A Comparative Study of Rulers: Asoka and Constantine

This essay provides a comparative analysis of the leadership styles and reigns of two influential rulers: Asoka of the Mauryan Dynasty and Constantine the Great. The essay begins by outlining the historical context of each ruler, detailing their respective empires and key periods of rule. It then delves into a comparison of their leadership approaches, highlighting similarities and differences in their religious influences, administrative reforms, and methods of expanding their empires. The analysis examines how both rulers utilized their power to spread their respective religions, Buddhism and Christianity, and how their personal conversions shaped their governance. Furthermore, the essay explores the differences in their administrative styles, particularly in their approaches to war, taxation, and societal structures. The conclusion summarizes the key findings, reflecting on the lasting impact of Asoka and Constantine on their respective civilizations and offering insights into the nature of leadership in ancient times. The essay draws on several scholarly sources to support its arguments, providing a well-researched and comprehensive overview of the subject.

Running Head: COMPARISON BETWEEN RULERS
Comparison between Rulers (Asoka and Constantine)
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1COMPARISON BETWEEN RULERS
Asoka is regarded as one of the great emperors of the Mauryan Dynasty of India.
Asoka ruled in the period from 268 BCE to 232 BCE. Asoka, the grandson of Chandragupta
Maurya expanded the empire of Chandragupta Maurya to reign over the empire that stretched
from the present day Afghanistan in the west to the present day Bangladesh in the east.
Asoka’s empire therefore covered the entire Indian subcontinent except region covered by the
present day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala (Edwards 2016).The capital of Asoka’s
empire was situated in Pataliputra, Magadha (Present day Bihar, India) with the provincial
capitals located in Taxila and Ujjain.
Constantine was the great Greek ruler who ruled from 27th February AD 272 to 22nd May AD
337.Popularly known as Constantine 1, he hailed from Naissus in the city of Nis. Constantine
as an emperor enacted several administrative, financial, military and social reforms to
strengthen the empire. Constantine restructured the existing government of Nis that
differentiated between the civil and the military authorities. Constantine took several steps to
combat inflation like introduction of gold coins, ‘solidus’ (Tahbildar and Borah 2018).
Constantine also reorganized the Roman army that will consist of the mobile pattern of field
units equipped with the garrison soldiers capable of facing the internal threats within the
administration and to deal with the Barbarian invasions.
There were certain similarities between the leadership roles of Constantine and
Asoka. Constantine after his conversion to Christianity, he worked for the spread of
Christianity throughout the entire Roman Empire, which made it evident that his religious
conversion acted as a very powerful and an influential force. Similarly, Asoka had a very
influential force in the spread of Buddhism throughout the Indian subcontinent and the
neighboring nations.

2COMPARISON BETWEEN RULERS
Much like the Roman emperor, Asoka’s effort for the devotees to bring them together
on the basis of their faith was that they will come together by forming the Buddhist Council.
For both Asoka and Constantine, it was through the process of execution in the war from
where they will gradually found themselves drawn towards their new religion.
Even though Asoka and Constantine both are known for spreading their empires in
their respective religions, they had different purposes to do so. Constantine, being from the
family of Roman Army was trained well as a soldier in the early years of his life. Therefore,
Constantine grew up in the role of an emperor which changed many a times. Constantine had
built on the organization of the government of the empire by following the chain of power
aligning with the rules of the Christian religion (Fa-Hien 2016).Constantine exempted the
Bishops along with many other churches from the mechanism of imperial taxation regime. He
has also pushed the Christian community to frame one centralized idea of the definition of
Christian and the rules that should guide their living standards.
Asoka, on the other hand, did not agree to wage a war for any purpose. Asoka viewed
war as a waste of time and the country’s resources. The suffering observed by Asoka after the
Kalinga war on the defeat of the various people has filled Asoka with the feelings of remorse,
which has resulted in his giving up of the armed conflicts thereafter. This was also his first
time that he came in touch with the religious practices of Buddhism and also adopted
Buddhism in his later life. Under the various influences that was prompted by his own
dynamic temperament, Asoka resolved to live his life on the basis of Buddhist teaching and
philosophies and started preaching dharma (Papaconstantinou and Schwartz 2016). Asoka
started working on the virtues of honesty, truthfulness and the feelings of compassion.
Amidst various similarities between the leadership styles of Asoka and Constantine,
there are certain differences that exist in the administrative pattern between these rulers. First,

3COMPARISON BETWEEN RULERS
Asoka’s religion focused on the conercion of the upper class whereas Constantine focused on
attracting the lower classes. Constantine tolerated many traditional religions whereas Asoka
did not. Asoka established the religion as a permanent form of tradition mainly among the
ruling class of the Indians whereas Constantine’s religion has passed from the Byzantine
Empire after his death (RATH 2017).
Asoka and Constantine through their leadership patterns have reflected the
significance of the democratic and the charismatic form of leadership patterns. In the modern
times democratic leadership can be significant in influencing a participatory approach or an
approach for shared leadership in the decision making process of any nation and charismatic
leadership can be applied to encourage particular behaviors to facilitate eloquent
communication, persuasion through the personality of the concerned ruler (BRYANT 2018).

4COMPARISON BETWEEN RULERS
References
BRYANT, J.M., 2018. 11 Ashoka and Constantine: On Mega-Actors and the Politics of
Empires and Religions. States and Nations, Power and Civility: Hallsian Perspectives, p.262.
Edwards, M.J., 2016. Conversion in Late Antiquity: Christianity, Islam and Beyond. Papers
from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Swayer Seminar, University of Oxford 2009–2010.
Fa-Hien, C.M., 2016. Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms. Buddha Dharma Education
Association Inc.
Papaconstantinou, A. and Schwartz, D.L., 2016. From Constantine the Great to Emperor Wu
of the Liang:: The Rhetoric of Imperial Conversion and the Divisive Emergence of Religious
Identities in Late Antique Eurasia. In Conversion in Late Antiquity: Christianity, Islam, and
Beyond (pp. 133-160). Routledge.
RATH, S.K., 2017. BUDDHIST SPIRITUALITY AND ETHICS: A RAY OF HOPE IN
THE TURBULENT ERA OF RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM. Spirituality and Global Ethics,
p.102.
Tahbildar, B. and Borah, S., 2018. Buddhism: It’s Emergence & Popularity in Early India.
History and Historiography: From Ancient to Modern World, p.19.