The Comeback Kids: Seven Historical Figures Who Were Down but Came Back

We go from Edward IV of England to Mohammad to Gaius Marius to find historical figures who made impressive comebacks.  

Transcript

The Comeback Kids:  Seven Historical Figures who were Down but Came Back

January 2026

“The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory. That’s the essence of it.”

Vince Lombardi

“Some people don’t like the ‘comeback’ because that suggests they went somewhere, which they didn’t. That isn’t what I mean. In my mind, people were doing well, then went right down, and then made a comeback. It’s not that they went anywhere. It’s that their fortunes went way down, and then they came back.” 

John Ralston Saul

A few criteria.  None of these were kids, of course, though perhaps Joan of Arc or Richard II might have qualified.  But did they really come back?  I digress. This is not a list of those who started with nothing and rose to power.  I have already done that list in It’s a Long Road to the Top if You Want to Rock and Rule.  Instead, this is a group who were down to the point where their ambitions, or their entire lives, seemed forfeit, but they came back in a big way, in their lifetimes.  I have to put that caveat that even though I am a Christian, the resurrection happened after Jesus’ death, so for pure historical purposes, I cannot conclude.  Contrast that with Mohammad, who at his death had united all of Arabia, and the armies were beginning to march.  

Justinian 

“Justice is the firm and continuous desire to render to everyone that which is his due.”

Justinian

Emperor Justinian I nearly fled his capital, Constantinople, in 532 AD during the Nika Riots, a massive and violent uprising that almost toppled his reign. He was dissuaded from escaping by his wife, Empress Theodora, who delivered a famous and defiant speech. 

The Nika riot began on January 13. Three days earlier, several members of the most prominent Charioteer factions, the Blues and Greens, who had been arrested for an earlier disturbance, were to be hanged. But the execution was botched, and two men survived and found sanctuary in a church, which was then put under guard. 

During the races in the Hippodrome, the crowd called on Justinian to show them mercy, chanting until the twenty-second race (of twenty-four). But there was no response. Then, unexpectedly, another exclamation was heard: “Long live the merciful Blues and Greens!” (That evening, with Nika (“conquer,” an exclamation used to encourage the charioteer) as their watchword, the two united factions demanded that the city prefect release the prisoners, setting fire to the Praetorium when he did not. The fire spread, and others were set the next day, even though Justinian had announced additional races, a gesture that only emboldened the rioters, who set fire to the Hippodrome itself.

Who says sports distract crowds, by the way?  As Justinian and his counselors deliberated over whether to leave the capital (if only to avoid the unpopularity of being present when the insurrection was put down), the empress Theodora counseled resolve:

“My opinion then is that the present time, above all others, is inopportune for flight, even though it brings safety. For while it is impossible for a man who has seen the light not also to die, for one who has been an emperor, it is unendurable to be a fugitive. May I never be separated from this purple, and may I not live that day on which those who meet me shall not address me as mistress.”

Did she actually say these things?  We essentially rely on two historians, Theopanes and Procopius, and of the latter, let’s say, he was not the model documentarian. However, he is worthy of study himself—a podcast for a different time.  

Two of the emperor’s best generals, Belisarius and Mundus, entered the Hippodrome through separate entrances, trapping the mob inside; “in the end not one of the citizens, either of the Greens or of the Blues, who were in the Hippodrome, survived”. Of the populace that day, more than thirty thousand perished (\Theophanes and the Chronicon Paschale say thirty-five thousand). Hypatius was executed, and the estates of others who had collaborated were confiscated. Peace was restored, although “the chariot races were not held for a long time” (Theopanes).

Justinian would later oversee, with the help of Belisarius and other generals, the restoration of North Africa, Italy, and parts of Spain.  From the 5th century to the end of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453, nearly 1,000 years, it was the empire’s most significant extent.  Justinian also oversaw the creation of a law code and the resolution of some religious controversies.  He was the most substantial emperor in Eastern Roman history.  

As Elena Boek, writing in the Cambridge University Press, notes, “Justinian turned the greatest domestic challenge of his reign (the Nika riots) into a spectacular opportunity for promoting his gloria.”

King Edward IV AND King Henry VII

“If the cycle of violence that had engulfed the English Crown for nearly five decades seemed finally to be coming to an end, it was only because there were so few candidates left to kill.”

