Jabrosky
Banned
I for one think not. It's true that kings and other leaders would have enjoyed certain luxuries and privileges unavailable to commoners, but consider how many responsibilities that would have come with all their powers. They would have needed to manage the national economy, all the provinces in their kingdoms, legal and political disputes, spiritual affairs (in theocratic societies), a colossal bureaucracy if a written language was available, international diplomacy, the military (in some cases including physically leading the warriors into battle), architectural projects, and their own families (especially bad in cultures with polygamy). All of that must have caused them throbbing administrative headaches. And then those kings who professed a special connection to their gods would have had to live up to godlike expectations in both appearance and conduct. Viewed in this light, all the privileges we associate with kingship must have functioned as compensations for all the stress most kings would have suffered.
It makes you wonder why anyone would really want to be king!
It makes you wonder why anyone would really want to be king!