examples:
Messiah
the awaited king of the Jews; the promised and expected deliverer of the Jewish people
Ahab
according to the Old Testament he was a pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel (9th century BC)
Amenhotep IV
early ruler of Egypt who rejected the old gods and replaced them with sun worship (died in 1358 BC)
Alaric
king of the Visigoths who captured Rome in 410 (370-410)
Alfred the Great
king of Wessex; defeated the Vikings and encouraged writing in English (849-899)
Artaxerxes I
king of Persia who sanctioned the practice of Judaism in Jerusalem (?-424 BC)
Artaxerxes II
king of Persia who subdued numerous revolutions and made peace with Sparta (?-359 BC)
Ashurbanipal
king of Assyria who built a magnificent palace and library at Nineveh (668-627 BC)
Athelstan
the first Saxon ruler who extended his kingdom to include nearly all of England (895-939)
Scourge of the Gods
king of the Huns; the most successful barbarian invader of the Roman Empire (406-453)
Robert the Bruce
king of Scotland from 1306 to 1329; defeated the English army under Edward II at Bannockburn and gained recognition of Scottish independence (1274-1329)
Clovis I
king of the Franks who unified Gaul and established his capital at Paris and founded the Frankish monarchy; his name was rendered as Gallic `Louis' (466-511)
Croesus
last king of Lydia (died in 546 BC)
Cyrus the Elder
king of Persia and founder of the Persian Empire (circa 600-529 BC)
Darius the Great
king of Persia who expanded the Persian Empire and invaded Greece but was defeated at the battle of Marathon (550-486 BC)
Darius III
king of Persia who was defeated by Alexander the Great; his murder effectively ended the Persian Empire (died in 330 BC)
David
(Old Testament) the 2nd king of the Israelites; as a young shepherd he fought Goliath (a giant Philistine warrior) and killed him by hitting him in the head with a stone flung from a sling; he united Israel with Jerusalem as its capital; many of the Psalms are attributed to David (circa 1000-962 BC)
Edmund I
king of the English who succeeded Athelstan; he drove out the Danes and made peace with Scotland (921-946)
Edmund Ironside
king of the English who led resistance to Canute but was defeated and forced to divide the kingdom with Canute (980-1016)
Edward the Elder
king of Wessex whose military success against the Danes made it possible for his son Athelstan to become the first king of all England (870-924)
Edwin
king of Northumbria who was converted to Christianity (585-633)
Egbert
king of Wessex whose military victories made Wessex the most powerful kingdom in England (died in 839)
Ethelbert
Anglo-Saxon king of Kent who was converted to Christianity by Saint Augustine; codified English law (552-616)
Ethelred I
king of Wessex and Kent and elder brother of Alfred; Alfred joined Ethelred's battle against the invading Danes and succeeded him on his death (died in 871)
Ethelred the Unready
king of the English who succeeded to the throne after his half-brother Edward the Martyr was murdered; he struggled unsuccessfully against the invading Danes (969-1016)
Farouk I
king of Egypt who in 1952 was ousted by a military coup d'etat (1920-1965)
Ferdinand the Great
king of Castile and Leon who achieved control of the Moorish kings of Saragossa and Seville and Toledo (1016-1065)
Ferdinand the Catholic
the king of Castile and Aragon who ruled jointly with his wife Isabella; his marriage to Isabella I in 1469 marked the beginning of the modern state of Spain and their capture of Granada from the Moors in 1492 united Spain as one country; they instituted the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 and supported the expedition of Christopher Columbus in 1492 (1452-1516)
Frederick I
son of Frederick William who in 1701 became the first king of Prussia (1657-1713)
Frederick the Great
king of Prussia from 1740 to 1786; brought Prussia military prestige by winning the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War (1712-1786)
Frederick William I
son of Frederick I who became king of Prussia in 1713; reformed and strengthened the Prussian army (1688-1740)
Gaiseric
king of the Vandals who seized Roman lands and invaded North Africa and sacked Rome (428-477)
Gilgamesh
