Originally posted by Darth Somebody
Illustrious - no rule is absolute. How many times need I say that?
Ragnos rule over the Sith Empire was absolute. How many times need I say that ?
And. The Republic was the same. Sidious really had no true opposition other than the order. He was in control of the Separatists and the Republic. Revan, for all of his immense tactical brilliance, did not control both sides of the war.
Now listen again. The Republic in Sidious times had passed the Ruusan Reformation which made the Jedi:
a) diplomats where they were warriors before (wearing Robes instead of armour)
b) controlable through political organs
c) part of the Republic.
In times before that the Jedi Order was an institution which was indepentant from the Republic that means: They could fight wars as they liked it and they were not influenced by politics and diplomacy.
Now this is the case in Sidious times. He has a much easier game with the Order since they are under his command or at least under the command of an political organisation within the Republic. If any Sith Lord before the Ruusan Reformation would have tried what Sidious tried he would have failed because their would have been no way for him to control the Jedi or make them fight the war against the separatists.
Sidious did. Another remarkable accomplishment from him.
See why he could do it. Not to mention that there were 2 sides in every war of a Sith. The ancient Sith Lords had to keep entire armies of Dark Siders under their control while fighting the Republic. Sidious couldn't even keep Vader - a single Sith Lord - under his control.
To me, and as many sites indicate, he is a Sith Lord of immense skill and cunning. His manipulation skills are unrivaled - in the time at the very least. Wikipedia says he's the greatest. Star Wars official site hints at it - they don't state even Ragnos was the greatest. I dunno if he even has an entry.
His manipulation skills are unrivaled ? Well...Ragnos manipulated 20 Sith Lords in fighting each other or him while Sidious manipulated what ? The Senate (only non-force-users): Easy. The Jedi Order ? In which situations ? Anakin and Dooku ? Well...ok...
Wikipedia tells you about Darth Janus, and his Sith Jawas...
Ragnos has no entry. Revan also has none because they pretty much focus on the films. Only two non-film-Sith they have entries about are Exar Kun and Ulic Quel-Droma, imho.