadmus have all been lost, but he fled and died in Georgia (there goes the Golden Fleece). Oh, and also there's something common between our mysterious individual, Lepidus and Crassus.

[Søren]

Ah, I have it with the connection to the lesser triumvirs. It must be Ahmed Cemal Pasha, one of the Three Pashas who ruled the Ottoman Empire during WWI. Great riddle!