Born in the wrong era? No. There is no wrong era.

the order of strength and why i think so.
this is something that i've had in mind for quite a while.

1. Himura Kenshin
obviously because he's never been defeated, he's been close to defeat,
but not defeated...like against shishio and enishi (and if u want to
include, hiko)
...but shishio, he was already whacked up by soujiro and aoshi before
that, while for enishi, after his ougi was broken he was still proven to be
stronger, just that enishi ran away (and of course he's the
protagonist...so obviously he's the strongest).
and if ever more persuasion is needed, this is the best reason: the
only reason why he did NOT dispatch of enemies sooner was because his
blade was reversed. if it were a regular blade...nobody would be his
match.

2. Shishio Makoto
he is in my opinion, the second strongest character in the series.
first and foremost, he was the only character who went on fighting
after receiving the ougi.
also, he defeated all 3 of the strongest in one bout after taking
kenshin out(excluding hiko..he is extra lah...)
and he recieves commendation from kenshin too. all in all, he's not
just strong but also smart...real smart...and the power of his ougi(or tsui no hiken actually)wasn't seen also...what a shame. also must remember that he fights with a handicap as well...a bit similar to kenshin in that respect.

3. Soujiro Seta
2nd and 3rd would be between him and shishio. he's 3rd because shishio
remained the boss all the while, and he was taught by him, so by
deduction shishio ought to be stronger. BUT he has the potential to be
THE strongest. if he learned kenshin's secret to success, he would
improve by leaps and bounds..and very possible overtake kenshin. he
along with shishio came very close to winning kenshin too, so he's my
number three. at one point in time he was my favorite character.

4. Yukishiro Enishi
He funny leh...he is prolly only that strong against kenshin, but he's
got great potential. that nerve thing of his, and the fact that he was
able to break kenshin's ougi definitely counts for much. i wonder if
soujiro is faster or he is faster. i think soujiro.

5. Saito Hajime
He is another funny character. he is actually very strong, but i don't
know his max power, so hard to gauge. he was the closest to defeating
shishio after kenshin...and he could well have killed shishio had
shishio not been prepared.
another notable thing is that he never lost to kenshin. they were
equals in the kamiya dojo(but kenshin never learn ougi or kyusuryusen
yet), and he was able to force kenshin into battousai mode. very
formidable, and at the same time hard to grasp.

6. Shinomori Aoshi
How strong is he? could he have defeated kenshin during the shishio arc? well, the heartless him would not win the heartless battousai. but he was very strong. after he gives up his ambition to defeat kenshin he seems to have become very calm and non-confrontational so like not max power. but shishio praised his ougi as being formidable if he was not injured...so that too must count for something.

7. Sagara Sanousuke
Finally he comes up. he's got that amazing punch but after the shishio bout he was plagued by the hand injury...until he learns how to overcome it in his last fight. his opponents like not that strong lidat...the 4-stars guy was weak in my opnion and so was that tekkou(is that right?) guy. his most spectacular fight was against anji an equally strong fighter. where he did his third level punch..only time he did it though...forgot what it's called...mitae no kiwami? or something...only prob is he got no sword.

8. Usui.
If he can react fast with super hearing then he's got to have some strength...but he ain't that great. not much opinions on him. sanousuke can win him i think...just do what anji did and he'll be fine.

from here onwards are the extras..people hard to rank due to one reason or another.

1. Hiko Seijuro
This guy lah. make my life difficult. as the master of the hiten mitsurugi ryu, he's extremely strong. just that he doesn't involve himself witht eh issues of the outside world. not enough is known about him for me to make an accurate decision. he might be as strong as kenshin. or slightly weaker than shishio.
why i say so is because he lost to kenshin due to kenshin's will to live. this will power he displayed in his kenki but splitting the leaevs while fighting shishio, who posessed a similar kenki that made the fire respond.so, if hiko lacks this kenki, then he would be ranked below shishio. but if not, then he would possibly be as strong as kenshin.

2. Myojin Yahiko
The small him is not THAT weak, but still not good enough for the above list. But after he grow up...he got credible skill i think, just that cannot gauge again cause rarely see him fight. he still lost to kenshin. BUT he got that ougi of his. the idea is, if he can break your sword, then you have nothig left to fight with. provided he can catch your sword. so therefore if baldes move too fast, then in theory, he would lose to such people. hence, he would be ranked about 6th after saito...but he was said to be the strongest sword at a particular point in tim(dunno what soujiro doing...)

3. Iwambo
I don't know that guy's name in japanese..the skull face guy who controls iwambo. he in side iwambo is strong. required ougi to be destroyed. he would rank about 6th also. only thing is that he is considered quite cheapo cause he does not use any blade. as a regular guy he isn't much as aoshi easily disposes of him.

yes this is quite lame. open to discussion..heh