a legendary Sumerian king who was the hero of an epic collection of mythic stories
Gordius
legendary king of ancient Phrygia who was said to be responsible for the Gordian knot
Gustavus I
king of Sweden who established Lutheranism as the state religion (1496-1560)
Gustavus Adolphus
king of Sweden whose victories in battle made Sweden a European power; his domestic reforms made Sweden a modern state; in 1630 he intervened on the Protestant side of the Thirty Years' War and was killed in the battle of Lutzen (1594-1632)
Gustavus III
king of Sweden who increased the royal power and waged an unpopular war against Russia (1746-1792)
Gustavus IV
king of Sweden whose losses to Napoleon I led to his being deposed in 1809 (1778-1837)
Gustavus V
king of Sweden who kept Sweden neutral during both World War I and II (1858-1950)
Gustavus VI
the last king of Sweden to have any real political power (1882-1973)
Hammurabi
Babylonian king who codified the laws of Sumer and Mesopotamia (died 1750 BC)
Herod the Great
king of Judea who (according to the New Testament) tried to kill Jesus by ordering the death of all children under age two in Bethlehem (73-4 BC)
Hezekiah
(Old Testament) king of Judah who abolished idolatry (715-687 BC)
ibn Talal Hussein
king of Jordan credited with creating stability at home and seeking peace with Israel (1935-1999)
James IV
a Stuart king of Scotland who married a daughter of Henry VII; when England and France went to war in 1513 he invaded England and died in defeat at Flodden (1473-1513)
Jeroboam I
(Old Testament) first king of the northern kingdom of Israel who led Israel into sin (10th century BC)
Leonidas
king of Sparta and hero of the battle of Thermopylae where he was killed by the Persians (died in 480 BC)
Macbeth
king of Scotland (died in 1057)
Mithridates the Great
ancient king of Pontus who expanded his kingdom by defeating the Romans but was later driven out by Pompey (132-63 BC)
Nebuchadnezzar II
(Old Testament) king of Chaldea who captured and destroyed Jerusalem and exiled the Israelites to Babylonia (630?-562 BC)
Saint Olaf
King and patron saint of Norway (995-1030)
Pepin the Short
king of the Franks and father of Charlemagne who defended papal interests and founded the Carolingian dynasty in 751 (714-768)
Philip II of Spain
king of Spain and Portugal and husband of Mary I; he supported the Counter Reformation and sent the Spanish Armada to invade England (1527-1598)
Philip Augustus
son of Louis VII whose reign as king of France saw wars with the English that regained control of Normandy and Anjou and most of Poitou (1165-1223)
Philip V
king of ancient Macedonia whose confrontations with the Romans led to his defeat and his loss of control over Greece
Philip of Valois
king of France who founded the Valois dynasty; his dispute with Edward III over his succession led to the Hundred Years' War (1293-1350)
Ptolemy I
the king of Egypt who founded the Macedonian dynasty in Egypt; a close friend and general of Alexander the Great who took charge of Egypt after Alexander died (circa 367-285 BC)
Ptolemy II
son of Ptolemy I and king of Egypt who was said to be responsible for the Septuagint (circa 309-247 BC)
Pyrrhus
king of Epirus; defeated the Romans in two battles in spite of staggering losses (319-272 BC)
Ramesses
any of 12 kings of ancient Egypt between 1315 and 1090 BC
Saul
(Old Testament) the first king of the Israelites who defended Israel against many enemies (especially the Philistines)
Sennacherib
king of Assyria who invaded Judea twice and defeated Babylon and rebuilt Nineveh after it had been destroyed by Babylonians (died in 681 BC)
Solomon
(Old Testament) son of David and king of Israel noted for his wisdom (10th century BC)
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
according to legend, the seventh and last Etruscan king of Rome who was expelled for his cruelty (reigned from 534 to 510 BC)
Victor Emanuel II
king of Italy who completed the unification of Italy by acquiring Venice and Rome (1820-1878)
Victor Emanuel III
king of Italy who appointed Mussolini prime minister; he abdicated in 1946 and the monarchy was abolished (1869-1947)
Xerxes the Great
king of Persia who led a vast army against Greece and won the battle of Thermopylae but was eventually defeated (519-465 BC)