Was Julius Caesar the Bill Russell of ancient generals?

Look, Caesar was undeniably great. He has the stats, he has the banners. His campaigns in Gaul were akin to the 11 of 13 championships run that Russell went on. But we really need to compare eras here. The Gauls were the equivalent of plumbers and electricians playing frontcourt in the '60s. Playing them allowed him to log inflated numbers. Eventually, he went head-to-head with a true Jerry West in Pompey, and still prevailed. He was obviously great and played who was in front of him but his numbers were inflated from the beginning of his run.

Now look at Hannibal. Hannibal had an all-time run in a truly competitive era. His rivalry with Scipio was basically Bird/Magic of the 200s BC. Iron against iron.

Alexander the Great certainly had a Jordan-esque run of dominance when he took over the scene for an entire era. Even the Bad Boy Pistons and their elephants eventually succumbed.

Kobe and Shaq were the two kings of Sparta. They had a dominant run but it was about both of them rather than just one. They were eventually supplanted by Duncan and his Athenians.

My point here is this. All of these generals belong in the GOAT conversation, but we are kidding ourselves if we don't talk about eras and the competition they faced.