What you got was a Great Leader - one of the 5 types of Great People. Settled in a city with Barrack, any units the city produces will be Elite.
Unfortunately, I haven't heard of any way to ensure you get a Great Leader rather than one of the other GPs.
Actually, you can "influence" what Great People you get, usually by the last tech you have researched, or the techs you already have. Great Persons each have a tech associtated with them, to "unlock" them, but it also increases the chance you will get the GP that has a the tech associated with the last technology you have researched.
There are only two Great Leaders:
1. Agamemnon- who is associated w/ Iron Working
2. David- who is associated with Monarchy
England has a greater chance of recieve a Great Leader as its 1st or 2nd GP because they will usually have those two techs by the time they get them. In fact, I'd say I get a Great Leader two as often as any other GP w/ the English, for one of my first 2 GPs.
This really helps for building lots of knights.
* Please note that just because you receive a GP, it does not guarentee you will get the one associated w/ the last tech you have completed researching. The last tech you complete only "influences" or increases the chances of you receiving that Great Person vs. any other GP.