― Dan Jones, The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors 

The Wars of the Roses produced an incredible number of ups and downs.  Well, for the nobility at least.  These types of wars are almost always fought by the peasants who see their fields burned, livestock stolen, and families defiled.  But for the aristocracy, I will focus on two rulers who were both down but died as unchallenged Kings of England.  

Edward IV fled England in October 1470 after his former ally, the Earl of Warwick (the “Kingmaker”), turned against him, allied with the Lancastrians, and reinstated Henry VI to the throne. Edward escaped to the Netherlands (Flanders) with his brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, where he gathered support, eventually returning to England in March 1471 to reclaim his crown after decisive victories at the Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury.

It is here we meet Warwick or Richard Neville.  

Edward’s victory meant another’s defeat. This was Henry Tudor.  On his father’s side, he was descended from minor Welsh nobility, but on his mother’s, Margaret of Beaufort, he could claim descent from King Edward III.  His claim was a bit tenuous, but with all of the other Lancasters, well, dead, Henry was the guy. 

Henry Tudor fled England as a teenager in 1471 after Tewkesbury and the fall of Neville and the death of Henry VI, his son Edward (these wars of the Roses types were not varied in their naming processes, his wife Margaret of Anjou (see what I mean about names) and, seeking refuge in Brittany after the Lancastrian cause collapsed, beginning a 14-year exile where he became the focus for opposition to Yorkist rule.  When Edward IV died in 1483, and for many reasons we will not cover here, his son Edward V was usurped by Richard III, Edward IV’s uncle, and an opportunity arose.  But not before Henry Tudor needed to escape to France in 1484 when his Breton hosts agreed to hand him over to Richard.  Eventually, Henry Tudor launched a successful invasion and takeover in 1485. He was a key Lancastrian claimant during the Wars of the Roses, and narrow escapes and careful political maneuvering marked his time in exile before he returned to claim the throne at Bosworth Field.  However, various Plantagenet claimants contested his rule, some real, some fake.  Henry Tudor died in his bed and was succeeded by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.  

Mohammad 

Mohammad, given that he founded the world’s 2nd-largest religion AND was the progenitor of a major world empire, appears on many of these lists. But he did not go from triumph to triumph.

His flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE, known as the Hijra, was a pivotal migration forced by persecution from Mecca’s Quraysh tribe, marking the start of the Islamic calendar and the establishment of the first Muslim community and state in Medina (formerly Yathrib). After his protector and wife died, Muhammad faced assassination plots, prompting him and his companion Abu Bakr to escape secretly, hiding in a cave and eventually arriving in Medina to build a new society. 

Muhammad’s return to Mecca in 630 CE was a pivotal, largely peaceful conquest after years of exile, marking the unification of Arabia under Islam; he entered with a large force, forgave his former enemies, cleansed the Kaaba of idols, and established Islam as the dominant faith, leading to most of the peninsula’s conversion before he died in 632 CE.  Abu Bakr would become the first Caliph and put into motion many of the later conquests of North Africa, the Near East, Iraq, and Iran. 

Johnny Cash 

Born to poor cotton farmers in Kingsland, Arkansas, Johnny Cash grew up on gospel music. In the mid-1950s, with a record deal in place, he began producing several hits with his unique rockabilly style, deep baritone bass voice, band’s train-like chugging guitar rhythms, and rebelliousness.  Cash’s record, “Folsom Prison Blues”, released in 1957, made the country top five. His “I Walk the Line” became number one on the country charts and entered the pop charts top 20.

As his career was taking off in the late 1950s, Cash started drinking heavily and became addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates. Cash would use the stimulants to stay awake during tours. Friends joked about his “nervousness” and erratic behavior, many ignoring the warning signs of his worsening drug addiction.

He used amphetamines, barbiturates (downers/sedatives), and alcohol throughout much of his career. He often used amphetamines to stay awake and perform during extensive tours, and barbiturates to come down and sleep.  Initially, he could still perform and produce hits, but this stuff tends to catch up.  Erratic behavior, canceled performances, car accidents, legal trouble, and the breakdown of his first marriage to Vivian Liberto. His friends often joked about his “nervousness,” ignoring the severe warning signs.

Cash was arrested multiple times due to his substance abuse. The most famous incident occurred in October 1965 when customs officials in El Paso, Texas, found hundreds of pills hidden inside his guitar case after he crossed the border from Mexico. He received a suspended sentence for possession.  

