Late Night Musings
Emperor and King
In another of what I call my late night musings when my mind wanders into uncharted areas, I was cogitating the concept of kings and emperors. I had been watching a TV show about Tsar (Czar?) Peter of Russia. My restless mind wanted to know what exactly made him an emperor. He did seem to rule over one of the largest ‘empires’ as far as land mass is concerned; slightly larger than the former USSR. But then again, all of this was essentially one country = the Tsardom of Russia. It wasn’t a confederation of Kingdoms.
My mind then jumped to other Empires. Perhaps the first such use of the term originates from the Romans. That empire did indeed span the length and breadth of the Mediterranean and reach north and west through Europe to include England. Many formerly independent countries had been conquered and subjugated. Interestingly, the term ‘Caesar’ (as supreme ruler) was used by the early Roman emperors beginning with Augustus and was only applied in retrospect to Julius himself.
By contrast, The British Empire of the 18–20th centuries was so vast that the “sun never set” on it! Yet, no British dynasty (to my knowledge) was ever referred to as an Emperor. Even stranger — considering the common usage of the term — is that the only living emperor presides over one of the smallest and most insular “empires” that actually consists of only the islands of Japan! How was he declared an emperor when his domain was confined to a few hundred square miles? The height of that ‘empire’ was during the expansion period of WW2 and hardly lasted a decade. Seemingly, it was during the reign of the ever-so-humble Henry the VIIIth that the term British Empire took hold to stay for hundreds of years. And yet, even he was never referred to as Emperor Henry!
Returning to Czar Peter, he ruled in the early 18th century and is noted for extending the control of the Kingdom of Muscovy and consolidating control over the vast land area that became modern-day Russia. But perhaps his most notable achievement was the ‘westernization’ of at least western Russia where it bordered Europe. He brought great modernization and prosperity to that region.
Meanwhile the “Empire of the Rising Sun” pre-dates most of even the largest and more well-known European Empires; back to the 7th century. With the Chinese Empire being up to 400 years older! But while China was indeed an amalgam of many tribal cultures, Japan is one of the more insular and unique cultures in the world. The only other country they consistently ruled over was Korea and despite attempts they never fully assimilated it. Another tiny little corner of the world that for centuries referred to its rulers by various terms that equal that of emperor is Ethiopia whose influence never really reached much beyond its own borders!
Again, by comparison, the ‘lowly’ monarchs of England even in its heyday never claimed the exalted title of Emperor and yet wielded a lasting influence over much of the world. The USA, Canada, India, Singapore, Hong Kong and many former colonies in Africa — to say nothing of the entire continent of Australia — bear the marks of British rule; particularly the usage of the language. If ever there was a TRUE empire in every sense of the word, it was that ruled over by the many kings and queens of England over centuries! In the same vein, even at the height of the colonial expansion of England, France and Spain as they competed for world domination and wealth, none of their rulers assumed the title of emperor/empress.
Throughout the course of European history, many rulers have claimed the exalted title of emperor; Napoleon being one of the more recent. Of course, the Holy Roman Empire tried to link itself to a glorious past however tenuous the link between the Hapsburgs and the Romans; to say nothing of its subjugation to the Catholic Pope. Just about every European country has at some time in its history laid claim to the title of ‘empire’ however self-aggrandizing that term was.
Concurrent with the Byzantine Empire (a descendent of the Roman Empire), the Ottoman Empire never actually had a ruler called an emperor; they were Khans and Sultans. But by virtue of its vast holdings and consolidation of many formerly independent entities it held all the hallmarks of an empire.
So the conclusion that my late night musing came to was that the term ‘emperor’ could truly only be claimed by a few dynasties throughout the course of history and that most who laid claim to it were simply inflating their egos and their treasuries. Most kings were simply tyrants anyway!
Is it a wonder that in current usage ‘empires’ tend to be fiscal in nature and unrelated to the dominion over lands and peoples? The world today is filled with two-bit Tai-Pans!