I will only use western because it's a little easier. 5 good examples should suffice:
Lúcio Cornélio Sula, Darius II or Darius the great, Hattusuli(hitite king that created the empire), Hatshepsut (only female on the list and impressive because she was able to supress TuT III), Tutemosis III (expanded the egyptian empire and create such richess that allowed the explendor of the reign of Amenhotep III) and Lucius Verus.
I could have choose some other people with better reputations like Augustus or Marcus Aurelius, but those are nice because they are good examples of pragmatic rulers that did what was needed to their countries even if harsh later.