Following a spiritual experience in Nickajack Cave, where he had gone to commit suicide, he began his first significant period of sobriety with the help of June Carter and her family. He later married June, who was a constant source of support in his battle with addiction. 

As with so many addicts, there was not just one perfect moment leading to later sobriety.  There is a reason people with an addiction say “recovering” and not “recovered.”  In Cash’s last years, he relapsed in the late 1970s and again in the late 1980s, checking into the Betty Ford Clinic in 1983 and another treatment center in 1989.

He entered his final rehabilitation program at the Loma Linda Behavioral Medicine Center in 1992 and remained sober for his final 11 years, often speaking publicly about his struggles and recovery. 

During the last stage of his career, Cash released the albums American III: Solitary Man (2000) and American IV: The Man Comes Around (2002). American IV included cover songs from several late 20th-century rock artists, notably “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails and “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails commented that he was initially skeptical about Cash’s plan to cover “Hurt”, but was later impressed and moved by the rendition, stating. 

The video for “Hurt” received widespread critical acclaim, including a Grammy Award. Reznor added, “A videotape shows up with Mark Romanek’s video on it. It’s morning … I pop the video in, and… wow. Tears welling, silence, goose-bumps… Wow. I just lost my girlfriend, because that song isn’t mine anymore. Then it all made sense to me. It really made me think about how powerful music is as a medium and art form.”

Ultimately, Johnny Cash would sell 80 million albums.  

Charles II 

The Scots were horrified when Charles I was executed in 1649, and while England became a republic, they proclaimed his son king and invited him to come to Scotland. Agreeing to the Presbyterian demands that he sign the National Covenant.

Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the Parliamentarian forces that executed Charles, then marched north, defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar on September 3, 1650, captured part of southern Scotland, and seized and removed the nation’s public records. However, he did not manage to take the Honors of Scotland (the Scottish regalia).

On January 1, 1651, the Scots crowned Charles II at Scone (this turned out to be the last such Coronation at Scone). In July, the English army marched into Fife and then captured Perth, while the Scottish forces headed south into England, where they were defeated at the Battle of Worcester on September 3, 1651. 

Charles II escaped and fled to France for the second time, spending the next nine years in exile.  After the death of Cromwell and the failure of his son to govern, in 1660, Charles was invited back to London and restored to his father’s throne. He always recalled his time in Scotland with distaste.  The final phase of Charles II’s reign was marked mainly by attempts to settle religious dissension. 

The king had no legitimate children, and he was well aware that the Scots viewed with alarm the prospect of his Roman Catholic brother James succeeding him.  Charles died after a stroke in 1685, with the problem still unresolved.

Gaius Marius 

Okay, this one isn’t precisely the triumph of the other stories, but he definitely returned to power, even if only for a few months.  

Gaius Marius is one of the most compelling personalities of the Roman Republic. Entering politics as a “novus homo” from Italy with few political connections, he proved both his military skill and unbridled ambition during the Jugurthine War. He was subsequently elected consul an incredible seven times, as he was seen as the only general capable of dealing with the Cimbrian threat.

Serving into his late 50s, Marius initially seemed poised to retire as a respected statesman. Still, fate and ambition drew him into a civil war that left the general dead and Sulla as Rome’s dictator. Marius’s is the story of Rome’s first strongman, who broke Republican precedents and created a personal army, paving the way for future strongmen, like his nephew Julius Caesar.

Gaius Marius fled Rome in 88 BC after his rival Sulla marched on the city and declared him an enemy, forcing him into exile, where he hid and eventually escaped to Africa, famously stating he was a “fugitive among the ruins of Carthage”. His flight was part of the violent political turmoil between Marius’s faction (Populares) and Sulla’s (Optimates).  Yet when Sulla led an expedition to Asia to confront the Pontic King, Mithradates VI, it paved the way for Marius’s eventual return. While Sulla was away, Marius’s ally Cinna gained power in Rome, 

with an army to reclaim power in a bloody purge before Marius died in 86 BCE. 

Marius was elected consul for an unprecedented seventh time in 86 BCE but died shortly after taking office, exhausted by his struggles.  Among his many titles was the Third Founder of Rome (Romulus and Brutus being the first two).  Decades later, even after Dictator Sulla tried to erase all traces of his once mentor and later enemy, Marius was still revered by the Romans for saving the city from the Germans.  It was Julius Caesar himself who resuscitated his memory. So in that regard, Marius made two comebacks, once in old age and even after his death.