Board of emperors. Emperors of the world. The rights of the emperor. The emperor is ...

Imperial power has a rather long history. It originated in Ancient Rome since the reign of Augustus. The emperors of the world had unlimited power, and this power at some moments contributed to the unprecedented growth of the state and the rule of its ruler, and in some cases led to severe economic, social and political consequences. Be that as it may, the emperors played a huge role in the development of human history.

The meaning of the term "emperor"

The first empire in the world was the Roman Empire, and initially it was not so. During the existence of the republican system, the word "emperor" was used to designate all higher ranks endowed with civil, military or judicial power. These included praetors, consuls, magistrates, etc. Subsequently, this title began to be used in relation to one person - the ruler of the state - and he designated unlimited, all-embracing power. Indeed, the emperor is the sole ruler, his word is the law, everything is subordinated to him and everything is subject to him. No meaningful decision in the empire is taken without his personal consent or command.

Military power

The emperor's rights were virtually unlimited. The power concentrated in the hands of the ruler was conditionally divided into three broad categories: civil, military and judicial. We will briefly discuss each item separately.

The emperor possessed the highest military power. It was he who was the supreme commander-in-chief, and all the soldiers brought him an oath either personally or before his portrayal.

The Roman emperors distributed all command posts in the army at their own discretion. The numerical strength and numerical composition of the arms of the armed forces also depended on the desire of the crowned person. The emperor had the right to declare war and conclude a peace.

Civil authority

The first emperor Octavian Augustus and those following him enjoyed the exclusive right to collect taxes and assign his size at personal discretion. This included a huge number of taxes, so-called gifts, presented by virtually all citizens of the empire, especially those who had at least some power in their hands.

In fact, the emperor is the owner of absolutely everything that was on the territory of the state. Thus, he could confiscate the property of any person for the "needs of the empire." He himself could spend any amount from the treasury uncontrollably.

Half of the provinces of the empire were in full subordination to the emperor, the second half was in the power of the Senate, but in fact it turned out that in the Senate provinces the sovereign was a full master, administering certain regions through his own persons.

The emperor had the right to grant anyone Roman citizenship. At the same time he acted in the role of the supreme censor over the customs and private life of the Romans. That is, he could invade the privacy of any citizen, and everyone enjoyed the position in society that the ruler had given him.

Religious Authority

In the Roman Empire, the emperor is the supreme pontiff. A huge number of beliefs, spread on the vast territory of the empire, was in full power of the ruler, including in Rome itself. As you know, initially the empire was pagan, but over time the monotheistic religion - Christianity - was declared state. The emperor disposed of all religious acts, in addition, he was endowed with the exclusive right to supervise a large class of priests.

Judicial branch

The emperor was the supreme judge in the whole vast empire. His court was the highest authority, if I may say so. The decisions made by the ruler could not be followed by an appeal.

In addition, he was endowed with legislative power, although this privilege was implemented only after the approval of the Senate. However, the emperor could issue edicts or decrees, which have the force of law for the whole society.

In the provinces, the ruler transferred his judicial power to the legates, legates, who acted on his behalf and exclusively in his interests.

Title Augustus, or the Emperor's God-chosen

Separately, mention should be made of the God-chosen emperors. Officially, this title was assigned only to Octavian, but all the subsequent rulers of the empire were also named Augustus. What did this title mean?

Augustus is not just a person endowed with power, it is a sacred creature. The emperor is the messenger of God, according to ideology, he was sent down by God to administer the subjects. The title of the emperor signified the power of the ruler, the title Augustus denoted his holiness. Thus, the emperor also had divine power. Subjects were to treat the emperor as a god, which is why submission to imperial edicts and other acts was unquestioning, given the fact of deep faith in virtually the entire population of the empire.

Short story

It was said above that the imperial power arose in the Roman Empire, and the first emperor was Octavian, who received the title Augustus. In the year 395 AD. E. The Roman Empire was divided into Western and Eastern. In turn, the Western Pala in 476 year. However, the Eastern Roman Empire lasted almost 1000 years, and it became the successor of the imperial power. That is, the Eastern part, later called Byzantine, was ruled by the emperors.

The reign of emperors in the West was revived in 800, when this title was given to Charles the Great, and then to Otto I (in 962). Later, the title of the emperor was placed on the rulers of several other states, including France with the famous Napoleon, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, etc. English Queen Victoria in 1876 was declared the empress of India.

It must be said that the imperial power existed not only in European culture, but also in Asian and African. In the literature, you can read that the rulers of China, Siam, Ethiopia, Turkey, Japan and Morocco were called only emperors.

Kings in Russia

The word king in Russian came from the Greek, that is, from the Byzantine Empire, while retaining its importance. The original version of it - "Caesar", "Caesar" - was gradually replaced by the usual term "king".

The first ruler, crowned for the kingdom in Russia, was John IV, whom European historians called Grozny for allegedly inhuman atrocities. He became a king in 1547, and the state was then called the Russian kingdom and existed under that name until 1721.

The Romanovs who ascended the throne in 1613 were also kings, but not all, but only Michael, Alexei, Fedor, John V, Sophia and Peter I until 1721.

The tsars and emperors of Russia were endowed with unlimited, absolute power, therefore the period of their rule is usually called the era of absolutism.

The title of the Russian kings also had a sacred meaning, they were also the anointed of God and acted as if in the name of God. That is why the tsars, and later the emperors were inseparably bound by the Orthodox faith, and it was no coincidence that the Soviets overthrew the power of the emperors, declared war on Orthodoxy-they realized the danger that religion contained in themselves and understood the role of the legitimate ruler of Russia in it.

The Emperors of Russia

The last Russian tsar and the first emperor was Peter I. It was in 1721 that he was given the title of emperor of the Russian state. His power was unlimited and extended to all spheres of power and society. He was the supreme commander-in-chief and was endowed with supreme civil, legislative and executive power.

The reign of the emperors on the Russian throne is represented by the Romanov dynasty, which was in power for over 300 years - from 1613 to 1917. During this time the state achieved such successes that it became the leader in economic development. The Russian Empire was the only superpower at that time. There are opinions of serious, respected historians that Russia was ruined by its development, threatening other states-leaders, especially Great Britain and the United States. The emperors of Russia really were patriots of their country and their people, doing everything to ensure that the state prospered, and the subjects improved their standard of living. The last Russian emperor de facto was Nicholas II, de jure - Mikhail Alexandrovich, his brother.

The era of imperial rule is not over yet. At present, the only emperor in the world is Akihito, the ruler of Japan. He was crowned on November 12, 1990 and to this day, the 82-year-old 125th emperor fulfills his functions.