Star Trek: 8 Things You Didn't Know About The Eugenics Wars

In Space Seed, Khan described the era of the Eugenics Wars in romantic terms, calling them a period of great dreams and aspirations. He countered Spock's argument that they were fought to end tyranny by saying that they were an effort to unite Humanity under a single ruler much like Rome under the Caesars. He claimed that while there were many petty dictatorships in the era, eventually one Augment would prevail over the others, bringing peace and order to the world.

Contrary to Khan's high-minded rhetoric, the Augments ruled their territory as authoritarian dictators who treated ordinary humans as little more than slaves. Khan, however, considered himself a 'prince' who ruled as a benign dictator. Unlike his fellow despots, Khan didn't slaughter his own citizens and his regime was peaceful. He didn't engage in warfare until his territory was attacked. Because of this, he was still admired in the 23rd Century as the "best of the tyrants".